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A total of 176 hospital patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC), among them 110 males and 66 females, were examined. The spectrum of antibodies to four hepatitis C virus (HCV) proteins (core, NS3, NS4, NS5) and in 142 patients --IgM antibodies to HCV (anti-HCV IgM) were determined. In 92% of the CHC patients antibodies to core, NS3 and NS4 proteins were simultaneously detected. Differences in the detection of antibodies to HCV in males and females were not statistically reliable. In CHC patients aged up to 20 years anti-NS4 and anti-NS5 were less frequently detected. Among males of different age groups reliable differences in the detection rate of anti-NS5 were registered, while among females of different age groups no such differences were observed. With the increase of age these antibodies were detected somewhat more often. In females over 60 years anti-HCV IgM occurred more often than in males of the same age. The levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) were higher in persons with the presence of anti-NS5 and anti-HCV IgM than in persons with their absence. In all groups of CHC patients with biochemical activity and liver cirrhosis the detection rate of anti-HCV IgM was significantly higher than in patients with normal ALT activity. The antibody spectrum with the simultaneous absence of HCV IgM and anti-NS5, while found to contain antibodies to other HCV antigens, was registered significantly less frequently in patients with moderate and high CHC activity and the liver cirrhosis induced by HCV infection.

The comparison of the levels of some cytokines (tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha), IL-1beta, IL-2, IL-4) in the blood serum of patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC) having different antibody spectrum was carried out. In CHC patients increased levels of the serum cytokines IL-1beta, TNF-alpha under study in comparison with cytokine levels in donor sera was noted. In patients with detected antiNS5 and antiHCV IgM and antiNS5 HCV the level of IL-1beta was significantly higher than that in CHC patients without antibodies in sera. A change in the levels of proinflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines in the blood sera of CHC patients may be of significant diagnostic and prognostic importance.

A passive hemagglutination test was used to study changes in the titers of antibodies to Staphylococcus, Klebsiella, Proteus, Colibacillus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa in donors of the Gomel Blood Transfusion Station. The titers much higher than in other regions (above 1:200), were obtained for Staphylococcus, Klebsiella, Proteus, Colibacillus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, being such in 79.4%, 49.1%, 29.7%, 52.9% and 36.9% of the examinees. The highest proportion of donors with increased antibody titers to the above agents were recorded in cold seasons. Dynamic tests showed a 4-fold increase in the titers in some subjects. The findings evidence for great prevalence of infectious diseases (subclinical and latent among them) caused by opportunistic agents in population living in the territories of radioactive contamination after the Chernobyl accident. It is possible to obtain highly immune preparations from donors living in the above conditions.