INVESTIGATION OF ANTIBODIES TO MEASLES-VI RUS STRUCTURAL PROTEINS IN SERA FROM PATIENTS WITH SOME CHRONIC DISEASES

The qualitative and quantitative analysis of antibodies to measles vir us (MV) structural proteins (SP) in sera from patients with chronic gl omerulonepfiritis (CGN), chronic active. hepatitis (CAH), and liver ci rrhosis (LC) was done. The patients were shown to have neutralizing an tibody titres (NAT) higher than those in healthy subjects. An analysis of antibodies to SP was carried out by the radioimmunoprecipitation a ssay. Antibodies were detected to hemagglutinin, nucleoprotein (NP), f usion protein and to matrix protein (M) both in sera from the patients with these chronic diseases, healthy subjects, and patients with acti ve measles. (The two latter groups were selected for comparison). Howe ver, some patients with CAH and LC had no antibodies to M protein in s pite of very high NAT. The quantitative analysis of MV antibodies to S P was done only for NP because this antibody had the least individual variations. The quantity of anti-NP antibodies was higher in most sera from patients with chronic diseases than in those from healthy subjec ts, and reached the level of that in patients with active measles. The presence of MV genome in the peripheral blood lymphocytes from patien ts CAH, CGH, and LC had been shown earlier. So it is assumed that MV p ersists in lymphoid tissue where the expression of all SP genes is rea lized.