S. M. Grigorieva¹, D. B. Starosyla¹, S. L. Rybalko¹,
V. V. Motronenko², T. M. Lutsenko^2,3, O. Yu. Galkin²

¹Gromashevsky Institute of Epidemiology and Infectious Diseases,
National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv;
²National Technical University of Ukraine “Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute”;
³UA Pro-Pharma LLC, Kyiv, Ukraine;
e-mail: alexfbt@gmail.com

Received: 01 July 2019; Accepted: 13 August 2019

A wide range of interleukin-7 (IL-7) biological effects suggests that application of appropriate preparations in clinical practice will stimulate immunity in patients with lymphocytic exhaustion or autoimmune diseases.  Studies are being conducted for IL-7 based preparations aimed at restoration of the immune system of patients with immunodeficiency of different origins. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an important pathogen, which causes nosocomial infections in hospitalized patients. Infection factors, affecting the immune status of the host, play a key role. A promising and relevant scientific endeavor is the study of the effect of recombinant IL-7 (rIL-7) as an adjunct therapy in wound infections caused by P. aeruginosa. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of rIL-7 use in P. aeruginosa wound infection in mice. The experiments were conducted using a standardized rIL-7 preparation, P. aeruginosa strain and 20 white non-inbred mice. The preparation of rIL-7 after all stages of purification was characterized by the content of ballast proteins and impurities via electrophoresis in a polyacrylamide gel in reducing conditions, and its biological activity was evaluated in the MTT test by means of proliferation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells. In the mice, the fur was removed, the neck nape was intentionally injured and P. aeruginosa bacteria were injected into the wound of each animal (0.1 ml of suspension with a bacterial cell concentration of 0.08×10⁹ cells/ml). Starting from the 2^nd day, bacterial examination of the wound material was carried out daily. Starting from the 3^rd day, the mice (experimental group, n = 10) were intraperitoneally administered 5 μg (0.1 ml) of the rIL-7 preparation. In the control group of animals (n = 10), the rIL-7 preparation was not administered. In 80% of experimental animals (administered the rIL-7 preparation), the healing of wounds and elimination of the pathogen of purulent inflammatory infection P. aeruginosa occurred on the 7^th day. On the 9^th day from the beginning of wound infection, wound healing and elimination of P. aeruginosa occurred in all experimental mice. In 60% of mice from the control group (did not receive treatment with rIL-7), wound healing and the elimination of P. aeruginosa occurred on the 9th day. Wound healing and elimination of P. aeruginosa in all mice of the control group occurred on the 14^th day. Thus, in mice treated with rIL-7, wound healing and elimination of the pathogen occurred 5 days earlier than in mice from the control group (without rIL-7 treatment). Subsequent studies may be aimed at developing protocols for the treatment of wound infections using an rIL-7 preparation in patients with a compromised immune system Therefore, rIL-7 is a promising preparation for the treatment of complex wound infections.