[The enzymatic antioxidant system of the thrombocytes in meningococcal infection].

A study was made of the time-course of changes in the activity of the enzymic antioxidant system of blood platelets from patients with meningococcemia and meningitis (mixed form) of medium gravity. As a result a steady unbalance in the redox system of glutathione was established: a decrease of glutathione reductase activity and rise of the activity of glutathione peroxidases to hydrogen peroxide and tertiary butyl hydroperoxide until the clinical recovery. The patients with meningococcal meningitis and with the mixed form of medium gravity manifested impairment of the interrelations between superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase to hydrogen peroxide, with that impairment being eliminated by the end of the disease. Potential mechanisms by which the enzymic antioxidant system is impaired in meningococcal infection are discussed.