IL-1β is involved in both brain damage process and the mechanisms of brain regeneration processes. The goal of the present research is to measure the change in the production of lymphocyte-activating factor (LAF) after experimental traumatic injury (TBI) in variously aged rats and evaluate the possibility to correct LAF production with roncoleukin (rIL-2). LAF activity in the supernatants of peritoneal macrophages of injured rats was measured by its ability to have comitogenic effect on the

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... iferation of rat thymocytes stimulated by suboptimal lectin doses. LAF stimulation index was defined as ratio of stimulated to unstimulated levels of LTF. Results and discussion. The strongest suppression of microphages' cytokine-producing function was found in older rats after TBI. rIL-2 injection significantly reversed the injuries caused by TBI even in older rats. These data confirm that exogenic IL-2 is able to activate the functional characteristics of innate immunity cells and that is has a normalizing effect on the immune cells of the older animals.