Experimental treatment of habitual abortion of adrenal etiology by transplantation of a tissue culture of newborn pig adrenals

Transplantation of an adrenal tissue culture from newborn pigs was performed in patients with habitual abortions. The advantages of this method as compared to the traditional treatment with adrenocortical hormones consist in the absence of effects on the fetus and of side effects in pregnant women. Monitoring of the serum level of adrenocortical hormones is not required. Healthy children were born to 22 patients out of 23. Three clinical cases are described. Translated fromByulleten' Eksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 117, N ^o 4, pp. 389–391, April, 1994     

Equipment and possibilities of dynamic monitoring for arrhythmia during steady electrocardial stimulation

Conclusions 1. The ARKA cardiocomplex makes it possible to diagnose short-term temporary disturbances of the heart's rhythm in patients who have implanted cardiostimulators, or do not. 2. It is possible to utilize the ARKA complex under clinical conditions in departments of the cardiosurgical and cardiological types that specialize in cardiorhythmology, and also under dispensary conditions in offices of clinical inspection and functional diagnostics. Academician I. P. Pavlov Leningrad Medical Institute, City Hospital No. 26, Main Administration of Public Health, Executive Committee of the Leningrad Soviet. Leningrad Scientific-Industrial Association “Azimut.” Translated from Meditsinskaya Tekhnika, No. 3, pp. 9–11, May–June, 1990.     

Efficacy of vision correcting system "focus" for prevention and treatment of dry form of age macular degeneration

The results of comparative study of efficacy and safety of vision correcting system "Focus" and Picamilon in patients with dry form of age macular degeneration are presented. 60 patients were enrolled into the study, follow-up was 3 months. Routine examination revealed positive impact of "Focus" on dynamics of main visual functions (visual acuity and field). In terms of impact on dynamics of main visual functions "Focus" is comparable with Picamilon, though it is better tolerated. Intake of vision correcting system "Focus" promotes visual functions improvement and prevents progressing of retinal degenerations.     

Mercuric chloride-, gold sodium thiomalate-, and D-penicillamine-induced antinuclear antibodies in mice

Inducibility of antinuclear antibodies (ANA) by mercuric chloride (HgCl2) was studied in various strains of mice. High response to the treatment was observed in strains A.SW (H-2s), A.CA (H-2f), A.TH (H-2t2), B10.S (H-2s), DBA/1J (H-2q), and P/J (H-2p); strains A.BY (H-2b), B10.M (H-2f), and C3H/HeSnJ (H-2k) showed a low response, while strains A/WySn (H-2a), A/J (H-2a), A.TL (H-2tl), BALB/cJ (H-2d), C57BL/10SnJ (H-2b), B10.A (H-2a), and PL/J (H-2u) did not produce any detectable ANA. Thus, the H-2a haplotype determines resistance to the treatment regardless of the genetic background; the H-2s determines susceptibility, while the H-2b and H-2f are intermediate haplotypes whose effect depends on the interaction with the background genes. Our results with intra-H-2 recombinant strains indicate that the I region of the H-2 complex is the major genetic factor controlling this response. The function of the I region is to control cellular cooperation in the immune response that finally results in production of antibodies specific for a particular antigen. Therefore, we postulated that the I region controls the antibody response to a nuclear antigen released as a result of HgCl2 toxicity in mice. A genetic study of an A.SW X C57BL/10 cross confirmed this observation, showing that resistance to ANA induction by HgCl2 in this strain combination is determined by interaction of a semidominant H-2-linked gene and one or more unlinked genes. The two drugs tested, gold sodium thiomalate and D-penicillamine, also induced ANA in A.SW mice, while other strains tested resisted this treatment.