Effect of interleukin 1 on adrenal function in mice

Laboratory of Regulation of Immunopoiesis, Institute of Clinical Immunology, Siberian Branch, Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR, Novosibirsk. (Presented by Academician of the Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR V. P. Kaznacheev.) Translated from Byulleten' Éksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 105, No. 3, pp. 311–313, March, 1988.     

Changes in the serum antioxidant system and lipid peroxidation under the influence of asbestos

The iron content, the state of the serum antioxidant system, and their relationship with the changes in lipid peroxidation in rat liver and lungs at the early stages of chrysotile-asbestos action, and the effect of the naturally occurring flavonoid rutin are studied. Intensification of lipid peroxidation in the liver and lungs and an increase in the oxyproline content, which correlates with the rise in serum antioxidant activity, are observed four weeks after a single intratracheal administration of 50 mg asbestos. The total serum iron content remains unchanged. Rutin has a pronounced anti-asbestos effect, inhibits the early stages of fibrosis, and facilitates normalization of the antioxidant system imbalance induced by asbestos. Translated fromByulleten' Eksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 118, N ^o 8 pp. 145–147, August, 1994     

Comparative study of antitumor cytostatic and natural suppressor activity of bone marrow cells

Cells remaining after removal from bone marrow population of cells aggregated by wheat rudiment agglutinin retained the capacity to inhibit the growth of P815 mastocytoma and L1210 lymphoma cellsin vitro, while their capacity to suppress concanavalin-induced lymphoblastogenesis dropped. Contrary to antiproliferative activity of bone marrow natural suppressor cells, their natural antitumor cytostatic activity did not depend on the presence of interferon-γ in the medium and was not mediated by nitric oxide. Thus, bone marrow antitumor cytostatic effectors are probably not equivalent to bone marrow natural suppresser cells by cell composition and by the mechanism of antiproliferative effect. Translated fromByulleten' Eksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 124, No. 4, pp. 437–439, April, 1998     

Conformation of Replicated Segments of Chromosome Fibres in Human S-phase Nucleus

Recent statistical analysis of the folding of G0/G1 chromosomes using fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) allowed development of a random walk/giant loop model of chromosome structure. According to this model there are two levels of organization of G0/G1 chromosome fibres. On the first level, the fibres are arranged in giant loops several Mbp in size, and within each loop the fibres are randomly folded. On the second level, the loop attachment sites form a chromosome backbone that also shows random folding. Newly replicated segments of mammalian chromosomes may be directly visualized at high resolution in S-phase nuclei using immunofluorescent methods and appear as worm-like fibres. In our earlier study, we analysed conformation of the fibres in human cells blocked for 16 h at the G1/S boundary with 5- fluorodeoxyuridine (FdU) and then released into S-phase by the addition of a DNA prec ursor. However, long treatment of cells with FdU induces very short replicons and may promote apoptosis. In this study we analysed conformation of the fibres in normally proliferating human cells that had not been blocked with FdU for a long time. It has been found that replicated chromosome fibres visualized just after 2 h of incubation of the cells with a non-radioactively labelled DNA precursor behave as flexible polymer chains without major constraints, and that their local conformation in the range of several microns of their contour length may be considered as random. Confocal analysis of human X chromosomes visualized in HeLa cells using FISH with a specific painting probe shows that in S-phase the chromosomes occupy distinct nuclear territories and their apparent size does not differ from that in non-S-phase cells. This observation indicates that the second level of chromosome organization also exists in S-phase chromosomes. It appears, theref ore, that the random walk/giant loop model developed earlier for G0/G1 chromosomes is also valid for S-phase chromosomes.     

Zur Natur der durch katalytische Mengen von N,N,N′,N′-Tetramethyläuthylendiamin in Organolithium/Isopren Systemen bedingten Effekte

N,N,N′,N′-Tetramethylethylenediamine (TMD) causes a significant increase of the polymerization rate and of the content of 3,4-links in the polymers formed in the systems organolithium (RLi)/isoprene already at a mole-ratio [TMD]/[RLi]≈1. In order to clear the nature of these effects fractions of the polymers formed at a ratio [TMD]/[RLi]=0,01 which secured parallel propagation reactions by the RLi-species and their complexes with TMD were investigated. The highest content of 3,4-links was found in the polyisoprene fraction with the lowest molecular weight. A possible mechanism of this phenomenon is discussed.     

Clinical-and-pathophysiological prerequisites of impaired breathing and ensuring of safety in drug-induced depression of consciousness

Seventy-three patients operated on under anesthesia based on regional blocks were examined. Thiopental-sodium (T; n = 29), myadozalam (M; n = 10) and propofol (P; n = 24) were used for sedation. The conditions of breathing and of gas exchange were evaluated by the findings of pneumotachography: V(peak insp), P(peak insp), P(100) Raw, breathing pattern, SpO2, PEtCO2 and EMG from mouth-diagram muscles. The obtained results were made use of to draw up a rating scale for impaired breathing, which is based on the respiratory volume and respiration rate of gas exchange as well as on different variations of respiratory support. Irrespective of a sedation type and of a degree of consciousness suppression, the impaired breathing was registered in 90-100% of cases: obstruction of the respiratory tracts was predominant in T (higher Raw); in M--depression of the respiratory center (lower P(100); in P--a pronouncedly lower of EMG, and, respectively, a weakened contraction of diaphragm (lower P(peak insp)). Depression of the respiratory center was found to occur irrespectively of a drug used in sedation, however, the mechanisms of obstruction were different: in T--impaired breathing; in M--impaired phase muscle activity. Sedation by P was not accompanied by any clinically valuable obstructive signs.     

Diagnostic blocks: a truth serum for malingering

Malingering is not a diagnosis. It is a behavior for which there are no established diagnostic criteria. Guidelines have been published according to which malingering might be suspected, but those guidelines do not discriminate between patients who are malingering and ones with genuine sources of chronic pain. In such patients, malingering cannot be proven, but it can be refuted if a genuine source of pain can be established. In patients with no apparent cause of pain, the source of that pain can be established using controlled diagnostic blocks. A positive response to diagnostic blocks demonstrates that the complaint of pain is genuine and, by implication, refutes any contention that the patient is malingering. When positive, diagnostic blocks provide objective data by which disputes based on opinion can be resolved, as to whether a patient is malingering or not. Negative responses do not exclude a genuine complaint of pain, for patients may have a source of pain that is not amenable to testing with diagnostic blocks. Diagnostic blocks have proved particularly useful in the investigation of spinal pain for which the cause is not evident on conventional medical imaging. They can also confirm or refute purported mechanisms of certain clinical features in complex regional pain syndromes.     

Clonidine increases caspase-3 mRNA level and DNA fragmentation in the developing rat brainstem

The densities of alpha2-adrenergic receptors, labeled by 3H-clonidine or 3H-RX821002, reach a peak in the rat brainstem during the first week of its life. This enables the agonist of alpha2-adrenergic receptor clonidine, which is used as a component of anaesthetic solution in infants and children, to have specific effects in this structure of the developing brain. Clonidine was injected into the fetal brain (5 microg in 5 microl of saline) or subcutaneously to the pups (1, 10 microg in 50 microl of saline) 3 days before investigation. Clonidine increased the level of apoptotic enzyme caspase-3 mRNA expression, as measured by RT-PCR and enhanced the DNA fragmentation, as determined by gel electrophoresis, in the brainstem of the 21-day-old fetuses and 8-day-old rats. In the cortex of 8-day-old rat, the alpha2-adrenergic receptors are at a much lower level than the brainstem. Clonidine treatment had no evident effects on caspase-3 mRNA level and DNA fragmentation in the cortex of an 8-day-old rat. The data suggest that clonidine facilitates cell death in the developing brainstem. This drug effect provides a potential mechanism whereby clonidine during early life could induce long-lasting alterations in brain neurochemistry, autonomic functions and behavior.     

Arbidol used in the prophylaxis of acute respiratory viral infections and their complications in servicemen

The prophylactic action of arbidol to prevent the acute respiratory viral infections and their complications (extra-hospital pneumonia) was studied under conditions of two military collectives during winter and summer time. The data obtained confirm the prophylactic activity of the drug in respect of ARVI. Regardless of the degree of disease epidemic rise among the servicemen who didn't take arbitol the minimal threshold of grippe and other ARVI incidence (10-15%) remained in the experimental group. The incidence of pneumonia decreased. It was connected with decrease in viral-and-bacterial pneumonia. The number of patients with bacterial (generally pneumococcal) pneumonia didn't change.