Experience in rendering medical care to infectious patients in Afghanistan]

For the first time it was Afghanistan where the 40th Army had faced with mass polyinfection morbidity which had a severe course and unfavourable outcome. In these conditions a new effective system of medical care to infectious patients was elaborated and applied. This system comprised a four-staged complex of medical and diagnostical measures. That made it possible to reduce the number of fatal cases by 16 times (from 0.49 to 0.03%) in 1983-1989. The total number of servicemen returned to active duty was brought up to 99.6%. The most important factors in this new system were the following: at prehospital stage--new methods in early definition of infectious patients, opportune diagnosis and emergency care; at hospital phase--new methods of triage, schemes of complex treatment for various nosological forms working principles of intensive therapy.     

Investigation of the anti-motion sickness effect of 3-hydroxypyridine derivatives]

Experiments with rats showed that three out of 12 3-hydroxypyridine derivatives (ethyl-methyl hyd- roxypyrine succinate, SK-132 and IBCP-2 - had an anti-motion sickness effect stronger than of scopolamine, the reference vestiboloprotector. The anti-motion sickness effect of ethyl-methyl hydroxypyrine was also demonstrated in experiments with cats. Apparent anti-motion sickness effect of ethyl-methyl hydroxypyrine (mexydol) was found in 69% of healthy male volunteers which is comparable with the effect of scopolamine (62%). In experiments with immobilized cats (myorelaxation drugs) the microelectrode technique and microontoiphoresis of physiologically active substances revealed that ethylmethyl hydroxypyrine influences the majority of neurons in the medial vestibular nucleus (61%). Suppression of cell spontaneous activities in more than one half of cases can be stopped completely or attenuated significantly by bicucculine, a specific GABA(A)-receptor antagonist. In 42% of neurons ethyl-methyl hydroxypyrine subdues the response to vestibular stimulation which is likely to underlie the anti-motion sickness effect.     

Synthesis, stereochemistry and anticonvulsant action of 4-phenyltetrahydroisoquinolines

The racemic and optically active 4'- and 8-substituted tetrahydroisoquinolines 2-5 have been synthesized and their effect on the water-immersion stress ulcer in rats has been studied. All compounds prevent the formation of stress ulcer, the strongest effect being exhibited by compound 4 and its dextrarotatory isomer (R1 = Cl, R2 = NHCOOC2H5). The antiulcer activity of 4 is 30 to 50 times higher than that of the H2 receptor antagonists Cimetidin and Ranitidin used for comparison. The absolute configuration of the optically active compounds 2, 3 and 4 has been determined by means of chemical correlation. The antiulcer activity of 4 is characterized by enantioselectivity, S-(+)-4 is three times as active than R-(-)-4.     

Antimicrobial and antibacterial activity of isatin thiosemicarbazones and their complex copper complexes (II) and (I)

Translated from Khimiko-farmatsevticheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 23, No. 5, pp. 588–590, May, 1989.     

Antimicrobial effect of radiation of ionized plasma

Department of Experimental Surgery, Interfaculty Laboratory Complex, and Department of Clinical Laboratory Diagnosis, Postgraduate Medical Faculty, N. I. Pirogov Second Moscow Medical Institute. (Presented by Academician of the Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR V. V. Kupriyanov.) Translated from Byulleten' Éksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 110, No. 10, pp. 413–145, October, 1990.     

Mechanisms of kindling induced by norbornan intoxication

Single injection of norbornan induced kindling by disordering postsynaptic GABAergic structures. Modulation of GABA_A receptor chlorine ionic channels is most crucial, while disturbances in postsynaptic low-affinity GABA_A receptors are less important for this phenomenon. It is unlikely that GABA_B, dopamine, and muscarinic neurotransmitter structures are involved into this process. Translated fromByulleten' Eksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 125, No. 6, pp. 653–656, June, 1998     

Identification and characterization of a conserved,stage-specific gene product of Plasmodium falciparum recognized by parasite growth inhibitory antibodies

We have identified a novel conserved protein of Plasmodium falciparum, designated D13, that is stage-specifically expressed in asexual blood stages of the parasite. The predicted open reading frame (ORF) D13 contains 863 amino acids with a calculated molecular mass of 99.7 kDa and displays a repeat region composed of pentapeptide motives. Northern blot analysis with lysates of synchronized blood stage parasites showed that D13 is highly expressed at the mRNA level during schizogony. The first N'-terminal 138 amino acids of D13 were expressed in Escherichia coli and the purified protein was used to generate anti-D13 monoclonal antibodies (MAbs). Using total lysates of blood stage parasites and Western blot analysis, these MAbs stained one single band of approximately 100 kDa, corresponding to the predicted molecular mass of ORF D13. Western blot analysis demonstrated further that D13 is expressed during schizogony, declines rapidly in early ring stages and is undetectable in trophozoites. D13 protein is localized in individual merozoites in a distinct area, as demonstrated by indirect immunofluorescence analysis. After subcellular fractionation, D13 was confined to the pelleted fraction of the parasite lysate and its extraction by alkaline carbonate buffer treatment indicated that D13 is not a membrane-integral protein. Inclusion of certain anti-D13 MAbs into in vitro cultures of blood stage parasites resulted in considerable reduction in parasite growth. The N'-terminal domain encompassing 158 amino acids is 94 and 95%, respectively, identical at the amino acid level between Plasmodium knowlesi, Plasmodium yoelii, and P. falciparum. In summary, we describe a novel stage-specifically expressed, highly conserved gene product of P. falciparum that is recognized by parasite growth inhibitory antibodies.