社会经济制度转变对旋毛虫病再现的影响

20世纪90年代,随着苏联解体和东欧剧变,俄罗斯及东欧国家出现了社会经济制度的转变与社会动荡.国营大型集体化养猪场被解散后,出现了大量达不到卫生标准的小型私人养猪场,结果引起旋毛虫病的死灰复燃,导致家猪旋毛虫的感染率明显升高.社会动荡导致标准化大型屠宰厂和肉类加工厂的数量明显减少,随之出现了大量的小型私人屠宰场或肉类加...     

On the history of psychosurgery in Russia

Summary The history of psychosurgery in Russia can be divided into 3 periods: The first period starts at the turn of the century under the initiative of Bekhterev. His pupil and one of the fathers of Russian neurosurgery Puusepp performed leucotomy-like cuttings of frontal association fibers in manic-depressive cases and psychic equivalents of epileptics as early as 1906–1910.The second period includes the time from the late 1930ies till the late 1940ies. The classical leucotomy of Moniz and Lima, with some modifications, was used for treatment of schizophrenia and severe pain. In 1950 psychosurgery was prohibited by the special order of the Minister of Health of the USSR for ideological reasons. The third period starts in the early 1980ies with the acceptance of modern stereotactic techniques for treatment of intractable pain and obsessive-compulsive disorders.     

The British approach to child and adolescent psychiatry: A course for Russian postgraduates

A two week course in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry was given in St. Petersburg as part of the partnership between the City's Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Service and Division of Child and Adolscent Psychiatry at Leicester University Medical School. In such a short course, it was necessary to focus on areas of particular importance to Russian practice. Areas chosen were: assessment and interviewing skills, psychosomatic concepts, mental retardation, suicide and self harm, attachment, behaviour therapy and adolescent problems. The course also offered practical demonstrations with Russian families. The response was favourable but assessment of how much the course added to knowledge was difficult.     

HLA class II molecular polymorphisms in healthy Slavic individuals from North-Western Russia

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based genotyping was used to characterize the features of HLA class II molecular polymorphisms in a Slavic population of North-Western Russia. Two hundred individuals were analyzed for the DRB1 gene, and 100 persons randomly selected from this cohort were additionally typed for DQA1, DQB1 and DPB1 genes. Allele and haplotype frequencies were found to be similar to those observed in other Caucasian populations, with the exception of considerably high prevalence of the DPB1*0301 allele (16.0%) in the group studied. The high rate of diversity was observed within DRB1*04 and DRB1*14 specificities, as well as for extended DR-DQ haplotypes. In addition, significant number of "unusual" DR-DQ linkage patterns have been detected. The data seem to reflect the complexity of ethnic background of "European" Russians and may be helpful for the development of international network between donor registries.     

Development and evaluation of a RT-qPCR assay for fast and sensitive rabies diagnosis

Rabies virus is endemic to Russia, among other countries. It is therefore critical to develop a high-quality and high-precision diagnostic procedure for the control and prevention of infection.The main objective of the research presented here was to develop a reliable RT-qPCR assay for rabies diagnostics.For this purpose, a RABV strains from various biological and geographical origins were used. In addition, rabies-positive and rabies-negative samples, as well as nucleic acids from other viruses and DNA extracted from the brain tissues of mice, dogs, cats, bats and humans, were studied using the developed assay.The analytical sensitivity of the assay, as assessed using armored recombinant positive control dilutions, was 10³ copies/ml, and the sensitivity measured using characterized strains was between 0.1 LD50/ml and 1.0 LD50/ml. A broad range of RNA from RABV strains circulating in different regions of Russia, as well as RNA from RABV-positive primary brain samples from 81 animals and two humans, was detected using the developed assay. No false-positive or false-negative results were obtained.Given that high analytical and diagnostic sensitivities and a high specificity were verified for this assay, it has high potential as a screening test that may be suitable for the epizootiological monitoring of animals and for the fast postmortem diagnosis of rabies.     

Religion in Russia: Its impact on university student medical cannabis attitudes and beliefs

Despite significant research, the benefits and risks of cannabis for medical purposes remain elusive. However, there is one factor about the substance that is clear – there is a dearth of knowledge about attitudes and beliefs toward its use in Russia where the substance in any form is strictly prohibited. The aim of this study was to examine the impact of affiliation with religion on university student attitudes and beliefs toward cannabis for medical conditions. Survey data were collected from 828 medical and allied health students at two Russian universities. Findings indicate that students with a religious affiliation were significantly more likely to express negative attitudes towards medical cannabis.     

Lower economic status and inferior hygienic environment may protect against celiac disease

Background. The populations in adjacent Russian Karelia and Finland are equally exposed to grain products and share partly the same ancestry, but live in completely different socioeconomic environments.

Aim. This creates an ideal epidemiological setting to study gene‐environmental interactions in pathogenesis of celiac disease.

Methods. The prevalence of celiac disease and predisposing human leukocyte antigen (HLA) alleles was compared between Russian Karelia and Finland. Tissue transglutaminase antibodies and HLA‐DQ alleles were screened from 1988 schoolchildren from Karelia and 3654 children from Finland. Children with transglutaminase antibodies were invited to small‐bowel biopsy.

Results. Transglutaminase antibodies were less frequent in Russian Karelia than in Finland (0.6% versus 1.4%, P = 0.005). Immunoglobulin class G (IgG) antigliadin antibodies were also less frequent in Russian Karelia (10.2% versus 28.3%, P<0.0001). Celiac disease was confirmed by duodenal biopsy in four of the eight transglutaminase antibody‐positive Karelian children, giving a prevalence of 1 in 496 compared to 1 in 107 children in Finland. The same HLA‐DQ alleles were associated with celiac disease and transglutaminase antibody positivity in both populations.

Conclusions. The prevalence of transglutaminase antibodies and celiac disease is lower in Russian Karelia than in Finland. This may be associated with a protective environment characterized by inferior prosperity and standard of hygiene in Karelia.