Creatine kinase BB and lactate in the cerebrospinal fluid of neonates and infants with perinatal injuries of the CNS

A study was made of the content of creatine kinase-BB (CK-BB) and lactate in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of 202 neonates and infants with perinatal CNS injuries. The relationship was found between the rise of the CK-BB content and the gravity of perinatal CNS injuries. The highest content of CK-BB in CSF was marked in neonates with cerebral disorders complicated by infectious and inflammatory diseases (pneumonia, sepsis). Within the first 5 days of life, the children of this group demonstrated the relationship between the content of CK-BB and lactate of CSF. The measurement of the content of CK-BB in CSF should be used for early diagnosis, assessment of the gravity and course of perinatal CNS injuries in neonates and in infants.     

Serum Ornithine Carbamoyl Transferase as a Surrogate Marker in Malaria

Ornithine carbamoyl transferase (OCT) activity and other liver function tests were studied in a total of 50 patients of clinical malaria and 15 controls. They were grouped as group I (positive for malarial parasite on peripheral blood smear, n=18), group II (negative for malarial parasite on peripheral blood smear (PBS) but responded to antimalarials, n=17) and group III (peripheral blood smear negative and did not respond to antimalarial therapy, n=15). The mean OCT levels were significantly raised in group I (6.79 ± 1.84 IU/L, p value = 0.006) and group II (5.0 ± 1.15 IU/L, p value = 0.014) as compared to controls (2.5 ± 1.13 IU/L) and returned to normal after treatment In contrast, group III had normal levels except in a case of kala azar and septicemia where OCT levels were high and increased further on treatment. Taking PBS positivity as a gold standard of diagnostic criteria, OCT had a sensitivity of 83% and specificity of 86% with a high positive predictive value of 88% as compared to ALT which had a lower sensitivity of 55% and specificity of 80%. The clinical response rate in PBS negative cases of fever having high OCT level was 83% as compared to 35% in cases with normal OCT level, making OCT a good surrogate marker of malaria. OCT levels could also be of prognostic significance as 2 cases of cerebral malaria had high OCT levels of 11.1 UAL and 10.7 IU/L, respectively.Key Words: Malaria, Ornithine carbamoyl transferase     

Enteric sorbents potentiate hepatoprotective effect of eplir in experimental toxic hepatitis]

The administration of eplir (a phospholipid-containing hepatoprotector), as well as of the enterosorbents polyphepan and EST-1 (an agent obtained from dry peat extract), to rats with tetrachloromethane-induced hepatitis protect the liver parenchyma against dystrophy, necrosis, and inflammation, reduce hyperfermentemia, decrease the blood bilirubin, ammonia, phenols, and malonaldehyde, and increase the urea content in blood serum, while not fully restoring all these biochemical parameters on the normal level. The treatment of rats with toxic hepatitis by a combination of eplir and enterosorbents is accompanied by a synergistic increase in the therapeutic efficacy of each component, leading to normalization of the biochemical parameters reflecting the functional slate of liver.     

Spectrin-alpha I/61: a new structural variant of alpha-spectrin in a double-heterozygous form of hereditary pyropoikilocytosis

Recent biochemical studies have led to the identification of abnormal spectrins in the erythrocytes of patients with hereditary pyropoikilocytosis (HPP) and hereditary elliptocytosis (HE). In this report we describe the biochemical characterization of the erythrocytes from a proband with severe HPP who is doubly heterozygous for two mutant spectrins (Sp): Sp alpha I/74 and a new, previously undetected, mutant of alpha-spectrin designated Sp alpha I/61. The proband's erythrocytes are unstable when exposed to 45 degrees C, and her membrane skeletons exhibit instability to shear stress. The content of spectrin in the proband's erythrocyte membranes is decreased to 75% of control values. The amount of spectrin dimers in crude 4 degrees C spectrin extracts is increased (58%) as compared with control values (6% +/- 4%). Limited tryptic digestion reveals a marked decrease in the normal 80,000-dalton alpha I domain, an increase in the 74,000-dalton fragment that is characteristic of Sp alpha I/74, and an increase in a series of new fragments of 61,000, 55,000, 21,000, and 16,000 daltons. Both parents are asymptomatic, but they have increased amounts of spectrin dimers (17% to 25%). Limited tryptic digestion of the father's spectrin demonstrates the presence of a previously identified abnormal spectrin (Sp alpha I/74) that is characterized by a decrease in content of the 80,000-dalton peptide and an increase in concentration of the 74,000-dalton peptide. The mother's spectrin digests show a decrease in the amount of 80,000-dalton peptide and the formation of new peptides of 61,000, 55,000, 21,000, and 16,000 daltons. The data indicate that this severe form of HPP is due to the inheritance of two distinct abnormal spectrins, Sp alpha I/74 and a new spectrin mutant, Sp alpha I/61.     

Hepatoprotectors prevent the toxic action of cyclophosphamide on the liver of rats with CCl4-induced hepatitis model

The results of experiments on white rats with CCl4-induced hepatitis showed that the combined introduction of cyclophosphamide and hepatoprotectors of the plant origin (lochein, maksar, silimarin) leads to a decrease in acute toxicity and to less pronounced manifestations of hepatotoxicity of cyclophosphamide. Hepatoprotectors decrease the activity of aminotransferases, reduce the level of bilirubin, normalize the content of protein andpipids in the blood serum, and suppress the development of morphological disorders in the liver.     

Mechanism of Targeted Migration of Mesenchymal Stem Cells

Experiments performed on mice C57Bl/6 with the use of GFP technology showed that activation of apoptosis is a potent physiological stimulus for targeted migration of mesenchymal stem cell from the blood to tissues. The effect of apoptosis-induced targeted migration of stem cells can be used in cell therapy of damaged organs and tissues in various pathological states.     

Cardioprotective, inotropic, and anti-arrhythmia properties of a complex adaptogen "Tonizid"

We have studied the new complex plant adaptogen preparation tonizid containing dry extracts of Aralia mandshurica, Panax ginseng, Rhodiola rosea, and Eleutherococcus senticosus. The course administration (5 days) of tonizid led to a decrease in the ratio of necrotic zone size/risk area during a 45-min local ischemia and a 2-hr reperfusion in artificially ventilated chloralose anaesthetized rats. This compound decreased the necrotic zone but did not change the size of the risk area. Tonizid also prevented an appearance of ventricular fibrillation during a 45-min coronary artery occlusion, but did not affect the incidence of ventricular arrhythmias during a brief ischemia and reperfusion. In a separate series of experiments, tonizid was administered during 5 days to rats with postinfarction cardiac sclerosis, which was formed 45 days after coronary artery occlusion. In this case, tonizid dose-dependently elevated the ventricular fibrillation threshold. The experiments in vitro were performed on a model of 35-min total ischemia and 30-min reperfusion of isolated rat heart using the Langendorff technique. The course administration of tonizid attenuated the reperfusion-induced decrease in the left ventricular pressure and the rate of contraction. However, tonizid did not prevent a reperfusion-induced reduction in the heart rate, a decrease in the rate of relaxation, and an increase in the final diastolic pressure. Tonizid decreased the creatine kinase levels in the venous effluent from isolated rat heart during reperfusion. At the same time, the plant adaptogen did not affect the incidence of ventricular arrhythmias and coronary flow. It is suggested that tonizid can be used as an adaptogen drug attenuating the contractility dysfunction and preventing an appearance of irreversible cardiomyocyte damage during ischemia and reperfusion. Tonizid exhibits cardioprotective and antifibrillatory properties during acute cardiac ischemia/reperfusion and postinfarction cardiac fibrosis.