Localization of streptococcal membranes in mouse tissues by an immunofluorescence method

Summary The direct immunofluorescent method was used to study the distribution and duration of persistence of the streptococcus membranes in the tissues of mice after their subcutaneous (paratracheal) and intravenous injection. It has been shown that in paratracheal injection of the streptococcus membranes the latter are discovered only in the cellular tissue at the site of their entry. At first they are absorbed by neutrophils and then accumulated in the cytoplasm of the macrophages where they are retained for more than 2 months. In the case of intravenous injection of streptococcus membranes one observes their selective absorption by the reticulo-histiocytic cells of the liver and spleen.(Presented by Active Member of the Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR A. I. Nesterov) Translated from Byulleten' Éksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 61, No. 5, pp. 84–87, May, 1966     

Effect of hypoxia on function and metabolism of the alveolar macrophages

Cytophysiological and cytophotometric investigations showed that hypoxic hypoxia equivalent to an altitude of 5000 m effective for 9–11 days inhibits the phagocytic activity of the alveolar macrophages in rabbits. Meanwhile the activity of lactate and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenases in the macrophages is increased but the activity of malate dehydrogenase falls; this is indirect evidence of stimulation of glucose metabolism in the pentose shunt and of glycolysis and also of inhibition of metabolism in the Embden-Meyerhof-Krebs cycle. On the basis of experiments in vitro showing that respiration is the main source of energy supplying the phagocytic function of the pulmonary macrophages it is concluded that inhibition of respiration of the macrophages in hypoxia is the cause of the depression of their phagocytic activity.     

Morphological study of the hearts of rats carried on board biosatellites

The hearts of rats carried on board the biosatellites Kosmos-605 and Kosmos-782 were studied histologically and histochemically. A long space flight (up to 22 days) did not cause any significant structural or metabolic changes to develop in the heart. The absolute weight of the heart also was unchanged. A transient increase in phosphorylase activity in the myocardium of the rats 10–11 h after the end of the flight was due to stress resulting from exposure to the combination of extremal factors accompanying landing of the satellite.Institute of Medico-Biological Problems, Ministry of Health of the USSR, Moscow. Translated from Byulleten' Éksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 83, No. 4, pp. 485–486, April, 1977.