Effect of tumor necrosis factor alpha on the efficiency of anti-rabies vaccination

Recombinant tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) improved the survival of random-bred albino mice vaccinated with antirabies vaccine after infection with rabies CVS strain. The agent dose of 0.1 microgram/animal, injected 1 day postvaccination, was the most effective. Improvement of antiviral resistance of non-vaccinated mice under the effect of TNF-alpha suggests that the effect of this factor on nonspecific resistance factors is one of the probable mechanisms of its modulating effect.     

Molecular genetic characterization of rabies virus, isolated in Western Siberia

The paper covers a study of four rabies viruses, isolated in 2003 from man, wild foxes, badgers and home cats inhabiting entirely different districts of Novosibirsk suburb, and a sample taken from a bat from Maslaninsky district. The samples were studied by fluorescent antibody microscopy and a biological test on white mice, RT-PCR-analysis of NP-genes and sequencing. The study revealed that related variants of rabies viruses circulated in Novosibirsk region, and those formed two groups in genotype 1. Most of the amino acid replacements found in the study are only characteristic of the viruses circulating in the given territory.     

Ultrastructural stereological analysis of the lungs of monkeys with Ebola fever

Ebola virus replicates in mononuclear phagocytes, endotheliocytes, and, rarely, in bronchial epitheliocytes in the lungs of subcutaneously infected green monkeys, rhesus macaques,Papio hamadryas, andMacaca iris. Quantitative analysis demonstrates specific features in infection of different cells, depending on the disease duration and dose of infection. Translated from Byulleten’Eksperimental’noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 123, No. 2, pp. 205–208, February, 1997     

Ebola virus infection in guinea pigs: presumable role of granulomatous inflammation in pathogenesis

Summary An approach combining virology with light and electron microscopy was used to study the organs of guinea pigs during nine serial passages of Ebola virus, strain Zaire. It was observed that the wild type of Ebola virus causes severe granulomatous inflammation in the liver and reproduces in the cells of the mononuclear phagocyte system (MPS). Based on morphological characterization, two types of virus-cell interactions were demonstrated. The obtained data evidenced for heterogeneity of the population of wild type of Ebola virus. The virus accumulated in the liver of the infected animals, and the lesions became more pronounced with passage. Degenerative changes appeared, and their severity was increased with passage in the other organs as well. The set of target cells diversified and, as a result, not only the MPS cells, but also hepatocytes, spongiocytes, endotheliocytes and fibroblasts became involved in the reproduction of Ebola virus. The possible role of granulomatous inflammation in the development of the adaptive mechanism of Ebola virus to guinea pigs is discussed.     

Novel conjugate of moxifloxacin and carboxymethylated glucan with enhanced activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Mycobacterium tuberculosis is an intracellular pathogen that persists within macrophages of the human host. One approach to improving the treatment of tuberculosis (TB) is the targeted delivery of antibiotics to macrophages using ligands to macrophage receptors. The moxifloxacin-conjugated dansylated carboxymethylglucan (M-DCMG) conjugate was prepared by chemically linking dansylcadaverine (D) and moxifloxacin (M) to carboxymethylglucan (CMG), a known ligand of macrophage scavenger receptors. The targeted delivery to macrophages and the antituberculosis activity of the conjugate M-DCMG were studied in vitro and in vivo. Using fluorescence microscopy, fluorimetry, and the J774 macrophage cell line, M-DCMG was shown to accumulate in macrophages through scavenger receptors in a dose-dependent (1 to 50 microg/ml) manner. After intravenous administration of M-DCMG into C57BL/6 mice, the fluorescent conjugate was concentrated in the macrophages of the lungs and spleen. Analyses of the pharmacokinetics of the conjugate demonstrated that M-DCMG was more rapidly accumulated and more persistent in tissues than free moxifloxacin. Importantly, therapeutic studies of mycobacterial growth in C57BL/6 mice showed that the M-DCMG conjugate was significantly more potent than free moxifloxacin.     

Lissavirus in bats residing in the South of West Siberia

We caught, 2002-2003 in caves of Novosibirsk Region and Altai Territory, 52 bats (Myotis daubentoni, Myotis brandtii, Murina leucogaster, Plecotus auritus). Examinations of the animals' brain samples by fluorescence antibody microscopy and RT-PCR revealed lyssaviruses, genotype 1, which were close to strains provoking rabies in the local animals. According to the results, bats can be involved in keeping alive the rabies foci in Western Siberia, which must be taken into account in antiepizootic measures.     

Isolation and molecular characterization of the influenza A/H5N1 viruses isolated during the outbreaks of avian influenza among birds in the European part of Russia in 2005: a virus strain with ozeltamivir-resistance mutation was found

The isolation and characterization of the influenza A/H5NI viruses isolated from hens that died during the outbreak of avian influenza in autumn 2005 in the Yandovka village (Tula oblast) and from a wild swan that died near the orifice of the Volga River in the zone of the Karalat Furrow were carried out. Molecular-biologic and phylogenetic analyses were performed with a view of determining possible geographical origin of strains, phylogenetic similarity of viruses and also estimating their pathogenicity, epidemic danger for people, and possible resistance to antiviral drugs. It was shown that the virus belonged to the high pathogenic variants that arose in China as a result of the reassortment of the viruses of the genotypes Z and V that circulated among poultry and wild birds. A number of molecular markers characterizing the high pathogenicity of the virus for gallinaceous birds and mammals were revealed, but the specific mutations in the hemagglutinin gene that promote the high rate of virus replication in a human organism and also the mutations of adaptation to it were not found. It was shown that the variants of the influenza A/H5N1 virus that circulated in this epizootic were sensitive to remantadine. The strain isolated from the wild swan had the mutation causing resistance to Tamiflu/ozeltamivir.