Pathogenesis of fetal hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus

The development of fetuses and their hearts (24th–37th week of pregnancy) in mothers with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus of various severity was studied by M-echocardiography, dopplerometry, and fetometry. A relationship is demonstrated between the early formation of macrosomia and cardiomyopathy, on the one hand, and the severity of diabetes, on the other. Along with metabolic disorders, hemodynamic disturbances in the mother-placenta-fetus system, which depend on the disease severity, play a role in the pathogenesis of fetal cardiomyopathy. Translated fromByulleten' Eksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 121, No. 6, pp. 698–701, June, 1996     

Formation of Morphine Tolerance in Offspring of Morphine-Tolerant Animals: Neurochemical and Neuroimmune Correlates

We carried out a complex physiological, neurochemical, and neuroimmunologic study of the formation of tolerance to analgetic effect of morphine and analyzed enkephalinase A activity in different brain structures and serotonin antibodies in the serum. More early development of morphine tolerance and a sharp increase in serum antibody titer was found in the offspring of morphine-tolerant rats. This points to an imbalance in the neurotransmitter system and can serve as a diagnostic marker of endogenous opioid system pathology.     

Immunological correlation between morphine tolerance and the effect of naloxone in rats of different age

In 3–6-week-old morphine-sensitive rats, in which morphine injection produced an analgetic effect, the serum titer of antimorphine antibodies 24 h postinjection is less than half that observed in morphine-resistant animals. Administration of naloxone to morphine-sensitive rats induces hyperalgesia and considerably raises the serum titer of antimorphine antibodies. Chronic injections of the same dose of morphine, which cause its analgetic effect to disappear, increase the titer of antibodies in morphine-sensitive rats 2-fold. In morphine-resistant rats naloxone produces an analgetic effect followed by its gradual decay and disappearance in the course of chronic administration. Subsequent administration of morphine induces analgesia, raises the titer of antimorphine antibodies, and lowers the titer of antiidiotypic antibodies. Translated fromByulleten' Eksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 121, N ^o 1, pp. 67–70, January, 1996 Presented by K. V. Sudakov, Member of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences     

Dietary polyamines promote the growth of azoxymethane-induced aberrant crypt foci in rat colon

We have examined whether dietary polyamines influence the formation and initial growth of azoxymethane (AOM)-induced aberrant crypt foci (ACF) in rat colon. Effects of a combination of dietary polyamines at three dose levels (putrescine: 50, 280, 740 nmol/g; spermidine: 10, 261, 763 nmol/g; spermine: 1, 31, 91 nmol/g) in the polyamine-poor AIN-76A diet were studied in animals in two different experimental situations: animals treated with AOM alone and animals treated with AOM + difluoromethylornithine (DFMO), a specific inhibitor of endogenous polyamine synthesis. In both experimental situations, dietary polyamines enhanced the growth of ACF, expressed as the number of large ACF (foci with three or more aberrant crypts, ACF > or = 3), whereas the formation of ACF, expressed as the number of ACF, was apparently not altered. In animals treated with AOM alone, maximal growth enhancing effect on ACF was nearly obtained with the median level of dietary polyamine. In rats fed a low polyamine diet, basic AIN-76A, DFMO reduced the growth of AOM-induced ACF by 83%. This inhibitory effect of DFMO was counteracted by dietary polyamines in a dose- dependent manner, and it was abolished at the highest level of polyamines. In conclusion, it was demonstrated that dietary polyamines are able to enhance the growth of AOM-induced ACF. Further, dietary polyamines reversed the DFMO-caused inhibition of ACF growth, probably by compensating for the DFMO-reduced endogenous polyamine synthesis.      

Synthesis and DNA-Binding Properties of 9-Formylacridine and 9-Formylanthracene Aminoacetylhydrazones

The dependence of the affinity of compounds to DNA on the structure of their fragments intercalating into the double helix was studied in a series of aminoacetylhydrazones of 9-formylacridine and 9-formylanthracene. The synthesized compounds were characterized by the intercalating properties and the ability to inhibit the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The affinity to DNA was found to be higher for acridine derivatives (log K _a = 7.37 – 8.04) than for anthracene derivatives (log K _a = 5.37 – 6.12). At the same time, both acridines and anthracenes showed insignificant ability to inhibit PCR. Thus, no correlation between the affinity to DNA and the ability to inhibit DNA replication was observed for the compounds studied. __________ Translated from Khimiko-Farmatsevticheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 39, No. 4, pp. 16 – 20, April, 2005.     

Effect of recombinant interleukin-5, interleukin-3, and eotaxin on apoptosis in eosinophilic granulocytes

We studied in vitro effects of recombinant interleukin-5, interleukin-3, and eotaxin on programmed death of eosinophils from healthy donors and patients with non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas associated with severe blood eosinophilia. Interleukin-5 and eotaxin produced the most potent antiapoptotic effect on eosinophils from healthy donors. In patients with non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas, spontaneous apoptosis in eosinophilic leukocytes was low and remained unchanged during incubation with recombinant proteins. __________ Translated from Byulleten’ Eksperimental’noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 143, No. 4, pp. 370–373, April, 2007