Quantitative ESI-MS analysis of antiarrhythmic drugs in blood plasma without chromatographic separation

A highly sensitive method for the quantitative determination of a potential antiarrhythmic drug (OF-7976) in the blood plasma has been developed. The method is based on the electron spray ionization/mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) technique without preliminary chromatographic separation and makes use of nibentan as the internal standard. A linear relationship between drug concentration and the peak intensity of ions of the analyzed substance (m/z = 398) and the internal standard (m/z = 382) is established. The detection limit is 3 ng/(0.5 ml plasma). The method is linear from 3 to 25 ng/(0.5 ml plasma) with a correlation coefficient of 0.98. The coefficient of variation was less than 7 %. __________ Translated from Khimiko-Farmatsevticheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 41, No. 3, pp. 45–48, March, 2007.     

The characteristics of the action of polyphytochol on the course of experimental hepatitis and cholecystitis

The effect of polyphytochol representing a combination of vegetable agents was studied on models of acute toxic hepatitis caused by CCl4 and cholecystitis. The efficiency of the drug in pathology of the hepatobiliary system was shown: it decreases cholestasis acting as a choleretic and bile-secreting drug, acts on the main pathogenetic links in hepatitis, exerts a marked membrane-stabilizing effect, influences favourably the processes of synthesis in the liver.     

A new mixed plant preparation possessing antistressor properties

The optimum extraction conditions for obtaining a new mixed plant preparation (tanton) have been determined and its phytochemical composition has been studied. The antistressor activity of tanton has been established in experiments on white rats. __________ Translated from Khimiko-Farmatsevticheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 41, No. 11, pp. 42–46, November, 2007.     

Strong association of HLA-Cw6 allele with juvenile psoriasis in Polish patients

Association of psoriasis vulgaris with HLA-C is not equally strong in different human populations. It has not yet been studied in Polish patients at DNA level, but only by serology that is inadequate for HLA-C. Therefore, we examined the distribution of HLA-C alleles by means of low resolution PCR-SSP in 102 Polish psoriatics and 123 healthy controls. We have found significantly higher representation of HLA-Cw*06 (odds ratio, 18.73; P(cor)<0.001) and significantly lower representation of HLA-Cw*07 (odds ratio, 0.41; P(cor)<0.038) in patients than in controls. Association of HLA-Cw*06 with psoriasis was even stronger in early age at onset (0-20 years) group: odds ratio, 77.71; P(cor)<0.001. Therefore, our population seems to belong to those with strong association of psoriasis with HLA-Cw*06.     

Intertrial responses of rats in two-way avoidance learning to visual and auditory stimuli.

Learning and performance of two-way avoidance were investigated in a total of 68 rats trained with either a visual (change in illumination to darkness or to light) or an auditory (white noise of 70 or 60 dB intensity) conditioned stimulus (CS). Experiment I showed that the darkness CS produce lower avoidance performance and a much higher rate of intertrial responses than either a auditory or a compound (visual plus auditory) CS. A monotonic within-session increase of avoidance performance and a similar, but less regular increase of intertrial responses were found at the beginning of training in each group. In later sessions such trends were observed only in rats trained with a visual CS. Experiments II and III showed also rapid transfer of avoidance response and a corresponding change of intertrial response rate with the change of CS modality. When the compound CS was used, the effects of the visual element were completely overcome by the auditory one. Rats trained with a visual CS in Experiment IV showed a positive correlation between avoidance performance and the number of intertrial responses, which was more pronounced in earlier than in later training sessions. We consider the rise of intertrial behaviour as an adaptive response to the increase of task difficulty. CSi of different modalities differ not only in relative saliency, but also in the discriminability between their onset and offset. The modality of the CS influences not only avoidance performance but also the course of learning.     

Investigation of the “valency” of antibodies by means of azoproteins

Summary The valency of antibodies was studied by the method of exhaustion of antisera against mono-and diazoproteins, and subsequent cross reactions both with the antibodies left over in the supernatant fluid of the serum and with the precipitating and nonprecipitating antibodies isolated from the precipitate.It was proved that the antibodies interact with the antigens as multivalent compounds.The valency determined with regard to the azoproteins is dependent upon the number of groups introduced.Thus, bivalent antibodies correspond to monoazoproteins and trivalent ones to diazoproteins.The valency of antibodies is, evidently, determined by the structural similarity of the heterologous and the immunizing antigens as well as by the less complete specific conformity between the individual structural peculiarities of the antigen and its antibody.From the Tashkent Pharmaceutical Institute (Director-Docent M. A. Azizov)Presented by Active Member AMN SSSR N. N. Zhukov-Verezhnikov     

Integrative and replicative transformation of Penicillium canescens with a heterologous nitrate-reductase gene

A wild isolate of Penicillium canescens was subjected to mutagenesis, and 150 chlorate-resistant mutants were isolated and classified in respect of their ability to utilize various nitrogen sources. Strains supposedly deficient in nitrate reductase have been transformed with the nitrate-reductase gene from Aspergillus niger. Transformation probably occurred by non-homologous integration of the transforming vector into the chromosome. Co-transformation with the AMA1 replicating element from A. nidulans enhanced transformation frequency up to 2000-fold, and was shown to result in autonomous maintenance of replicating concatenates, one of which was re-isolated by transformation of E. coli.