Detection of the circulation of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus in the piedmont steppes of the North Caucasus

The laboratory verified cases of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) in the piedmont steppes of the North Caucasus (Malgobeksky District, Republic of Ingushetia) are first described. The source of the first infection was Ixodidae ticks; three subsequent sources were contacts with the bloody discharges from patients. CCHF virus genome was detected in the blood of the cattle from an epidemic focus and in the pools of the Ixodes ticks Haemaphysalis parva Neum., 1897 and Boophilus annulatus Say, 1821, taken from cattle. The problem of including the piedmont steppes of the North Caucasus into the CCHF nosological area is discussed.     

Physicochemical and Biological Properties of a Nanostructured IR-Photosensitizer Based on Dipropoxybacteriopurpurinimide

Pharmaceutical Chemistry Journal - The production technology for nanoparticles based on a copolymer of lactic and glycolic acids (PLGA) containing dipropoxybacteriopurpurinimide (DPBPI) and...     

Time‐ and concentration‐dependent genomic responses of the rat airway to inhaled nickel sulfate

While insoluble nickel subsulfide (Ni₃S₂) was carcinogenic in the lung in a 2‐year rat bioassay, soluble nickel sulfate hexahydrate (NiSO_4*6H₂O) was not. To investigate whether differences in the cellular responses to these two nickel compounds could underlie their differential activities, we conducted parallel studies to determine the gene expression changes in micro‐dissected lung distal airway cells from Fischer 344 rats following inhalation of the two compounds for one and four weeks (6 hr per day, 5 days per week). The results of the Ni₃S₂ study have been reported previously; this paper reports the results for NiSO₄ and provides a comparative analysis. The cellular responses to NiSO₄ were highly similar to those previously reported for Ni₃S₂, and a set of genes was identified whose expression could be used as biomarkers for comparing cellular nickel effects from in vitro or in vivo studies with soluble NiSO₄ and particulate Ni₃S₂. Evaluation of the genomic concentration‐responses for the two compounds suggests that the highest inhaled concentration in the tumor bioassay for NiSO₄, which was limited by toxicity, may not have achieved the Ni concentrations at which tumors were observed in the Ni₃S₂ bioassay. However, several key differences in the immune responses to NiSO₄ and Ni₃S₂ were identified that may result from the differential intracellular disposition of Ni from NiSO₄ entering the cell as an ion rather than as a slowly soluble Ni₃S₂ particle. These differences may also contribute to the observation of tumors in the bioassay for Ni₃S₂ but not NiSO₄. Environ. Mol. Mutagen. 58:607–618, 2017. © 2017 The Authors Environmental and Molecular Mutagenesis published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Environmental Mutagen Society     

Efficacy of a new magnet-driven liposomal form of prednisolone in the treatment of experimental allergic dermatitis

The combination of the directed transport of magnet-driven liposomal forms of drugs to a target organ and the local action of the applied magnetic field is a promising direction for the development of new corticosteroid preparations possessing pronounced antiinflammatory activity. The antiinflammatory properties of magnet-driven liposomes containing prednisolone, liposomal prednisolone, magnet-driven liposomes, and 0.5% prednisolone ointment were evaluated in a comparative test on animals with a model of allergic dermatitis. The magnet-driven liposomes with prednisolone were prepared by means of the evaporation-phase inversion method, using a mixture of phospholipids and cholesterol obtained from cattle brain. Finely dispersed magnetite was used as a magnetic carrier. The experiments showed that the magnet-driven liposomes with prednisolone produce a more pronounced antiinflammatory action than the pure ointment. __________ Translated from Khimiko-Farmatsevticheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 40, No. 4, pp. 3–7, April, 2006.     

Use of affinity interaction of biologically active substances in practice of public health system

AIM: To determine the potentialities of use of affinity interaction of immobilized biologically active substances (bacterial cells or their fragments, toxins, antigens of various chemical nature, immunoglobulins, enzymes, gangliosides, etc.) for medical practice. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Emulsion polymerization of acrylamide monomers in the gaseous nitrogen current was used as a basic method for preparation of solid-phase magnetic immunosorbents (MIC). A procedure for preparation of siliceous MIC was also applied. The prepared MICs were used a solid phase in enzyme immunoassay and immunofluorescence assay and the recorded data were compared with those of studied conventionally used in practical medicine. RESULTS: The use of MIC made it possible to detect pathogens of particularly dangerous infections in large volumes of the samples contaminated with another microflora. With the proposed MIC, one can stand a good chance of surveying large contingents of the population, of obtaining the quantitative results in shorter periods to establish a diagnosis. With this, the sensitivity and specificity of immunoassays substantially increase. Whether MIC may be used as selective hemosorbents to remove specific antibodies from the blood of patients with rheumatic diseases for therapeutic purposes was studied. CONCLUSION: The findings are indicative of wide potentialities of use of affinity interaction of biologically active substances immobilized on inert carriers with the inserted magnetic material in the laboratory diagnosis of diseases of both infectious and autoimmune nature, which may be widely used in the in- and outpatient settings.