Spectrophotometric determination of isonaphthazarin impurity in 1,4-dioxo-2,2,3,3-tetrahydroxy-1,2,3,4-terahydronaphthalene (tetraxolin)

A quantitative spectrophotometric method has been developed for determining the impurity of isonaphthazarin in samples of tetraxolin. The relative error of determination is about 1.0% at a confidence probability of P = 0.95%. The procedure is recommended for the quantitative control of the possible impurity of isonaphthazarin in the parent substance of tetraxolin. __________ Translated from Khimiko-Farmatsevticheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 41, No. 1, pp. 38–40, January, 2007.     

Sperm chromatin integrity in young men with no experiences of infertility and men from idiopathic infertility couples

Damage to the genetic component of spermatozoa seems to play the main role in a majority of cases where current approaches fail to reveal the specific cause of male infertility. In this study, we compared semen quality in men assigned to two defined groups: men from couples with unexplained infertility – idiopathic infertility (A) and young men with no experiences of infertility (B). All samples were examined by standard ejaculate analysis and sperm chromatin structure assay (SCSA). Sperm chromatin damage was significantly higher in men from group A than in those from group B. Similar results were obtained by comparison of men from group A (all men were normozoospermic) with normozoospermic men from group B. According to these results, we can suppose that chromatin disorders may be the causal factor of subfertility or infertility in some of these men. No evidence for a strong association between chromatin disorders and standard parameters of ejaculates was found. We failed to confirm a relationship between smoking and sperm quality in men from any of the investigated groups. SCSA is a method that facilitates the identification of infertile men who otherwise show normal semen variables.     

Experimental axonopathy induced by immunization with campylobacter jejuni lipopolysaccharide from a patient with guillain‐barré syndrome

Campylobacter jejuni (C. jejunj) infection is the most common antecedent in the axonal variant of Guillain‐Barré syndrome (GBS). Antibodies against nerve gangliosides found in GBS patients recognize cross‐reactive epitopes in the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) of C. jejuni. This led to the molecular mimicry hypothesis of GBS. We immunized eleven rabbits with a LPS extracted from HS:19 C. jejuni strain isolated from a patient with GBS and complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA)(group I). In a second experiment we immunized seven rabbits with LPS, CFA and keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH)(group II). All group I rabbits developed high titers of anti‐LPS, anti‐GM1, anti‐GD1b antibodies and lower titers of anti‐GD1a. One rabbit, 50 days after initial inoculation, showed tremor and weakness. All rabbits of group II developed high titres of antiganglioside antibodies and six animals showed weakness 59–113 days after initial inoculation. Two rabbits died. Pathology showed mild to moderate, tendentially grouped, axonal degeneration in sciatic nerves of four out of five animals. Control rabbits of group I (immunized with CFA only) did not develop antibodies, controls of group II (immunized with CFA + KLH) developed low titers of IgG anti‐GM1. None developed neurological signs or showed axonal degeneration. C. jejuni LPS is a potent B‐cell stimulator capable to induce a strong antiganglioside response in rabbits. However, to induce the neuropathy is crucial to employ KLH, a glycoprotein known to stimulate both humoral and cellular responses. This animal model reproduces the pathogenetic process hypothesized in axonal GBS with antiganglioside antibodies post C. jejuni infection.     

Disorders of perfusion of the anterior segment of the eye

Background: We have investigated the vascular perfusion of a wide variety of conditions of the anterior segment using fluorescein angiography.
Methods: The conditions were classified and findings reported according to the system set out below. Patients underwent full ocular examination. Fluorescein angiography of the anterior segment was carried out when indicated to investigate iris atrophy and neovascularisation. Specular microscopy of the corneal endothelium was used to detect changes in this tissue.
Results: The hypoperfusion was variable in degree and accompanied by varying degrees of iris hypoplasia and atrophy with neovascularisation. The degree of neovascularisation depended upon its rapidity of development, the pre-existing state of vascular perfusion and the underlying pathological condition.
Conclusions: Hypoperfusion with resultant ischaemia and neovascularisation is common in conditions of the anterior segment. An understanding of the changes is valuable in treating many conditions affecting the anterior segment. The changes observed may also occur elsewhere in the physical system and may be a significant part of the ageing process, either as scattered, disparate processes or as part of a general disease process.     

Postoperative radiation therapy in the management of lung cancer

Postoperative radiation therapy for lung cancer is still controversial. In a 9-year period, 69 patients with non-oat-cell carcinoma of the lung (16% stage I, 26% stage II, and 58% stage III) received such therapy. The radiation dose was less than 5,000 cGy in 42 patients, 5,000-5,900 cGy in 16, and 6,000 cGy or more in 11; follow-up ranged from 24 to 64 months. Actuarial survival at 2 and 4 years was 50% and 16%, respectively, for squamous cell carcinoma, and 40% and 26% for adenocarcinoma. The 5-year survival for stages I, II, and III cancer was 29%, 17%, and 19%, respectively. Histologic findings and type of surgery did not affect survival, but the radiation dose apparently did. The 3-year survival for patients who received less than 6,000 cGy was 35%, compared with 73% for patients who received higher doses. In eight patients, treatment failed within the irradiated volume: all had received doses of less than 6,000 cGy, and the volume in three was judged to be inadequate.     

Diagnostic value of studying the indicators of blood lipid composition and the status of intravascular microcirculation in patients with diabetes mellitus associated with ischemic heart disease

A comprehensive study of blood lipid composition and microcirculatory indices was performed in 88 patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) combined with coronary heart disease (CHD). A "syndrome" of mutual aggravation was shown to develop in the combination of DM and CHD. As a result of it the above indices were changed depending on clinical signs of each of the two diseases. Lipid metabolic and microcirculatory derangements depended mostly on a degree of compensation of carbohydrate metabolism. a DM type, the presence of diabetic angiopathies and CHD gravity.     

Morphological analysis of the formation of cluster organization of neurons,forming the corticocortical connections in the cat visual cortex in early postnatal ontogenesis

The development of cluster organization of neurons forming direct interzonal associative projections from striate cortex (area 17) to extrastriate area 21a in cat was studied by a technique of horseradish peroxidase retrograde transport. Reconstruction of cortical region containing retrogradely labeled neurons was performed using continuous serial sections of the brain. The analysis of spatial organization was done and quantitative characteristics of distribution pattern of initial corticocortical neurons in striate cortex in kittens were obtained. Interzonal connections were detected since 14th postnatal day. Neuronal cluster organization started forming after day 21 while its pattern became similar to that in the adult animal both qualitatively and quantitatively by the end of the 2nd postnatal month, that is somewhat later than it was previously thought. The data obtained also demonstrate the age-dependent decrease in the convergence of the striate cortex projections to area 21a associated with the reduction of the area, occupied by initial neurons.