ROLE OF ANGIOGENIC FACTORS FOR TRANSPLACENTAL TRANSFER OF THE MEASLES ANTIBODIES

Angiogenesis factors (VEGF, Ang-1, TGF-β) influence production, development and functioning of vascular endothelium that are part of the placental barrier structure and are involved into transplacental transfer of different substances. The aim of this study was to study the relationship between VEGF, Ang-1, and TGF-β concentrations, and the levels of transplacental IgG-antibodies to the measles virus in cord blood of children born to mothers with placental insufficiency. Patients and methods: venous blood was taken from 32 women with uncomplicated pregnancies, and 34 samples from pregnant women with placental insufficiency, as well as umbilical blood of their newborns, the level of IgG-antibodies to measles and the concentration of some angiogenic factors (VEGF, Ang-1, TGF-β) examined by ELISA techniques. The following results were obtained: in a cord blood of infants seronegative for the measles virus, born to women with placental insufficiency, showed uniformly low VEGF levels, decreased Ang-1 concentration (1.6) and increased TGF-β concentration (2.7) as compared to seropositive newborns. In a similar group of children from mothers with physiological pregnancy, the level of these factors did not differ from those in newborns with protective antibodies to measles. Conclusion: in physiological pregnancy, transplacental transmission of IgG-antibodies to the measles virus is directly dependent on the presence of specific antibodies in a woman; in case of placental insufficiency, an imbalance in the system of angiogenic factors may promote disturbances of transmission mechanisms for IgG measles-specific antibodies from mother to the fetus

Dynamics of cellular immunity indicators in the complex treatment of acute optic neuritis

An increase in the incidence of optic neuritis among the working-age population, as well as an unpromising prognosis for vision due to the development of optic nerve atrophy, determines the high social significance of this problem. The aim of the work is to analyze the effect of Imunofan at the parameters of cellular immunity and clinical symptoms of the disease in the complex treatment of optic neuritis associated with herpes virus infection. The study involved 37 people (37 eyes) with acute optic neuritis associated with herpes infection. The treatment regimen included the appointment of a dexamethasone solution according to a decreasing scheme, a 1% solution of the drug Emoxipin 0.5 mL and a 12.5% solution of the drug Dicynone 0.5 mL through an irrigation system implanted in the retrobulbar space, in combination with the neuroprotection drugs (Pikamilon and Semax) for 10 days. All patients were divided into 2 groups. The main group consisted of 20 patients who received Imunofan to the treatment regimen in addition. The comparison group included 17 patients who were treated only according to the method described above. The course of treatment lasted 10 days. The analysis of the data showed a more significant positive dynamics of cellular immunity parameters in those who received immunotherapy. Our studies showed the effectiveness of this drug in the complex treatment of optic neuritis associated with herpes infection, what is confirmed by the acceleration of inflammation relief, a more significant increase in visual functions of patients treated with Imunofan, and a lower percentage of optic nerve atrophy. In this group of patients, changes in the parameters of the cellular link of immunity occurred earlier and remained stable throughout the entire period of observation. According to our data, an intergroup assessment of the immunoregulatory index showed its faster increase in patients of the comparison group who received Imunofan, and reached normal values already 6 months after treatment. The clinical effectiveness of Imunofan in the complex therapy of optic neuritis associated with herpes infection was characterized by a reduction in the period of relief of signs of inflammation in the optic nerve by 2 times or more, by an increase in the maximum corrected visual acuity by 4.5 times, and by a decrease in the incidence of recurrence of optic neuritis by 2 times over a 12 months observation period

ОТРАСЛЕВОЙ ЭФФЕКТ ГЕЛИОУСТАНОВОК

The authors study possibility to use solar plant stations for heat supply of railway installations located far from power supply networks. They offer calculations for Russian climatic conditions in latitudes 43o –55o North.Возможности использования солнечных коллекторов для целей теплоснабжения удаленных от электросети объектов железнодорожной отрасли. Расчеты для климатических условий российских северных широт 43о и 55о

Catalytic sulfation of betulin with sulfamic acid : experiment and DFT calculation

Betulin is an important triterpenoid substance isolated from birch bark, which, together with its sulfates, exhibits important bioactive properties. We report on a newly developed method of betulin sulfation with sulfamic acid in pyridine in the presence of an Amberlyst(®)15 solid acid catalyst. It has been shown that this catalyst remains stable when being repeatedly (up to four cycles) used and ensures obtaining of sulfated betulin with a sulfur content of ~10%. The introduction of the sulfate group into the betulin molecule has been proven by Fourier-transform infrared, ultraviolet-visible, and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectra contain absorption bands at 1249 and 835–841 cm(−1); in the UV spectra, the peak intensity decreases; and, in the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra, of betulin disulfate, carbons С3 and С28 are completely shifted to the weak-field region (to 88.21 and 67.32 ppm, respectively) with respect to betulin. Using the potentiometric titration method, the product of acidity constants K(1) and K(2) of a solution of the betulin disulfate H(+) form has been found to be 3.86 × 10(–6) ± 0.004. It has been demonstrated by the thermal analysis that betulin and the betulin disulfate sodium salt are stable at temperatures of up to 240 and 220 °C, respectively. The density functional theory method has been used to obtain data on the most stable conformations, molecular electrostatic potential, frontier molecular orbitals, and mulliken atomic charges of betulin and betulin disulfate and to calculate the spectral characteristics of initial and sulfated betulin, which agree well with the experimental data

El Tor cholera at the contemporary stage of the seventh pandemia: pathogen evolution, clinical and epidemiological features, laboratory diagnostics

The phenotypic and molecular genetic properties of 133 strains of genetically modified (genovariant) Vibrio cholerae O1 El Tor biovar isolated from patients in Dagestan (1993, 1994, 1998), and compared with 246 strains of a typical toxigenic cholera vibrio El Tor biovar isolated in 1970–1990 at the Caucasus Region. It was found that 48.7% of the studied genetically modified strain variants had mixed phenotypic properties of the El Tor and classic biovars that evidences about a need to include the marker genes of the classical biovar (ctxBCl+, rtxC–) and the El Tor biovar (ctxBEl+, rtxC+) into the existing biotyping scheme. The genes of the El Tor biovar, isolated from patients in Dagestan, contain in addition to the El Tor ones, the genes of the classical biovar (ctxBCl and/or rstRCl), as well as the typical toxigenic cholera vibrios of El Tor, islands of persistence (EPI), pathogenicity (VPI-1 and VPI-2) and pandemicity (VSP-I and VSP-II). However, only the El Tor biovar genovariants were found to bear an integrative and conjugative SXT element with antibiotic polyresistance genes. Epidemic cholera outbreaks caused by the El Tor biovar genovariants that occurred in 1993–1998 at the Caucasus Region, correspond to classical (Asian) cholera based on disease severity. The epidemiological features of modern cholera were studied: the main way for transmission via fecal-oral route for typical El Tor cholera vibrio is waterborne, whereas for the El Tor gene variant — household. Primary infections upon water drinking and using domestic water from surface water bodies infected with typical El Tor vibrios occur outside the family hearth. In case of cholera caused by hybrid El Tor variants, infection is transmitted among family members via domestic factors under low sanitary level. The development of laboratory diagnostics and epidemiological surveillance of modern El Tor cholera is based on the development of PCR test systems taking into account the evolutionary genome transformations

Behavioural impairments in mice of a novel FUS transgenic line recapitulate features of frontotemporal lobar degeneration.

Multiple clinical and experimental evidence suggest that ALS and FTLD are members of a disease continuum. Pathological FUS inclusions have been observed in subsets of patients with these diseases but their anatomical distribution is different for two diseases. These structures are present in motor neurons in ALS cases but in cortical neurons in FTLD cases. Expression of a C‐terminally truncated form of human FUS causes an early onset and progressive motor neuron pathology in transgenic mice but only when these neurons express a certain level of this protein. Severe motor dysfunction and early lethality of mice with expression above this level prevent their use for studies of FTLD‐related pathology caused by expression of this form of FUS. In the present study we used another line of mice expressing the same protein but not developing any signs of motor system dysfunction due to substantially lower level of transgene expression in motor neurons. In a set of tests 5‐month old mice displayed certain behavioural abnormalities, including increased impulsivity, decreased anxiety and compromised social interaction, that recapitulate behaviour characteristics typically seen in FTLD patients