The first TIPS surgery performed in the Udmurt Republic in a young patient with secondary biliary cirrhosis

Treatment of patients with iatrogenic injuries of the biliary tract is the most difficult and important section in hepatobiliary surgery. When analyzing the causes, it was found that in 70–94 % of cases this type of injury is observed during cholecystectomy. We present a rare clinical case of the development of secondary biliary cirrhosis due to iatrogenic trauma of the biliary tract. This injury caused long-term suffering for the patient due to the further development of complications of cirrhosis, specifically of portal hypertension. The latter caused repeated recurrent profuse bleeding from varicose veins of the esophagus. The use of a minimally invasive transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt procedure for the first time in the Udmurt Republic was of particular relevance in solving this problem. This procedure has become a key one in solving the abovementioned problems and will become the preventive measure for the cirrhosis progression in the future. It is also important to focus on prophylactic measures aimed at preventing iatrogenic injuries of the biliary tract, as this problem can cause irreversible complications. Prevention should include adequate examination and visualization of the bile ducts and gallbladder before surgery, their careful mobilization, compliance with the rules of operation with electrosurgical instruments, as well as the use of additional minimally invasive techniques such as choledoscopy, cholangiography and intraoperative ultrasound. Besides that, all manipulations should be carried out under strict control and clear visualization of instruments and anatomical structures of organs. The article provides a detailed description of the technique of transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt surgery, as well as presents X-ray images obtained during this operation

A Novel Tool for Studying Auxin-Metabolism: The Inhibition of Grapevine Indole-3-Acetic Acid-Amido Synthetases by a Reaction Intermediate Analogue

An important process for the regulation of auxin levels in plants is the inactivation of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) by conjugation to amino acids. The conjugation reaction is catalysed by IAA-amido synthetases belonging to the family of GH3 proteins. Genetic approaches to study the biological significance of these enzymes have been hampered by large gene numbers and a high degree of functional redundancy. To overcome these difficulties a chemical approach based on the reaction mechanism of GH3 proteins was employed to design a small molecule inhibitor of IAA-amido synthetase activity. Adenosine-5′-[2-(1H-indol-3-yl)ethyl]phosphate (AIEP) mimics the adenylated intermediate of the IAA-conjugation reaction and was therefore proposed to compete with the binding of MgATP and IAA in the initial stages of catalysis. Two grapevine IAA-amido synthetases with different catalytic properties were chosen to test the inhibitory effects of AIEP in vitro. GH3-1 has previously been implicated in the grape berry ripening process and is restricted to two amino acid substrates, whereas GH3-6 conjugated IAA to 13 amino acids. AIEP is the most potent inhibitor of GH3 enzymes so far described and was shown to be competitive against MgATP and IAA binding to both enzymes with Ki-values 17-68-fold lower than the respective Km-values. AIEP also exhibited in vivo activity in an ex planta test system using young grape berries. Exposure to 5–20 µM of the inhibitor led to decreased levels of the common conjugate IAA-Asp and reduced the accumulation of the corresponding Asp-conjugate upon treatment with a synthetic auxin. AIEP therefore represents a novel chemical probe with which to study IAA-amido synthetase function

Efficient new process for the desulfurization of mixtures of air and hydrogen sulfide via a dielectric barrier discharge plasma

The efficient removal of hydrogen sulfide, H₂S, from streams of H₂S in air via a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma has been investigated using a quadrupole mass spectrometer. A suitable plasma device with a reservoir for storing sorbent powder of various kinds within the plasma region was constructed. Plasma treatments of gas streams with high concentrations of hydrogen sulfide in air yielded a removal of more than 98% of the initial hydrogen sulfide and a deposition of sulfur at the surface of the dielectric, while small amounts of sulfur dioxide were generated. The presence of calcium carbonate within the plasma region of the DBD device resulted in the removal of over 99% of the initial hydrogen sulfide content and the removal of 98% of the initial sulfur dioxide impurities from the gas mixture