The importance of p24 antigen identification among people with negative and controversial results of HIV infection immune blot

In order to determine whether to include in the standard HIV testing algorithm p24 antigen analysis, the results of the repeated studies in immune blot (IB) of 183 people have been analyzed. All patients in the initial examination had HIV positive results in enzyme immunodetection and HIV negative or controversial results in immune blot. 71 patients were identified p24 antigenin the initial examination, and 112 people showed negative result. Our studies showed that the use of this test increases the efficiency of HIV testing, and in 84.5% of cases p24 antigen detection among people with controversial and negative immune blot results indicates the presence of HIV infection early stage.С целью определения целесообразности включения в стандартный алгоритм тестирования на ВИЧ-инфекцию анализа на антиген р24, были проанализированы результаты повторных исследований в иммунном блоте (ИБ) у 183 человек. Все пациенты при первичном обследовании имели положительные результаты в иммуноферментном анализе (ИФА) на ВИН и отрицательные или сомнительные результаты ИБ. У 71 пациента при первичном обследовании был выявлен антиген р24, у 112 получен отрицательный результат. В результате проведенного исследования было установлено, что использование данного теста повышает эффективность тестирования на ВИН, и в 84,5% случаев выявление антигена р24 у лиц с сомнительным и отрицательным результатом ИБ свидетельствует о наличии ранней стадии ВИН-инфекции

Some Characteristics of Free Cell Population in the Airways of Rats after Intratracheal Instillation of Copper-Containing Nano-Scale Particles

We used stable water suspensions of copper oxide particles with mean diameter 20 nm and of particles containing copper oxide and element copper with mean diameter 340 nm to assess the pulmonary phagocytosis response of rats to a single intratracheal instillation of these suspensions using optical, transmission electron, and semi-contact atomic force microscopy and biochemical indices measured in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. Although both nano and submicron ultrafine particles were adversely bioactive, the former were found to be more toxic for lungs as compared with the latter while evoking more pronounced defense recruitment of alveolar macrophages and especially of neutrophil leukocytes and more active phagocytosis. Based on our results and literature data, we consider both copper solubilization and direct contact with cellular organelles (mainly, mitochondria) of persistent particles internalized by phagocytes as probable mechanisms of their cytotoxicity

Some inferences from in vivo experiments with metal and metal oxide nanoparticles: the pulmonary phagocytosis response, subchronic systemic toxicity and genotoxicity, regulatory proposals, searching for bioprotectors (a self-overview)

The purpose of this paper is to overview and summarize previously published results of our experiments on white rats exposed to either a single intratracheal instillation or repeated intraperitoneal injections of silver, gold, iron oxide, copper oxide, nickel oxide, and manganese oxide nanoparticles (NPs) in stable water suspensions without any chemical additives. Based on these results and some corroborating data of other researchers we maintain that these NPs are much more noxious on both cellular and systemic levels as compared with their 1 μm or even submicron counterparts. However, within the nanometer range the dependence of systemic toxicity on particle size is intricate and non-unique due to complex and often contra-directional relationships between the intrinsic biological aggressiveness of the specific NPs, on the one hand, and complex mechanisms that control their biokinetics, on the other. Our data testify to the high activity of the pulmonary phagocytosis of NPs deposited in airways. This fact suggests that safe levels of exposure to airborne NPs are possible in principle. However, there are no reliable foundations for establishing different permissible exposure levels for particles of different size within the nanometric range. For workroom air, such permissible exposure levels of metallic NP can be proposed at this stage, even if tentatively, based on a sufficiently conservative approach of decreasing approximately tenfold the exposure limits officially established for respective micro-scale industrial aerosols. It was shown that against the background of adequately composed combinations of some bioactive agents (comprising pectin, multivitamin-multimineral preparations, some amino acids, and omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid) the systemic toxicity and even genotoxicity of metallic NPs could be markedly attenuated. Therefore we believe that, along with decreasing NP-exposures, enhancing organisms’ resistance to their adverse action with the help of such bioprotectors can prove an efficient auxiliary tool of health risk management in occupations connected with them

Microbiological diagnostics of ventilator-associated pneumonia: Practical experience

Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is a leading type infectious complications in ICU patients. Here we discuss standard microbiological diagnostic procedures and etiology of VAP in ICU patients in Yekaterinburg hospitals in 2005-2007.Вентилятор-ассоциированная пневмония занимает ведущее место среди инфекционных осложнений, возникающих у пациентов ОРИТ. В настоящей статье представлены стандартные операционные процедуры по микробиологической диагностике и результаты, полученные в ходе мониторинга возбудителей пневмонии в отделениях реанимации и интенсивной терапии ЛПУ г. Екатеринбурга в 2005-2007 гг