[Use of monoclonal antibodies to tumor necrosis factor (remicade) in rheumatoid arthritis: preliminary results].

Aim: To study effectiveness and tolerance of monoclonal antibodies to tumor necrosis factor (the drug remicade) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Material And Methods: Remicade treatment results are considered for 25 RA patients receiving methotrexate the activity of which was inadequate for these patients. Remicade was infused intravenously in a dose 200 mg 4 times for 22 weeks.

[Hydrodynamic parameters of native C-reactive protein molecule in a solution].

The hydrodynamic properties of the C-reactive protein in solution (pH 6.8) were studied using quasi-elastic light scattering and size-exclusion liquid chromatography. It was shown that the solution containing the C-reactive protein represents a polydisperse system.

[Prevalence of joint hypermobility among an adult population in Moscow].

Aim: To elucidate joint hypermotility (JHM) among adult population of Moscow by age and sex.

Material And Methods: Health survey covered 572 examinees (266 females and 306 males) in four age groups (16-20, 21-30, 31-40 and 41-50 years). JHM was assessed by Baton's scale.

[Clinical variants of joint hypermobility syndrome in respect to age].

Joint hypermotility syndrome (JHMS) was studied in 304 patients (255 women, 49 men, age 16-50 years) divided by age into four groups (16-20, 21-30, 31-40, 41-50). It was found that the incidence rate of such symptoms as polyarthralgia, recurrent exudates and incomplete joint dislocations with age lowers while that of dorsalgia, oligoarthralgia, soft tissue rheumatic syndromes, fibromyalgia rises. A monosymptom variant was characteristic for patients of the age 16-20 years.

Constant denaturant capillary electrophoresis (CDCE): a high resolution approach to mutational analysis.

Using a zone of constant temperature and denaturant concentration in capillary electrophoresis, we have devised a simple, rapid, and reproducible system for separating mutant from wild type DNA sequences with high resolution. Important to the success of this method, which we call Constant Denaturant Capillary Electrophoresis (CDCE), has been the use of linear polyacrylamide at viscosity levels that permit facile replacement of the matrix after each run. For a typical 100 bp fragment, point mutation-containing heteroduplexes are separated from wild type homoduplexes in less than 30 minutes.

DNA sequencing by capillary electrophoresis: use of a two-laser-two-window intensified diode array detection system.

This paper presents the principles of an instrument designed for DNA sequencing using the standard four-dye-labeled primer approach. The method is based on capillary electrophoresis with laser-induced fluorescence and an intensified diode array detector. An important goal of the instrument design has been a detection system that possesses high sensitivity and high spectral resolution.

DNA sequencing by capillary electrophoresis with replaceable linear polyacrylamide and laser-induced fluorescence detection.

Replaceable linear polyacrylamide (LPA) has been utilized as a sieving matrix for DNA sequencing by capillary electrophoresis (CE). Difficulties associated with cross-linked polyacrylamide gel stability have been overcome for the routine application of CE to DNA sequencing. A simple laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) detection system based on a single laser and two photomultipliers (PMT) has been adopted for this work.

Ultrasensitive plasmid mapping by high performance capillary electrophoresis.

This paper compares high performance capillary electrophoresis (HPCE) and conventional slab electrophoresis in mapping of four closely related plasmids with three different restriction enzymes. The plasmids express full length and truncated forms of a growth factor receptor oncogene product and were digested with HpaII, HaeIII and RsaI. The resulting oligonucleotide fragments were under 2000 base pairs in length, a size well suited to separation by HPCE with linear polyacrylamide as a sieving matrix.

[Immune disorders and sensitization to microbial antigens in seronegative spondylitis].

A study was made of immunity in seronegative spondylarthritis. In ankylosing spondylarthritis, reactive arthritides and psoriatic arthritis, the decrease of T cells, T helpers and T suppressors was identified. Patients with ankylosing spondylarthritis and reactive arthritides manifested an increase of the B-lymphocyte count.

[The comparative effectiveness of serological and microbiological studies in the etiological diagnosis of reactive arthritis].

The information content of serological and microbiological studies was studied and compared in 72 patients suffering from enterogenous reactive arthritis. A high level of antibodies to intestinal Yersinia was detected in 11.1% of the patients, positive coproculture in 8.

[Determination of lymphocyte receptors to Klebsiella in ankylosing spondylitis].

The authors give the results of determining receptors to Klebsiella antigens on the surface of the peripheral blood lymphocytes in ankylosing spondyloarthritis (AS). They examined 21 patients with AS, 20 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and 20 healthy individuals. Determination of the receptors was done in the reaction of indirect rosette formation.

[The state of humoral immunity to enterobacterial antigens in juvenile rheumatoid arthritis and reactive arthritis in children].

Investigation findings are generalized based on quantitation of antibodies against the antigens of intestinal microorganisms of Enterobacteriaceae family conducted in 66 children with various joint disease using the enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA) methodology. High antibody titres were revealed in 77.1% juvenile rheumatoid arthritis cases and in 80% cases with chronic juvenile arthritis which was not defined nosologically.

[Circulation of intestinal infection in the families of patients with rheumatic diseases and the state of humoral immunity to enterobacterial antigens].

ELISA quantitation of antibodies to Klebsiella pneumonia, Proteus mirabilis, and Yersinia enterocolitica was conducted in 75 ankylosing spondylitis (AS), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) probands and in 262 of their first-degree relatives. The control group comprised 28 healthy donors. Sixteen (64 per cent) AS probands (12 with B27+) and 26 (30.