The Potassium Channel Blocker β-Bungarotoxin from the Krait Venom Manifests Antiprotozoal Activity.

Protozoal infections are a world-wide problem. The toxicity and somewhat low effectiveness of the existing drugs require the search for new ways of protozoa suppression. Snake venom contains structurally diverse components manifesting antiprotozoal activity; for example, those in cobra venom are cytotoxins.

New Plant Species Showing Antiprotozoian Activity.

The effects of extracts of ten plant species from Russia and five species from Vietnam on the growth and survival of ciliates Tetrahymena pyriformis were studied. T. pyriformis belongs to the subkingdom Protozoa, which also includes pathogens of protozoan infections.

Comparative Study of the Effect of Snake Venoms on the Growth of Ciliates Tetrahymena pyriformis: Identification of Venoms with High Antiprotozoal Activity.

To search for compounds with antiprotozoal activity, effects of snake venoms on the ciliates Tetrahymena pyriformis was studied. T. pyriformis from subkingdom of Protozoa, including the protozoal pathogens, was used as a model organism to select the venoms that are the most active against parasitic protozoans.

Assessment of the Cytotoxicity of Peptide Modifications of Doxorubicin on Tetrahymena pyriformis.

The cytotoxicity of doxorubicin (Dox) and its peptide modifications Z-Gly-Pro-Dox and Boc-Gly-Pro-Dox were studied. Tetrahymena pyriformis was used as a test system, which made it possible, due to the short life cycle and high reproduction rate of ciliates, to trace their response to the effects of toxicants over several generations. It was found that peptide modification of the Dox molecule markedly reduces its cytotoxic and cytostatic effect.

Screening Snake Venoms for Toxicity to Revealed Anti-Protozoan Activity of Cobra Cytotoxins.

Snake venoms possess lethal activities against different organisms, ranging from bacteria to higher vertebrates. Several venoms were shown to be active against protozoa, however, data about the anti-protozoan activity of cobra and viper venoms are very scarce. We tested the effects of venoms from several snake species on the ciliate .

[The activity of complement system in children with autistic spectrum disorders].

Aim: To evaluate the state of complement system (CS) activity in children with autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) and children with schizophrenia on the basis of development and implementation of a new method of CS determination.

Material And Methods: A study included 249 patients, aged from 3 to 14 years. The control group consisted of 279 age-matched children.

Complement-Mediated Death of Ciliate Tetrahymena pyriformis Caused by Human Blood Serum.

Toxicity of human blood serum for ciliate Tetrahymena pyriformis is determined by the complement system. When ciliate are dying after being exposed to blood serum, cell membrane permeability for low-molecular-weight compounds significantly increases, probably due to pore formation. Serine protease inhibitors or exposure to physical factors inducing complement inactivation (e.

A universal method for measuring functional activity of complement in humans, laboratory, domestic, and agricultural animals, amphibians, and birds.

A new universal method for measuring activity of the serum complement system in humans, laboratory, domestic, agricultural animals, birds and amphibians is based on automated evaluation of the mortality of ciliate Tetrahymena pyriformis under the effect of the complement system. In contrast to the hemolytic method, measured activity of the complement shows no erroneously high results caused by reactive lysis in febrile patients. The method can be used for studies of the complement system in humans and animals without species-specific adaptation.

[Cultivated human hair follicle cells are capable of integrating to skin structure in vivo].

In the present study, human keratinocytes and dermal papilla cells were labeled to investigate their behaviour after intradermal transplantation. Cells were transduced by lentiviral vectors that bore marker gene encoding green fluorescent protein (copGFP) or red fluorescent protein (DsRed). A portion of transgene expressing cells was evaluated by flow cytometry.

[Prevalence of enuresis in old males according to questionnaire data].

We have made a questionnaire survey on an enuresis rate among old males living in Vilnus. Using questionnaires on enuresis, MMSE-30 test and GDS-15, we have examined a random sample of 294 males aged 75 to 95 years and older from January 2003 to December 2004. Enuresis was diagnosed in 26.