[Clinical significance of carriage of rare variants of connexin-26 genetic polymorphism in gastric cancer].

The authors present first results of investigations of the connexin-26 gene in DNA obtained from peripheral blood of 55 patients operated on for gastric cancer. Gastric cancer patients were found to have carriage of the Cx 26 gene that was reliably associated with the invasive ability of the tumor. Change of the connexin-26 gene in gastric cancer is evidence of an important role of intercellular gap junctions in the arising and development of gastric cancer.

[The significance of the radioactive isotope potassium-40 for the normal development of the animal organism].

21-day-old rats subjected to nourishing by KCl (20-30 mg per day) without radioactive isotope 40K. Besides the decrease of 40K content in animal tissue (30-50%) a reducing of body weight was obtained. In the second set of experiments in the lead (9 cm thick) chamber with low (20 times) background radiation the trustworthy decrease of young mouse development was observed under the simultaneous reducing other components of background radiation (radon, products of its disintegration, gamma, beta radiation, cosmic radiation).

[Effect of chronic irradiation on cytogenetic mammalian cell injuries in culture].

The action of chronical irradiation on Chinese hamster fibroblasts and human peripheral blood lymphocytes was studied. The similar character of dose response for both types of cells and the absence of dose-rate effects at low doses were shown.

The role of receptors in radiation hormesis.

The response of the receptor of plant origin, phytochrome and the receptor of rat lung cytoplasmic membrane adenylate cyclase to chronic, growth- and development-stimulating low-dose gamma-radiation (0.36 and 0.036 cGy/day) has been studied.

[Radioprotective properties of ubiquinones during acute and chronic irradiation of rats].

Protective and therapeutic effect of ubiquinone-8 was demonstrated on rats exposed to 8 Gy radiation. There was a 16-20% increase in the survival rate of the irradiated rats as compared with the controls. The per os administration of ubiquinone-8 during a five-month period in conditions of chronic exposure arrested the radiation-induced accumulation of lipids in rat liver and somewhat improved the dynamics of the body mass growth in the exposed rats.