[Study of the conformational and intradynamic changes of phage lambda DNA molecules by laser correlation spectroscopy].

Conformational changes of lambda phage DNA macromolecules were investigated by dynamic light scattering (DLS) method. It was shown that the persistence length of B-form DNA in some conditions could could decline to approximately 12 nm. When studying the internal motions in the linear form of phage DNA macromolecule, a deviation was observed of the experimental angular dependence of the first cumulant gamma from theoretical predictions for the gamma in Rouse-Zimm model including hydrodynamic interactions.

Zona-penetration in vitro test for evaluating boar sperm fertility.

We investigated the capacity of porcine sperm-zona binding and penetration by using bioassay to differentiate between spermatozoa from fertile and subfertile boars. Semen was collected from Large White boars grouped into categories of fertile and subfertile (n=5 per each group) according to the results of artificial insemination. Boars in both groups showed similarly hyperactivated sperm motility at insemination (44.

[Transformation of mouse peritoneal macrophages to foam cells in intraperitoneal injection of low density lipoproteins, cholesterol and its oxidized products].

To investigate the possibility of macrophage transformation to foam cells in vivo, the authors studied 14C-oleate incorporation into cellular cholesterol esters (CES) and the content of free cholesterol (CS) and CES in mouse peritoneal macrophages harvested 24 hours after intraperitoneal injection of native low density lipoproteins (LDL), acetylated LDL (acetyl-LDL), purified CS and CS autooxidated at 60 degrees C for a month. The rate of 14C-oleate incorporation into CES and the content of CES in the macrophages increased in relation to CS levels in the preparations and the nature of the injected agents. Injection of acetyl-LDL (2 mg CS/18 g body weight) and oxidized CS (1 mg/18 g body weight) caused a 10-fold increase of 14C-oleate incorporation into CES and a 60-fold increase of CES concentrations in the macrophages, which was evidence of their transformation to foam cells.

[Creation of Delta mu(H)+ equal to 250 mV on the inner mitochondrial membrane is necessary, but not a sufficient condition for ATP synthesis].

Electron transport in the NADH-ferricyanide and succinate-->O2 chains and ATP synthesis in mitochondria under different incubation conditions have been studied. Ferricyanide which substitutes oxygen as a terminal acceptor provides the generation on the membrane potential, delta microH+, but does not initiate the functioning of the proton cycle. It is suggested that mitochondria can utilize delta microH+ only during the functioning of the redox chain under aerobic conditions.

Epitope mapping and immunoinactivation of human gastric lipase using five monoclonal antibodies.

Five monoclonal antibodies (mAb) directed against human gastric lipase (HGL) have been produced by hybridization of myeloma cells with spleen cells of BALB/c immunized mice. All these mAb belong to the IgG1 class with a kappa light chain. The effects of these mAb on the enzymic activity of HGL were studied and used to define three classes of antibodies, depending upon their immunoinactivation properties.

Relationships between blood oxygen parameters in patients with chronic obstructive lung disease.

The hemoglobin-oxygen dissociation curve and the relationships between the parameters of tension, saturation, capacity, affinity and concentration of oxygen in the course of respiratory failure in chronic obstructive lung diseases (COLD) were studied. The study included 141 patients divided into four basic groups according to the value of pO2 (a): patients with normoxia, mild, moderate and severe arterial hypoxia. The blood-gas status was determined using the ABL-330 and OSM-3 analyzers (Radiometer A/S, Denmark).

Body-plethysmographic pressure-flow diagrams in chronic obstructive lung disease. I. Comparative measurements.

One hundred patients with various forms of chronic obstructive lung disease were allocated to groups according to their body-plethysmographic pressure-flow diagrams. Group I comprised 30 patients with resistance curves displaying linear relationship between pressure and flow. The second group (n = 30) was formed by patients who had a markedly pronounced hysteresis in the central parts of their resistance curves.

Body-plethysmographic pressure-flow diagrams in chronic obstructive lung disease. II. Functional assessment.

One hundred patients with various forms of chronic obstructive lung disease (COLD) were allocated to groups according to their body-plethysmographic pressure-flow diagrams. Group I comprised 30 patients with resistance curves displaying linear relationship between pressure and flow. The second group (n = 30) was formed by patients who had a markedly pronounced hysteresis in the central parts of their resistance curves.

[The current methods for the prevention, diagnosis and surgical treatment of the adhesive complications of peritonitis in children].

The paper is based on clinical and experimental findings of one of the postoperative complications of purulent peritonitis, namely adhesion formation. The authors consider that impaired cytodynamic relationship in the focus of peritonitis concurrent with gastrointestinal paresis underlie the pathogenesis of the above-mentioned complication. In this connection, the authors propose a set of anti-adhesive measures, which involves prodigiosane cytomodulation and differential treatment of enteroparesis.

[The effect of verapamil and nifedipine on cholesterol esterification and accumulation in macrophages].

Administration of verapamil and nifedipine in doses of 10-75 microM into the culture of mouse peritoneal macrophages incubated in a non-lipid medium with acetylated low density lipoproteins (50 g protein/ml) decreased the incorporation of 14C oleate into cholesterol esters by 50-90%, increased the content of intracellular free cholesterol by 19-79% and did not influence the content of total cholesterol in macrophages. Administration of verapamil and nifedipine in doses of 25 and 50 microM in the culture of macrophages previously enriched with cholesterol reduced the rate of cholesterol esterification by 22-62%. After combined administration of verapamil and nifedipine in doses of 25 microM into the medium the rate of cholesterol esterification in macrophages fell by 72.

[Effect of ketoconazole on the activity of key enzymes of biosynthesis of cholesterol and its esters in the liver of rats maintained on a cholesterol-enriched diet].

Ketoconazole in vivo has been studied for its effect on the activity of key enzymes of the cholesterol and its esters' biosynthesis in the liver and on the cholesterol concentration in certain fractions of blood lipoproteins in normal and cholesterol-fed rats. It is established that ketoconazole decreases cholesterol concentration in low-density lipoproteins and in very low-density lipoproteins as well as decrease the acyl-CoA-cholesterol acyl-transferase activity and increases the 3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl-CoA-reductase activity in the liver microsomes of intact and test animals. It is supposed that the possible cause of the observed changes can be a disturbance in regulation of basic links of cholesterol metabolism in the liver.

[The indications for the surgical treatment of chronic periodontitis of the permanent teeth in children and adolescents of different health groups].

Chronic granulating and granulomatous periodontitis of 250 permanent teeth was treated in children and adolescents aged 7 to 17, surgery had to be resorted to in 44 (18%) cases. Three groups of indications for radical treatment of chronic periodontitis in children were distinguished: difficulties in or impossibility of conservative treatment, inefficacy of conservative treatment, and somatic indications. The conservative and surgical methods together are most often indicated for patients in whom the adverse conditions of treatment (the first group of indications) are associated with an aggravated somatic status.

[The effect of ketoconazole on the cholesterol content of the blood serum lipoproteins and bile in experimental hypercholesterolemia].

Inclusion of ketonazole (in a daily dose of 400 mg/kg for 8 days) into the diet of intact and cholesterol-fed (5% dietary cholesterol) rats produced a respective 20- and 30-percent lowering of cholesterol content in blood serum. In all the animals, the hypocholesterolemic effect of ketoconazole was realized via a decrease of the concentration of very low and low density lipoproteins. Ketoconazole also gave rise to a reduction of the concentration of cholesterol and bile acids in bile of the intact rats and of cholesterol in bile of the cholesterol-fed animals.

[The clinico-immunological characteristics of central nervous system involvement in systemic lupus erythematosus: the relationship with antibodies to cardiolipin].

As many as 30 patients suffering from systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) with the clinical signs of central nervous system derangement were examined. The mean age of the patients was 31.1 years.

Relationships between some oxygen and carbon dioxide indices in patients with chronic lung and cardiovascular diseases.

A total of 281 patients were divided into groups according to their clinical diagnosis and were examined using capnography, spirometry and blood-gas analysis. The highest percentage of patients with arterial hypoxemia was found in the group with chronic bronchitis and emphysema. The same group had the highest number of patients with moderate hypoxemia and was the only group containing patients with severe hypoxemia.

Comparative analysis of some methods for standardizing the maximal expiratory flows.

Maximal expiratory flows were obtained in 40 patients with chronic non-specific pulmonary diseases displaying mild obstruction of air flows and in 35 clinically healthy subjects with normal ventilatory functions and similar anthropometric characteristics. The flows for the two groups and their standardized values by referring to FVC, TLC, H and H3 were compared. The u-criterion and V% were used as measures for the diagnostic value of the flows and their standardized values.

[The factors that affect the results of the serological diagnosis of HIV infection and the screening for anti-HIV].

The laboratory diagnosis of HIV infection and screening for anti-HIV have determined the factors that influence the results of studies performed by ELISA and Western immunoblot. The factors include sensitivity and specificity of the test systems used, storage conditions of and transportation conditions for serum, errors of procedures for reactions, etc. Correlation is between the inactivation of the sera studied and the initial antibody titers during their storage at elevated temperatures.

[Diagnosis of lesions of the central nervous system in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus].

A total of 60 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) were under observation; 36 of them had clinical symptoms of the CNS affection and 25 persons included into the control group exhibited no psychic disorders during the clinical examination. Besides, routine clinico-laboratory examinations accepted in rheumatology, the patients were subjected to cranial computer tomography (CT), electroencephalography, examination of cerebral hemodynamics with a radionuclide partechnetate 99mC as well as to psychological testing. Neuropsychic disorders developed during the first four years after the onset of the disease and are grouped in the following way: neurological, border-line, neuropsychic, affective, psychotic, intellectual-mnestic.

[Cloning of Chrysanthium stund virion cDNA in pUC19 plasmid and the use of cloned cDNA for detecting the virion].

26 base long deoxyribonucleotide complementary to the lower part of the Central Conserved Region of chrysanthemum stund viroid (CSV) was used for synthesis of the first strand cDNA. The cDNA was cloned into plasmid vector pUC19 and the primary structure was determined. Cloned, full length cDNA was used as hybridisation probe for detection of CSV.

[Surgical treatment of appendicular peritonitis in children].

The article is based on the results of 10-year use of the method of aspiration drainage of the abdominal cavity in the treatment of 980 children with purulent peritonitis of appendicular origin. The authors used only a polymer tube to drain the cavity of the true pelvis and in principle did not resort to intraoperative irrigation of the abdominal cavity, postoperative lavage, and intraperitoneal injection of antibiotics. Postoperative complications were recognized in the early stages of development and were treated by nonoperative methods on the main.

[Metabolism of cholesterol esters in cultured macrophages under the action of the calcium antagonists verapamil and nifedipine].

Using mouse macrophage cultures, the effects of verapamil and nifedipine on cholesterol ester metabolism were studied with special reference to the following parameters: i) incorporation of 14C-oleate into cholesterol esters (ChE), ii) contents of common and free cholesterol (FCh), iii) removal of 14C-oleate from ChE and incorporation of 3H-FCh into ChE and, iiii) excretion of 3H-Ch from the cells. Verapamil and nifedipine (10-100 microM) decreased the incorporation of 14C-oleate into ChE, increased the concentration of FCh but had no appreciable effect on the concentration of common Ch in macrophages cultured in the presence of acetylated low density lipoproteins. The drugs stimulated the removal of 14C-oleate from cellular ChE.

Identification and characterization of human acrosomal antigen defined by a monoclonal antibody with blocking effect on in vitro fertilization.

A monoclonal anti-human sperm antibody (Mab 1A1) has been produced by fusion of myeloma cells with splenocytes from a BALB/c mouse immunized with in vitro capacitated human spermatozoa. Immunofluorescence studies with Mab 1A1 show that it recognizes an antigen(s) (Ag 1A1) which is located in the acrosome of human spermatozoa. As shown by Western blotting experiments, 1A1 antigen represents a family of proteins with Mr ranging from 20 kDa to 34 kDa.