[An algorithm for identification of CTX-M-type beta-lactamase genes using restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis of PCR-product].

The algorithm of the identification of the bla(CTX-M) genes coding CTX-M-type beta-lactamases providing resistance to cephalosporins III-IV was developed. This algorithm provides identification of 49 genes of 96 genes presented in the GenBank database so far. Remaining 47 genes can be identified as consisting of small sub-groups composed of 2-6 genes with the exception of sub-group of the bla(CTX-M-14)-like genes composed of 13 genes.

[Antimicrobial activity of bacteriocin S760 produced by Enterococcus faecium strain LWP760].

Antimicrobial activity of bacteriocin S760 (enterocin) produced by Enterococcusfaecium strain LWP760 was studied. Bacteriocin S760 is a cationic, hydrophobic, and heat stable peptide with the molecular weight of 5.5 kDa and pl of 9.

[Efficacy of using vitaprost in patients with infertility caused by chronic prostatitis].

The article provides the results of Vitaprost efficacy in 40 infertile men with chronic prostatitis. Vitaprost treatment was found effective, safe and well tolerated.

[Genetic determinants of antibacterial resistance among nosocomial Escherichia coli, Klebsiella spp., and Enterobacter spp. isolates collected in Russia within 2003-2007].

Nosocomial bacterial isolates collected within 2003-2004 (n=411) and 2005-2007 (n=422) were highly resistant to cephalosporins III-IV and antibacterials of other groups (aminoglycosides, fluoroquinolons, chloramphenicol, and co-trimoxazole). Genes encoding TEM, SHV, CTX-M, OXA-2, and AmpC types of beta-lactamases (BLs) in the E. coli, Klebsiella spp.

[Use of molecular-biological methods for identifying brucella in a comparative analysis of strains, isolated from sick dogs].

Ten strains isolated from sick dogs in 1998 in St. Petersburg were studied by traditional and molecular biological methods of Brucella identification. PCR study confirmed that the isolated cultures were Brucellae, and comparative study of the traditional phenotypical characteristics and protein and antigenic composition allowed referring all the isolated strains to B.

[Development of a quantitative PCR variant, and use of it for assessing gene expression].

The data on the development of a quantitative PCR technique are presented, including the synthesis of modified primers, the choice of conditions for the removal of reaction-mixture components from the amplified DNA, and the colorimetric detection of the PCR product. The application of this technique to the assessment of the level of gene expression in nonculturable bacterial forms characterized by a drastically reduced metabolism is described.

[The mechanism of action and the nature of the factors inducing the formation of uncultivatable forms of Salmonella typhimurium].

Approaches to the study of gene expression in the process of transition and prolonged stay of bacterial cells in the uncultivated state have been worked out with the use of the methods of reverse transcription and polymerase chain reaction. The differential expression of genes pqi and stn has been shown to occur in the uncultivated forms of S. typhimurium.

[Electrokinetic potential of Yersinia pestis and Escherichia coli cells with an intact or defective ycaA gene (caf1M) of the fra-operon of plague pathogen].

The dependence of the amount of electrokinetic potential in cells of Escherichia coli and Yersinia pestis, which differ in the rate of reduction of lipopolysaccharide (LPS), on the presence or absence of typical and atypical capsules of Y. pestis, encoded by intact and mutant fra operons, respectively, was studied. The ycaA+ycaF+(caf1 M+caf1+) genotype was shown to be expressed in serological stability of a classical capsular antigen, irrespective of the producer strain, and a decrease in the negative charge of microbial cells compared to their noncapsular variants.

[The concept of the pathogenesis of chronic prostatitis].

The examination covered 4250 males (mean age 23,8 years) suffering from acute and chronic urethritides of various origin. In the chronic course of nongonococcal urethritis chronic prostatis (CP) occurred in 44.1-59.

[The chrysotherapy of patients with Reiter's disease].

Chrisanol therapy was provided to 172 men suffering from Reiter's disease, having histocompatibility antigen B35 and its combination with B27 as well as B17 and B11 indicating that the articular syndrome may run a persistent and grave course. Chrisanol therapy brought about a decrease of the activity of complement, lysozyme, bactericidal activity of blood serum, a reduction of the content of serum IgG, and autoimmune reactions parameters. Chrisanol therapy was tolerated well.

[Ophthalmological aspects of Reiter's disease].

Clinical picture and course of eye involvement were studied in 254 patients with Reiter's disease. Altogether 130 patients suffered from conjunctivitis of varying severity, 23 from keratitis, 21 from episcleritis, 20 from uveitis, 2 from detachment of the retina, and 5 from secondary glaucoma. Chlamydia were detected in one third of conjunctivitis patients in scrapings off the conjunctiva.

[The characteristics of the immune response to Chlamydia antigens in patients with Reiter's disease].

Immunologic tests (complement fixation, microprecipitation reaction, leukocytic agglomeration phenomenon, leukocyte migration inhibition tests) with standard chlamydial antigen were used in examinations of 116 male patients with Reiter's disease, 54 of these with the first (early) and 62 with the second (late) stages of this process. The findings evidence a higher intensity of antichlamydial humoral and cellular immune response in the patients with the first stage of the disease and a much lower intensity of those with the second stage. The pathologic process in patients with the second stage is liable to a prolonged self-maintaining course and is torpid to anti-infection therapy, as against that in the patients with the first stage of the condition; this fact prompts a conclusion that such a course of the process is explained not so much by the infectious agent, as by immune inflammation.

[The prognosis of the course of Reiter's disease with the use of histocompatibility antigens].

Histotyping of 158 patients with Reiter's disease and 583 healthy donors was made. Detection of patients with this association of antigens helps timely diagnosis of the disease and appropriate preventive measures.

[A diagnostic criterion of Reiter's disease].

Clinical and laboratory criteria of the diagnosis of Reiter's disease are presented, based on many-year clinical and immunologic examinations of 254 male patients with this condition; these criteria help early and reliably diagnose this disease.

[The urogenital inflammatory focus and its treatment in Reiter's disease].

The complement fixation test, microprecipitation, leukocyte migration inhibition, leukocyte agglomeration phenomenon, direct and indirect immunofluorescence were used to demonstrate that chronic prostatovesiculitis associated with Reiter's disease may be of immune-induced nature. This requires a differentiated approach to the choice of the treatment policy. The methods of the treatment for the urogenital inflammatory focus in men suffering from Reiter's disease are provided.