[On integration of the iodine deficiency elimination and salt reduction programs].

Excessive salt intake is a risk factor for noncommunicable diseases, but salt iodization is the most effective method of population-based prevention of iodine deficiency. Therefore, an assessment of dietary iodine intake from the use of iodized salt in the food industry and potential reductions in salt intake is needed. .

[Actual problems of the microbiological safety of food products].

Food-borne infectious diseases remain an actual problem of health care. In the Republic of Belarus the level of food-borne diseases persists to be stable, at the same time these diseases remain to be significant. Despite the insignificant number of nonconforming food samples the prevalence rates of food-borne acute infectious diseases of various etiology with dominantly food transmission pathway remain to be rather high.

[The problem of iodine deficiency and its solution in the republic of Belarus].

The problem of iodine deficiency is relevant to the Republic of Belarus. It’s confirmed by virtually commonly found geophysical iodine deficiency in soils and waters. Data on iodine deficiency initiated the development of a state strategy for the elimination of iodine deficiency in the population.

[Approaches to assessment of the alimentary load by nutrient additives].

Methodological approaches to the assessment of alimentary load of nutritional supplements (ALNS) have been based. Description for the different models for assessment of ALNS according to the allowable daily intake and the use of hygienic regulations is presented.

[Phosphodiesterase inhibitors in clinical practice. The present and the future. Part II].

Type Sphosphodiesterase inhibitors (FDEI-5) used to be applied as the main drugs for treatment of erectile dysfunction. At present, this pharmacological group is being studied intensively in various fields of clinical medicine, such as pulmonology, cardiology, gastroenterology, gynecology etc. Part II of this system literature review is dedicated to analysis of the results of such application.

Progressive muscular atrophy variant of familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (PMA/ALS).

Twelve cases of adult-onset progressive muscular atrophy variant of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (PMA/ALS) were studied in a small rural population of 1500 in the Republic of Belarus (former Soviet Union). The patients were members of three apparently related kindreds, each showing autosomal dominant pattern of disease inheritance. The average age at clinical onset ranged from 26 to 57 years (mean, 40 years).

[Tuberculosis and opportunistic infections].

A serological study of blood from 44 patients with acutely progressive forms of pulmonary tuberculosis revealed their rather common association with active forms of the following opportunistic infections, such as M. pneumonia, Pn. carinii, and herpes simplex virus.

[An epidemiological study of herpetic viral infections in the Republic of Byelarus].

Studies on the epidemiology of infections caused by Herpes simplex virus, cytomegalovirus and Epstein-Barr virus in different age groups of the population of the Republic of Belarus, carried out over the period of many years, are summarized. The frequency of clinical manifestations of different forms of herpetic viral pathology in newborns, children and adults in different regions of the republic was studied. More frequent cases of the most severe clinical forms of herpetic viral infections (encephalitides, generalized infection) were noted in persons having immunodeficient states of different etiology, as well as among the population residing on the territory with unfavorable radiation conditions as a consequence of the catastrophe in the Chernobyl nuclear electric power station.

[The characteristics of thymus involvement in regional and generalized forms of herpetic infection].

The features of thymus involvement in pathologic process in different types of experimental herpetic infection in rabbits were studied using morphologic and immunologic analysis methods. Insignificant features of thymus pathology were revealed in animals with regional manifestations of the infection in the form of ophthalmoherpes, whereas the rabbits with generalized herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection by retrosternal administration showed pronounced structural-functional changes and the presence of virus antigens as well, which may indicate the possibility of HSV reproduction in thymus cells.

Structural and functional changes of blood-brain barrier and indication of prion amyloid filaments in experimental amyotrophic leucospongiosis.

The reproduction of amyotrophic leukospongiosis (AL) agent in the central nervous system (CNS) of guinea pigs was accompanied by local disturbance of blood-brain barrier (BBB), which manifested in passing of horseradish peroxidase through the endothelium of some of capillaries (10-14%). The disturbance of BBB function coincided with dystrophic changes in a number of pericapillary astrocyte foot processes and in pericytes. In the walls of altered vessels we observed congophilic (amyloid) deposits, which formed immunocomplexes with monoclonal antibodies to the AL agent protein PrP 27-30 kD.

[Mechanism of accumulation of prion amyloid in the CNS in experimental amyotrophic leukospongiosis].

The mechanism of accumulation of prion amyloid in guinea pig CNS in experimental slow virus disease--amyotrophic leuco-spongiosis (AL) was studied. The complex histochemical, immuno-cytochemical and ultrastructural studies revealed specific amyloid deposits in a few brain capillaries and in most of pia matter vessels. Taking into account the high AL agent titer in spleen throughout the disease period, conclusion was drawn of entering AL agent in CNS through blood-liquor barrier and blood-brain barrier.

[The use of specific immunoglobulin for the treatment of children with acute herpetic encephalitis].

The use of specific immunoglobulin in combination with conventional agents of pathogenetic and symptomatic therapy was over two times more potent in reducing the lethality due to herpetic encephalitis. The residual phenomena in the survivors were also less pronounced in those given specific immunoglobulin. A relationship has been discovered between the outcomes of herpetic encephalitis and the time since the treatment with specific immunoglobulin was instituted, the rate of coma development and its intensity at the moment of the therapy onset.

[The formation of infectious scrapie-like structures in the persistence of the agent of amyotrophic leukospongiosis in a brain cell culture].

Electron microscopic analysis of specimens from guinea-pig brain cell cultures infected with amyotrophic leucospongiosis agent (belonging to "unconventional" viruses) revealed accumulation in the culture fluid of abnormal filamentous structures similar to scrapie-associated fibrils (SAF) differing in morphology. Most of these SAF-like structures 10-15 nm in diameter contained helically wound protofilaments with a repeat at certain intervals (50-150 nm). When these structures were inoculated into guinea-pig brain astrocyte cultures they produced dystrophic-destructive changes in some (25%) astrocytes, and their intracerebral inoculation to guinea pigs produced an experimental disease.

[Experimental herpetic infection of the CNS with predominant involvement of the spinal cord].

Clinical, morphological, and virological characteristics of a model of herpes infection of the CNS with predominant involvement of the spinal cord, an acute ascending myelitis with primary demyelinization, are presented. The development of spinal cord lesions after HSV inoculation into the spleen was observed in different species of laboratory animals: mice, hamsters, guinea pigs, and rabbits; some animals (30%-70%) developed generalized infection with the involvement of the brain. The frequency of the spinal cord involvement was found to depend on the age of the animal and the dose of the virus-containing inoculum.

[Intravital laboratory diagnosis of human subacute spongioid encephalopathies (Creutzfeldt-Jakob syndrome and amyotrophic leukospongiosis)].

Methods aimed at the detection of causative agents in the CSF and peripheral blood lymphocytes are recommended for the use in intravital laboratory diagnosis of slow infections of the central nervous system. The results obtained enable recommending the biotest on guinea-pigs or indication of the causative agent of amyotrophic leukospongiosis (AL) in cell culture coupled with the punctate immunoenzyme assay for the diagnosis of AL. As to the diagnosis of Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease, it is suggested that the biotest on guinea-pigs and the punctate immunoenzyme assay may be used.

[Chronic forms of herpetic lesions of the central nervous system in adults (clinico-laboratory and morphological studies)].

Based on analysis of 17 cases with chronic herpetic encephalitis and encephalomyelitis, the authors demonstrate the diversity of the clinical manifestations of the illnesses. A problem of the progredient forms of those neurologic infections is discussed.

[The persistence of the causative agent of amyotrophic leukospongiosis and the astrocyte reaction in monolayer cultures of brain cells].

The amyotrophic leukospongiosis (AL) agent which is considered to be an unconventional virus was shown to replicate and amplify in non-neuronal monolayer brain cell cultures. The AL agent persistence was accompanied by complicated morphofunctional changes in astrocytes, some of them developing a specific cytodystrophic process. Phagocytosis in the infected astrocytes came to its end.