The Use of "Acellbia"-A Biosimilar of Rituximab in Systemic Sclerosis.

The possibilities of modern therapy for systemic sclerosis (SSc) remains limited, since most of the used drugs do not have a disease-modifying effect. This encourages the study of new approaches that potentially affect the fundamental pathological processes underlying the disease. One example is anti-B-cell therapy, in particular rituximab (RTX).

Safety and Tolerability of Rituximab in the Treatment of Systemic Sclerosis.

Rituximab (RTX) has been used for the treatment of systemic sclerosis (SSс) for a long time and has shown good efficacy for skin fibrosis and interstitial lung disease (ILD). However, data on tolerability and long-term adverse events (AEs) during RTX therapy in SSc are insufficient. The objective of this study was to assess the tolerability and safety of RTX in patients with SSс in a long-term prospective follow-up.

Anti-topoisomerase 1 Antibody Level Changes after B Cell Depletion Therapy in Systemic Sclerosis.

The aim of our study was to assess the relationship between the changes of antinuclear autoantibodies (ANAs) and autoantibodies to topoisomerase 1 (anti-Topo 1) in systemic sclerosis (SSs) patients on rituximab (RTX) therapy. The prospective study included 88 patients (73 women) with a mean age of 47 (17-71) years. The mean disease duration was 5.

Ligand-Regulated Expression of TNF Receptors 1 and 2 Determines Receptor-Mediated Functional Responses.

Introduction: Modulating specific biological effects through the changes in cytokine receptors' expression level remains poorly understood. This study aimed to investigate the influence of the dose-dependent effect of TNF on the balance between proapoptotic and proliferation response depending on the parameters of TNFR1/2 expression density.

Methods: Tumor cell lines (HEp-2, K-562, MCF-7, ZR-75/1, MOLT-4, IM-9, and Raji) were characterized for TNFR1/2 co-expression using flow cytometry and were studied to reveal the dose-dependent effect of rhTNF on cell cycle and apoptosis parameters.

Co-Expression of Membrane-Bound Tumor Necrosis Factor-Alpha Receptor Types 1 and 2 by Tumor Cell Lines.

Introduction: Density and co-expression of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) receptors may vary among cell populations. However, the role and potential of these changes remain unclear. This study aimed to determine the density of expression and co-expression of TNFR1/2 and the dose-dependent effect of soluble TNF on these parameters.

[The double DNA content is detected in hemocytes of snail Lymnaea stagnalis from a population with high radiation load].

The research of hemocytes of laboratory cultivated pond snails Lymnaea stagnalis originating from two areas near Chernobyl with different radiation load has been carried out by means of comet assay. Significant interpopulation distinctions in parameters of DNA-comets have been revealed by means of the software analysis of hemocyte DNA-comet images: hemocytes of mollusks from radiationally unfavourable "Perstok" population have contained a twice DNA quantity in comparison with "Pripyat" population, and also have been statistically more resistant to the influence of strontium. Strontium reduces the amount of DNA in hemocytes, at that strontium dose of 0.

[Interpopulation defferences in parameters of hemocyte DNA-comets of snail Lymnaea stagnalis from regions with the different environmental load].

The research of hemocytes of snail Lymnaea stagnalis from regions with different environmental load has been carried out by means of DNA-comet assay. Significant interpopulation distinctions in parameters of hemocytes DNA comets, and also significant differences of sensitivity of hemocyte genetic matherial in snails form different ecological zones to the influence of external damaging factors (in particular, heavy metals) have been revealed by means of the software analysis of hemocyte DNA-comet images. Since the two populations of mollusks are characterized by high genetic identity, the different levels of proliferative processes in hemocytes of snail Lymnaea stagnalis from different ecological zones (that we revealed using the comet assay) may act as an indicator of the intensity of damaging effects and environmental quality.

"To be or not to be," ten years after: evidence for mixed connective tissue disease as a distinct entity.

Objectives: To determine if mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD) can be considered an independent clinical entity, to compare 3 different classification criteria for MCTD (Kasukawa, Alarcón-Segovia, and Sharp), and to define predictors (clinical features and autoantibodies) of potential evolution toward other connective tissue diseases (CTDs).

Methods: One hundred sixty-one MCTD patients were evaluated retrospectively at the diagnosis and in 2008. They were classified, at the diagnosis, according to the 3 classification criteria of MCTD (Sharp, Alarcón-Segovia, and Kasukawa) and reclassified in 2008 according to their evolution.

[The age-related changes in hemolymph cellular composition and in the spectrum of cytomorphological traits of hemocyte genetic damages in snail Lymnaea stagnalis].

The age-related changes in hemolymph cellular composition of snail Lymnaea stagnalis (Gastropoda, Pulmonata) obtained from individuals of a natural population (the river Pripayt, Gomel region, Belarus) as well as in the spectrum of cytomorphological traits of hemocyte genetic damages have been studied. The percentage of the distinguished hemolymph cell types during the chosen age period was not revealed to change. The percentage of cells with different morphological attributes of cell death varied during ageing.

[Pharmacological therapy of sialorrhea in patients with motor neuron disease].

A comparative trial of amithryptiline and dysport (botulinic toxin type A) in the treatment of sialorrhea in patients with motor neuron disease (MND) was conducted in 10 MND patients with sialorrhea, of whom 5 were treated with subcutaneous injections of Dysport and 5 with Amithriptiline, and 6 controls without salivary dysfunction. Gravimetry and scintigraphy of salivary glands were used before and after treatment. Compared to controls, saliva production was significantly decreased in MND patients.

[Features of mental disorders in patients with chronic pyelonephritis].

To study prevalence of mental disorders in patients with chronic pyelonephritis (CP), 50 CP patients were examined clinically and with special tests (fundus of the eye, EEG. AMPI, Luscher's test). The patients were diagnosed to have a wide spectrum of mental disorders: psycho-organicsyndrome, paroxysmal disorders, hallucinations, obsessions depression, asthenic syndrome.

[Articular lesions in Ixodes tick-borne borreliosis (Lyme disease)].

Articular lesions in 157 patients infected with ixodes tick-borne borreliosis (ITB) in a central Russia's region set on, on the average, in 4 months after tick attack; they were associated with systemic signs of an early disseminated infection and set on less seldom in a late period. The most often encountered systemic signs were as follows: secondary erythema (32% of patients), neurological syndrome (13%), cardio-vascular lesions (22%), ocular lesions (13%) and hepatic lesions (8%). The articular syndrome manifested itself through arthralgia (53 patients) and arthritis (104 patients), which set on quite often in the tick-attack area.

[Comparative analysis of use of two strains of various genotypes of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato as antigens for antibody identification in Ixodes tick borreliosis by indirect immunofluorescence].

The results of the indirect reaction of immune-fluorescence (IRIF) was studied in testing 49 sera of 19 patients with Lyme-borreliosis with antigens of genotypes Borrelia afzeli (strain Jp-21) and Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto (strain No. 17); rabbit fluorescini-sothiocyanate-marked conjugates to human immunoglobulins M and G as well as polyvalent conjugate were used of. No reliable differences were found between all positive and all negative results.