[The biological evaluation of depression severity: a novel method for the determination of platelet serotonin concentration].

Objective: To develop a highly sensitive method for the determination of platelet-rich plasma serotonin concentration for every-day clinical practice.

Material And Methods: The method was developed for determination of serotonin in plateled-rich plasma. Serotonin was determined using high performance liquid chromatography with fluorescent detection and hematologic analyzer.

[Ultrastructural changes in platelets and their relationship with serotonin metabolism in patients with schizophrenia treated with olanzapine].

An aim of the study was to investigate the effect of olanzapine treatment on platelet ultrastructure and to search for its association with serotonin metabolism in patients with schizophrenia. Platelets of 59 patients with chronic (attack-like schizophrenia) treated with olanzapine and 31 health people were explored. Based on the data on the platelet ultrastructure, authors studied the content of functionally activated vacuolated platelets (VP) and less active granular platelets (GP) as well of platelet serotonin (PS).

[Kynurenines in pathogenesis of endogenous psychiatric disorders].

The essential amino acid tryptophan is metabolized on the methoxyindole pathway to serotonin, melatonin and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid and on the kynurenine pathway to kynurenine and related neuroactive metabolites, including 3-hydroxykynurenine, kynurenic acid, quinolinic acid and xanthurenic acid. Kynurenine and related metabolites play a significant role in the pathogenesis of major depressive disorder and schizophrenia. This paper is the review of literature data on the most modern state of this problem.

Protective effect of Biolan during ischemic damages to cultured cerebellar granular cells.

Biolan containing carnosine and delta sleep-inducing peptide produced a protective effect on cerebellar granular cells from 7-day-old rats exposed in culture to ischemia (oxygen and glucose deprivation) and cytotoxic influence of glutamate. These results indicate that Biolan holds much promise for correction of ischemic brain damages in clinical practice.

Structure of protein solutions. Part 2. Solutions of total protein of yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Water systems formed by total protein of yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae and model systems on the basis of unfractionated casein were studied by viscosimetry and electron microscopy. Methodologically, both methods offered a possibility of distinguishing several quantitatively different concentration intervals in protein solutions under different conditions. Viscosimetry gave the most informative results at the concentration intervals where the solutions approached the true ones, while electron microscopy did so when supermolecular formations prevailed.