Cross-linked polyelectrolyte microspheres: preparation and new insights into electro-surface properties.

Polyelectrolyte microspheres find applications in many fields such as ion exchange columns, fuel cell membranes, and catalysis, to name a few. Synthesis of these microspheres by inverse emulsion polymerization offers various advantages due to the increased specific surface area and high surface charge density. The surface charge density of the obtained polyelectrolyte microspheres is a hundred times higher than that of either particles obtained by dispersion copolymerization of styrene and styrenesulfonic acid or sulfonated microspheres.

Microfluidic synthesis of monodisperse porous polystyrene microspheres for sorption of bovine serum albumin.

Droplet microfluidics offers exquisite control over the flows of multiple fluids in micro-scale, enabling fabrication of advanced microspheres with precisely tuneable structures. The main goal of this work was to design monodispersed carboxylated polystyrene microspheres with a developed pore structure (a specific surface area more than 200 m/g) using microfluidic technology. We investigated the influence of the composition of monomer phase for the stable formation of droplets.

[Hyperbranched polylysines modified with histidine and arginine: the optimization of their DNA compacting and endosomolytic properties].

The DNA compacting and transfection properties of hyperbranched polylysines whose N-terminal amino groups were modified with histidine and arginine were studied. The histidine-modified hyperbranched polylysines were shown to provide higher efficacy of binding and transfection in comparison with unmodified or hyperbranched arginine-containing polylysines. This fact was explained by the intrinsic endosomolytic activity of the histidine-modified polymers.

[Dendrimers based lysine and their "starburst" polymeric derivatives: prospects of use in compacting DNA and in vitro delivery of genetic constructs].

We attempted to find some compounds for the effective delivery of gene constructs into cells and obtained two trispherical dendrimers on the basis of lysine, (Lys)8-(alpha, epsilon-Lys)4-(alpha, epsilon-Lys)2-(alpha, epsilon-Lys)-Ala-NH2 (D1) and (Lys)8-(alpha, epsilon-Lys)4-(alpha, epsilon-Lys)2-(alpha, epsilon-Lys)-Ala-[Lys(Plm)]2-Ala-NH2 (D2), as well as the starburst polymeric derivatives of D1, (pVIm)8-D1 and (pLys)n-D1, containing poly(N-vinylimidazole) and polylysine chains bound at a single point to the dendrimer amino groups. The conditions of dendrimer-plasmid DNA complex formation were studied. The intracellular localization of these complexes and the expression of gene constructs delivered with their help were analyzed in transfection experiments on the HeLa cell cultures of human epithelial carcinoma and on C2C12 mouse myoblasts.

["Starburst" conjugates of proteins with carbocene polymers, carrying low molecular weight biologically-active compounds, and their immunogenicity].

The synthesis of starburst polymer-protein conjugates on the basis of bovine serum albumin and horseradish peroxidase was performed with the aim to study the possibilities of regulation of the immune response against the components of the conjugates. These polymers had one-point binding between the protein and the modifying carbon-chain polymer that contained 1-vinyl-6,7-dihydroxy-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline (a salsolinol analogue) or bradykinin (peptide hormone) residues in its carbon chain. Changes in the chemical nature of the carbon-chain part of the polymer-protein conjugate were shown to increase or decrease the level of antibody production both against the low-molecular compounds attached to the polymeric fragments and against the protein carrier.

[Specific features of the HIV infection epidemic in Moscow].

Retrospective analysis of the epidemic of HIV infection in Moscow allowed to mark out two periods: the first--from 1987 to 1993 and the second one--from 1994 to 2000. The characteristic feature of the first period of the epidemic was the sexual transmission of the agent mainly among homosexuals; the most affected group were persons aged 20-39 years and the number of AIDS patient decreased with a simultaneous growth in lethality. During the second stage of the HIV infection epidemic changes in the prevailing transmission routes of the agent occurred: injection drug addicts took the leading role.

Quantitative fast fractionation of a pool of polyclonal antibodies by immunoaffinity membrane chromatography.

A new affinity method for the direct quantitative analysis of monospecific anti-peptide immunoglobulins (antibodies) and, simultaneously, their semi-preparative isolation from blood serum of the immunized animals has been developed. Immunoaffinity discs based on macroporous poly(glycidyl methacrylate-co-ethylene dimethacrylate) were used as the supporting stationary phase. The specifically prepared synthetic peptides with biological activity imitating that of the immunoglobulin binding sites of various proteins were used as the selective ligands instead of native proteins.

Antibody to hepatitis E virus in HIV-infected individuals and AIDS patients.

Antibody to hepatitis E virus of IgG class (anti-HEV IgG) is regularly detected in industrialized countries, where HEV is non-endemic, at levels not exceeding 2-3%; seropositive individuals are often found in certain groups of patients and professionals exposed to an increased risk of blood-borne infections. The present study was aimed at the identification of anti-HEV IgG in patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, including acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), living in Russia and Belarus, an area of low anti-HEV prevalence with a moderate spread of HIV infection and AIDS. In Russia, 13 out of 117 HIV-infected patients (11.

[Sulacillin (a combination of ampicillin and sulbactam)--a new combined drug form for treatment of bacterial infections].

The results of the cooperated clinical trial of sulacillin, a formulation including sodium ampicillin and sulbactam (2:1), are presented. The trial was carried out in different hospitals of Moscow and Smolensk. Rapid development of the favourable time course and recovery were stated in 93.

[The clinical manifestations of HIV infection during seroconversion].

21 seroconversion HIV-infected subjects have been examined. 16 of them presented with acute symptoms. The disease in the period of seroconversion manifested with fever, weakness, headache, pain in the throat, enlargement of peripheral lymph nodes, polymorphous eruption.

[The epidemiological surveillance of HIV infection in Russia in 1987-1991].

The data on the occurrence of HIV in Russia in 1987-1991 are presented and the effects of the epidemiological surveillance system used at that time on the epidemiological process of HIV infection in the Russian Federation is evaluated. The most important features of that system included the centralized registration of all cases of HIV infection irrespective of the degree of clinical symptoms, large-scale obligatory examination of the population for antibody to HIV, epidemiological investigation of all reported cases of HIV infection. The occurrence of HIV infection in 1987-1991 in Russia remained very low, 0.

[Build up of a given concentration of tobramycin and sisomycin in the blood of young children by the intravenous infusion of the antibiotics according to a calculated regimen].

Three regimens for intravenous infusion of tobramycin and sisomicin in doses of 1.33 and 1 mg/kg, respectively were analysed theoretically with the use of the constants of a two-compartmental model characterizing the tobramycin pharmacokinetics in adults. The regimen implied administration of the antibiotics by means of a 12-hour infusion.

[Dicloxacillin the treatment of suppurative inflammatory processes at various sites].

The efficacy of sodium dicloxacillin was studied in the treatment of pyo-inflammatory diseases, such as pneumonia, pyothorax, pulmonary abscess, osteomyelitis, burn disease, infections of the skin and soft tissues and others, caused by multiresistant staphylococci and other organisms sensitive to the antibiotic. The drug was effective both orally or parenterally. Satisfactory results were observed in more than 80 per cent of the patients (children and adults).

[Computerized automatic management of the therapy of arterial hypertension].

On the basis of the propositions of the theory of automatic control and regulation, the authors developed the method, algorithm, and program of automatic controlled treatment of arterial hypertension by means of computers. It was conducted in 160 patients with hypertensive disease. Treatment was accomplished with reserpine, dopegit, hemiton, combination of these agents with each other and with diuretics, and with brinerdin.

[Clinical pharmacokinetics and the optimal intravenous ampicillin administration regimen in children].

Nineteen children aged 3 months to 3 years were treated with ampicillin for acute pneumonia. The drug pharmacokinetics after a single intravenous administration in a dose of 25 mg/kg was studied. The data of the antibiotic pharmacokinetics in blood serum specimens collected within 3 hours after the drug injection were approximated with the use of the two-compartmental model, which proved to be more adequate than the one-compartmental model.