[Anti-CD4 autoimmunity in HIV-infected persons in Russia].

The frequency of anti-CD4 antibodies was determined in the sera or plasma derived from the patients infected with HIV-1 belonging to different genetic subgroups. The anti-CD4-antibodies in a dilution of > or = 1:1000 were found in 14% of the patients infected with the gagA/envA virus characteristic for injectable drug users in East Europe. The frequency of autoimmune antibodies among the HIV-infected patients with envB virus was substantially less (4.

[Determination of the level of antibodies to CD4 in serum of patients with malignant lymphomas and of HIV-infected individuals].

Hardphase ELISA was used to compare the blood sera of patients with malignant skin lymphomas and HIV infection and of healthy volunteers for autoimmune antibodies to CD4. Antibodies to CD4 were not detected in the volunteers (30 sera) and in the patients with malignant skin lymphomas (52 patients with different disease stages). The antibodies were found in 4 of 11 HIV cases.

[Distribution and features of infection with hepatitis viruses B and C during hemodialysis treatment].

The prevalence of hepatitides B and C was evaluated in 140 patients treated by hemodialysis. Almost half of patients (48%) had acute hepatitis B which completely resolved. Acute hepatitis B was detected in 6% in the course of observation.

[Regularities in the spread of hepatitis C virus and its genotypes in Russian and countries within the former USSR].

The incidence of markers of hepatitis C virus (HCV in the blood of 4216 normal subjects living in the European Russia (Northern, North-Western, Central, Central Chernozem, Volga-Vyatka, Volga, and North Caucasian regions), in the Urals, in Siberia (Eastern Siberian region), in the Far East, and in Monogolia is assessed. The incidence of antibodies to HCV varied from 0.7% in the Central region to 3.

[Cytomegalovirus infection in women of reproductive age with an at-risk obstetrical history].

Studies aimed at the detection of cytomegalovirus infection (CMVI) in women of reproductive age with obstetric complications in their medical history were carried out. 230 women aged 17-44 years were examined with the use of virological and serological tests. As the result of complex examination, CMVI markers were detected in 159 (69%) of women.

[The diagnosis and clinical characteristics of cytomegalovirus infection in HIV-infected subjects].

Out of 180 HIV carriers active cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection was found in 30 patients, in 16 cases the infection manifested clinically. Most of the latter were patients with HIV infection IIIb or IIIc stage against persistent lowering of CD4-lymphocyte count under 100/mm3. Active CMV infection may be determined most significantly by the following criteria: high or moderate concentrations of CMV DNA in the blood, low concentrations of blood CMV DNA in the presence of long-term (at least 3 months) persistence of anti-CMV IgM and isolation of urinary CMV.

Prevalence of hepatitis C virus and distribution of its genotypes in Northern Eurasia.

We tested hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibody in 4216 sera collected from healthy people living in European part of Russia (including Northern, North-Western, Central, Central-Blacksoil, Volga-Vyatka, Volga, and North-Caucasian regions), non-European part of Russia (the Urals, East-Siberia, and the Far-East regions) and Mongolia. Prevalence of HCV antibody varied significantly by regions, ranging from 0.7% in Central region of European part of Russia to 10.

[Prevalence of genotypes of the hepatitis C virus, circulating in northwestern and central parts of Russia].

Testing of 90 sera for antibodies to hepatitis C virus (HCV) by genotyping methods resulted in determination of the genotype in 83 cases: 47 cases with 1b genotype, 27 with 1a, 7 with 3a, 1 with 2a, and 1 with 2b genotype. Hence, preliminary data indicate the predominance of HCV genotype 1b among patients with hepatitis C in these regions of Russia.

[The current problems in the epidemiology and prevention of enteric viral hepatitis in Russia].

The presence of great differences in the activity of the epidemic process of hepatitis A (HA) in some regions of Russia is shown and the data necessary for establishing the structure of HA foci in groups of children, as well as the proportion of different forms of the disease registered in such foci (the icteric form in 22.7% of patients, the obliterated form in 11.3% of patients, the nonicteric form in 45.

[The enhancement of the diagnostic reliability of immunoblot for HIV-1 antibodies by enriching the preparation for immunoblot with the HIV-1 gp120 protein].

The diagnostic value of original immunoblot system depends on the availability of enveloped protein GP120 because it is the antibodies to this polypeptide that frequently indicate the running virus infection. This polypeptide is lost during purification of viral material but remains free in culture medium. The extraction of GP120 from culture fluid with immunosorbent based on sepharose 4B with ligated immunoglobulins from HIV-1-infected persons enriched the preparation for immunoblot with proteins increasing its diagnostic value.

[Clinical picture of congenital Cytomegalovirus infection in infants in their first year of life].

A study was made of the clinical picture of congenital cytomegaloviral infection in 40 children of the first year of life. The diagnosis was established on the basis of demonstration in all the patients of IgM antibodies to cytomegalovirus (IgM anti-CMV) by EIA with the aid of the commercial test systems. Besides, 81% of the children were found to have cytomegalic-specific cells in urine, 17.

[The characteristics of the HIV isolated from HIV-infected persons and AIDS patients on the territory of the CIS].

HIV strains were isolated from HIV-infected patients and AIDS patients in CIS. A total of 81 HIV isolates were obtained. The isolates were identified by using immunofluorescence and enzyme immunoassay, by determining the activity of reverse transcriptase, immunoblot, electron microscopy, polymerase chain reaction.

[The detection of antibodies to HIV protein p24 in human blood sera by the method of lanthanide immunofluorescent analysis].

A competitive time-resolved fluoroimmunoassay (TR-FIA) system for the detection of antibodies to protein p24 of HIV was developed on the basis of monoclonal antibodies. The advantages of this test system over analogous enzyme immunoassay system and commercial test system "Antigen" (USSR) were demonstrated. The newly developed test system of TR-FIA was used for examination of sera from HIV-infected persons.

[The sensitivity of rhesus and cynomolgus macaques to the human hepatitis A virus].

Hepatitis A infection characterized by virus excretion in feces, synthesis of specific IgM antibody, increased activity of alanine aminotransferase in the blood serum, and a complex of morphological lesions in the liver typical of acute hepatitis was reproduced in M. fascicularis (M. f.

[Experimental model of hepatitis A in rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) infected with human hepatitis A virus].

The focus of this paper is characterization of Hepatitis A experimental model obtained for the first time in rhesus monkeys (M. mulatta) infected with fecal isolate from a patient with Hepatitis A (HAV-H1). Monkeys were susceptible to oral and intravenous routes of HAV inoculation.

[The use of immunoenzyme analysis in studying the etiologic structure of influenza morbidity in 1985-1988].

In the periods of epidemic increases in the incidence of influenza in 1985-1988, approximately 600 patients with clinical diagnoses of ARVI and influenza were examined for the presence of viral antigen in nasopharyngeal washings by solid-phase enzyme-immunoassay and for antibody rises in paired blood sera. The use of modified SPEIA and original test sera for influenza type A and B viruses in rapid diagnosis of influenza made it possible to decode the etiology of the epidemic situations in 1985-1988. Influenza A and B virus antigens were detected in a high portion of the examined nasopharyngeal washings.

[A possible variant of a false diagnosis of infection with the human immunodeficiency virus].

The authors describe a patient who demonstrated positive blood responsiveness to the nuclear antigens of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) (p17, p31 and p55), observed steadily for 1 year and 4 months. The donor's disease history consideration made it impossible to include him in one of the known groups at risk for HIV infection whereas the lack of any changes in immunoblotting enabled one to exclude the diagnosis of HIV infection. The given case and other similar cases form the basis for introducing the second parallel screening during blood testing for HIV infection to bar the use of such blood for transfusion.

[Specific immunity in preschool children at high risk of infection with hepatitis A virus].

The dynamics of postinfection immunity to hepatitis A (HA) in preschool children was studied for 2 years in an area with a high activity of the epidemic process. In primary examinations by radioimmunoassay, anti-HAV were found in 82% of the subjects. The degree of the immunity intensity was found to be markedly variable: in 21% of the children the titre of anti-HAV was 1:10, in 28%-1:40, in 37%-1:160, in 14%-1:640.

[Immune structure and rubella incidence in pregnant women in Moscow].

The immune structure of the Moscow City population (mostly, pregnant women) in relation to rubella virus antigen. Specific antihemagglutinins were found in 82%-93% of pregnant women, depending on their age. Examination of sera from 207 pregnant women who had contacts with rubella patients demonstrated clinically manifest rubella verified serologically in 9.

[Serological proof of the existence of a variety of non-A, non-B hepatitis with a fecal-oral transmission mechanism].

An outbreak of hepatitis in one of Siberian regions mainly among adults of 19-35 years of age was studied. The epidemiological studies showed the infection to spread by the fecal-oral mechanism of transmission. In 90% of the patients the disease was mild, in 10% of moderate severity; no severe forms or fatal outcomes were observed.

[The immune structure and specific laboratory indices of acute hepatitis A in lower monkeys of the Sukhumi Nursery].

The study of the rate of occurrence of hepatitis A (HA) markers among monkeys, both newly arriving and those born and living for long periods (aboriginals) in the Sukhumi farm, was carried out. The rate of detection of antibody to HAV (anti-HAV) was shown to vary from 47% (Papio hamadryas) to 100% (Macaca arctoides and Macaca fascicularis). The level of infection with HAV varied among different groups of the same species: Macaca rhesus from 30% to 96%, Papio hamadryas from 0 to 82%.

Spontaneous and experimental hepatitis A in Old World monkeys.

Virologic, serologic, biochemical, and morphological data characterizing spontaneous hepatitis A (HA) in cynomolgus macaques (Macaca fascicularis) and green monkeys (Cercopithecus aethiops) are reported. Experimental HA was induced in macaques as a result of infection with human hepatitis A virus (HAV-h). Disease similar to human HA was induced in cynomolgus macaques by HAV isolates from spontaneously sick rhesus (M.

[Detection of genomic RNA of the hepatitis A virus in clinical samples using the blot hybridization method].

The synthetic oligonucleotide sequence 3'CTCCTCGTACTTTA-5' complementing hepatitis A virus RNA was compared with cDNA probes in identification of viral genomic RNA. The clinical materials from patients in the 1-2 weeks of jaundice were screened. High specificity of the technique was demonstrated.

[Electron microscopic research in non-A, non-B viral hepatitis with a fecal-oral mechanism of infection transmission].

Fecal specimens collected in the early stage of the disease from hepatitis patients classified by serological, clinical, and epidemiological data as non-A-non-B hepatitis were examined by means of cross immune electron microscopy. Extracts of feces from such patients were found to contain full, semi-empty, and empty virus particles without envelopes, 27-30 nm in size, forming immune complexes only in the presence of acute and convalescent sera from patients with this type of hepatitis. The lack of serological crosses with hepatitis A and non-A-non-B viruses isolated in other regions suggests that this virus is antigenically distinct.