[THE PATHOGENIC POTENTIAL OF MORAXELLA CATARRHALIS AND STAPHYLOCOCCUS EPIDERMIDIS UNDER INFLAMMATORY PROCESSES OF UPPER RESPIRATORY TRACTS].

The frequent isolation from biological material of Moraxella catarrhalis under bronchitis and pneumonia and Staphilococcus epidermidis under rhinitis and sinusitis requires profound investigation offactors ofpathogenicity ofthe mentioned microorganisms. The genetic and phenotypic markers of virulence of strains M. catarrhalis and S.

Typing and clustering of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis isolates by restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis using insertion sequences.

Yersinia pseudotuberculosis is an enteropathogen that has an animal reservoir and causes human infections, mostly in temperate and cold countries. Most of the methods previously used to subdivide Y. pseudotuberculosis were performed on small numbers of isolates from a specific geographical area.

[Anti-pertussis immunity in children in the cities of Northwestern Federal District with various population].

Aim: Evaluate the state of immunity against pertussis in children living in St. Petersburg and regional centers of Northwestern Federal District (NFD).

Materials And Methods: The level of anti-pertussis antibodies by EIA and agglutinin reaction (AR) was studied in 419 children living in St.

[Molecular-biological characteristic of Yersinia enterocolitica circulating in various regions of Russian Federation].

Aim: Complex characteristic by phenotype signs and main virulence genes of Yersinia enterocolitica strains circulating in various regions of Russian Federation.

Materials And Methods: 46 strains of Y. enterocolitica of 2 - 4 biotypes and 401 strains of Y.

[Biodiversity and evolution of circulating bacteria and virus populations. Novel problems of medical microbiology].

Biodiversity and evolution of circulating bacteria and virus populations is a serious scientific problem, solving this problem is necessary for effective prophylaxis of infectious diseases. Principal trends of development in this field of science are described. Results of studies that were carried out and investigated biodiversity of principal pathogens in Russia and St.

Population structure of the Yersinia pseudotuberculosis complex according to multilocus sequence typing.

Multilocus sequence analysis of 417 strains of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis revealed that it is a complex of four populations, three of which have been previously assigned species status [Y. pseudotuberculosis sensu stricto (s.s.

[Micro technologies in express diagnostics of toxigenic Corynebacterium diphtheriae strains].

Aim: Development of micro technologies based approach for express diagnostics of toxigenic C. diphtheriae strains.

Materials And Methods: Corynebacterium diphtheriae 10648 (tox+) and C.

Monitoring of Bordetella isolates circulating in Saint Petersburg, Russia between 2001 and 2009.

Bordetella isolates in the Saint Petersburg region have been monitored since 1998. Over the past ten years, concomitant with the increase in pertussis whole-cell vaccine coverage, the incidence of whooping cough has decreased. However, this decrease exists only for Bordetella pertussis infections, as the incidence of Bordetella parapertussis confirmed cases has remained stable, suggesting that pertussis-vaccine-induced immunity is not protective against parapertussis, as expected.

[Features of cytokine levels in serum of patients with tick-borne borreliosis with different clinical signs].

Aim: To assess levels of several cytokines in blood of patients with tick-borne borreliosis (Lyme disease) with different clinical variants of the disease.

Materials And Methods: Study of complex of proinflammatory cytokines (IFNalpha, IL-1beta, IFNgamma, IL-2, IL-4, IL-8) during course of the disease was performed by solid-phase ELISA using domestic diagnostic kits (Scientific Manufacturing Organization "Proteinovyi Contur", "Cytokine" Ltd., Saint Petersburg).

[Bactericidal activity of colloidal silver against grampositive and gramnegative bacteria].

It was shown that colloidal silver solution prepared in cooperation with the A. F. Ioffe Physical Technical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, had significant bactericidal activity.

[To the differential diagnosis of arthritis of pseudotuberculous and chlamydial etiology].

Aim: to define main differential diagnostic criteria for arthritides of chlamydial and pseudotuberculous etiology and to improve patient examination tactics.

Subjects And Methods: Forty-six patients with pseudotuberculosis and 41 patients with chronic urogenital chlamydial infection with articular involvement were examined. A bacteriological method of polymerase chain reaction (PCR), agglutination test, enzyme immunoassay (EIA) (IgA, IgG, IgM), indirect hemagglutination (IHA) test were used to diagnose pseudotuberculosis.

[Features of biologic characteristics of Corynebacterium diphtheriae circulating in postepidemic period].

Aim: To study main biologic characteristics of C. diphtheriae strains circulating in North-West Region of Russia for the last 15 years.

Materials And Methods: Six hundred and fifty strains of C.

[Etiologic role of Corynebacterium non diphtheriae in patients with different pathology].

Bacteriologic examination of 1589 patients showed that, aside from C. diphtheriae, 11% of acute upper respiratory tract infections were caused by other Corynebacterium species. Such bacteria can cause infections of various localizations (bronchitis, pyelonephritis, urethritis, colpitis, dermatitis, arthritis, etc.

[Molecular typing of the strains of Bordetella pertussis circulating in St. Petersburg during an outbreak of the disease].

Growth of the whooping-cough morbidity during the last years in Russia and other countries with 40-year-long history of immunization gave rise to significant interest of researchers to variability of the Bordetella pertussis population. Comparative assay of the genomes of the B. pertussis strains circulating in St.

[Yersinia lipopolysaccharide and its biological activity].

The data on the structure and biological activity of the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) of Yersinia as an important virulence factor are analyzed. The biological effects of LPS are characterized by dose dependence: small doses stimulate the intensity of phagocytosis, while large doses decrease phagocytic activity and produce cytotoxic effect. Yersinia LPS plays an important role in the development of such consequences of yersiniosis as reactive arthritis, erythema nodosum, Reiter's syndrome.

Evaluation of ribotyping as a tool for molecular typing of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis strains of worldwide origin.

Yersinia pseudotuberculosis is a gram-negative bacterium that infects a wide range of animals, including humans, and is transmitted by the fecal-oral route. This species is found globally and is responsible for human outbreaks, mainly in cold countries. The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential of ribotyping for the molecular typing of worldwide isolates.

Comparison of the Bordetella pertussis and Bordetella parapertussis isolates circulating in Saint Petersburg between 1998 and 2000 with Russian vaccine strains.

We analyzed the Bordetella pertussis and Bordetella parapertussis isolates circulating in Saint Petersburg that were collected between 1998 and 2000 and compared them with isolates collected 40 years ago and Russian vaccine strains. The analysis involved serotyping, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis of chromosomal DNA after digestion with XbaI and SpeI, and sequencing of the ptxS1 and prn genes, which encode the S1 subunit of the pertussis toxin and the major adhesin pertactin, respectively. The Russian isolates were classified in five of the six pulsed-field gel electrophoresis groups identified in other European countries.

Immunochromatographic strip test for rapid detection of diphtheria toxin: description and multicenter evaluation in areas of low and high prevalence of diphtheria.

An immunochromatographic strip (ICS) test was developed for the detection of diphtheria toxin by using an equine polyclonal antibody as the capture antibody and colloidal gold-labeled monoclonal antibodies specific for fragment A of the diphtheria toxin molecule as the detection antibody. The ICS test has been fully optimized for the detection of toxin from bacterial cultures; the limit of detection was approximately 0.5 ng of diphtheria toxin per ml within 10 min.

[The use of polymerase chain reaction in the diagnosis of diphtheria infection].

624 Corynebacterium diphtheriae strains, newly isolated from patients and carriers, were studied with the use of the methods of gel immunodiffusion (Elek's test) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). In the evaluation of 388 C. diptheriae strains, found to be toxigenic in PCR, the results of Elek's test coincided with those of PCR on 98% of cases.