[Toxocariasis under the present conditions].

Toxocariasis is today the most widespread zoonotic, helminthic infection in Russia and other countries of the world. A large population of Toxocara has recently inhabited the urban populations of dogs and cats. Therefore toxocariasis canis and toxocariasis cati have shifted from rural areas to cities and megalopolises where Toxocara canis infestation amounts to as much as 100%, without excluding that in the rural populations of dogs.

[Gastrodiscoidosis is a dangerous zoonosis].

The paper gives data on the helminthiasis--gastrodiscoidosis, a zoonotic disease caused by the trematode Gastrodiscoides hominis (Lewis et McConnall, 1876) parasitizing in the animal and human intestine in the endemic foci of both Russia and foreign countries. It also presents information on the morphology of the helminth, the biological cycle of development of the parasite and its habitat and spread, as well as its induced abnormalities and on the method of diagnosing of the disease.

[The current canine and feline parasitic diseases situation in the megapolis of Moscow].

The paper describes the epizootic situation associated with parasitic diseases in dogs and cats in the megapolis of Moscow. The situation becomes particular dangerous in the dogs kept in the flats of the city's dwellers wherein 30 (28%) out of the 107 dogs examined have been found to be infested with T. canis, T.

[Animal and human cestoda infection (sparganosis)].

Spirometrosis (sparganosis) in animals and man is a serious ecological problem in Russia, which requires the constant attention of veterinary and medical services. The paper presents data on the biology of the parasite Spirometra erinacei europaei Muller, 1937, an account and diagram of a developmental cycle, and original photos of parasitic eggs, plerocercoids, strobiles, and cestode joint from animals.

[Modulation of the contractile activity of the fast and slow twitch rat muscle during continuous stimulation].

The fast- and slow-twitch muscles were tested with single pulses in the course of unfused tetanus formation. The tetanus decreased differences in contractile parameters of the test-twitch contractions and, after continuous stimulation, eliminated them altogether.

[The epidemiological-epizootiological subdivision of the nosogeographic range of trichinosis].

The prevalence of trichinosis was analyzed among human beings and animals in Moscow Province over 50 years (1946-1996). A total of 7022 domestic, synanthropic, and wild carnivorous animals were incompletely helminthologically dissected. Enzyme immunoassay revealed diagnostic Trichinella antigen antibody titers in 45.

[The effect of temperature and cold adaptation on slow-muscle contractile activity in rats].

Temperature dependence of single twitches as well as tetanic twitches was revealed. The adaptation changes were found to occur in single twitches alone. A distinction between slow twitch and fast twitch muscle contractions decreased after cold adaptation.

[The characteristics of long-term dentate tetanus of the skeletal muscle in the rat after cold adaptation].

Prolonged unfused tetanuses of control and cold-adapted rats' m. gastrocnemius at different muscle temperature (29-30 and 24-25 degrees C) were studied. The time of achievement of the maximum level increased, the phase of higher thermogenesis became longer and the third economic phase was delayed after cold adaptation (both at 29-30 degrees C and 24-25 degrees C).

[The effect of cooling on the characteristics of a single skeletal muscle contraction in cold-adapted rats].

The time parameters and amplitude of the m. gastrocnemius twitch contractions were studied in control and in cold-adapted rats at optimal muscle temperature (29-30 degrees C) and after cooling the muscle to 24-25 degrees C. A decrease of the twitch contraction force and an increase of the time of the contraction to the maximum, occurred in cold-adapted rats.

[Characteristics of lengthy spiked tetanus of rat skeletal muscle].

Prolonged unfused tetanuses of the rat m. gastrocnemius were investigated. An increase in the stimulation frequency raised the tension of unfused tetanuses, shortened the time of achievement of the maximum level, and accelerated the beginning of the third (economic) phase.

[Determination of the leading factors in the pathogenesis of an alcoholic lesion of the heart].

Male rats were given per os 25% ethanol solution twice a day at 9.00 and 21.00 for 5.

Morphofunctional examination of the heart in rats with the alcohol withdrawal syndrome.

Using histochemical methods, light and electron microscopy, authors examined rat heart 2-6 hours, 1, 3, and 7 days after discontinuation of forced intoxication with alcohol. At the same time, they assessed the contractile function and creatine phosphokinase (CPK) activity in the isolated perfused heart, and the development of animal destruction. Ethanol withdrawal was followed by escalation of vascular disorders in the heart, dystrophic changes in the subcellular structures, considerable polymorphism in enzyme distribution and activity, and formation of foci containing disintegrating myocytes with contractures.

[Participation of catecholamines in the mechanism of heart damage during the alcohol withdrawal syndrome in rats].

Withdrawal syndrome in rats was induced after ethanol administration in a dose of 4-5 g/kg b. w. twice daily for 5 consecutive days.

[Comparative characteristics of voluntary and semivoluntary methods of the alcoholization of rats].

Water and ethanol consumption, blood and urine ethanol concentrations were measured in male rats aged 1.5 to 8 months. The animals had ethanol solutions (5-25%) and water as alternate fluid (two-bottle choice) or a 10% ethanol solution as a sole water source.

[Alcoholic lesions of the brain].

Brains of 117 alcoholics admitted in the state of alcoholic coma or abstinence syndrome with an increase of blood pressure or development of acute psychosis were studied. The changes in the human brain were compared with those occurring in the brains of 30 rats with chronic alcoholic intoxication and formation of withdrawal syndrome. It is shown that in alcoholic coma and different manifestations of abstinence syndrome vascular and cellular changes take place, that can be attributed to the action of ethanol or its metabolites, as well as catecholamines.