[Effect of lithium preparations on cardiac arrhythmias due to strophanthin in waking rats].

It was shown in experiments on conscious rats that intravenous injection of strophanthine in toxic doses provokes heart arrhythmias and death of the animals. Lithium drugs (lithium chloride and lithium hydroxybutyrate) injected during arrhythmias led to a short-lived effect of heart rhythm normalization. Lithium hydroxybutyrate was more effective if administered shortly after strophanthine injection, reducing the latter's cardiotoxic effect and preventing the death of the majority of the animals.

[Role of the sympathetic nervous system during reparative regeneration and compensation of heart function in experimental myocardial infarct].

Experiments on chemically sympathectomized rats have revealed a double effect of the sympathetic nervous system on compensation and adaptation of heart function and reparative regeneration in myocardial infarction. It has been established that if the sympathetic influences are excluded, the elements of the connective tissue are activated, which leads to myocardial infarction healing at a shorter period of time. At the same time it has been demonstrated that sympathectomy inhibits the development of the compensatory reactions and limits adaptation possibilities of the heart.

[New informative index of the functional status of polymorphonuclear neutrophils].

A new test was applied to study the function of polymorphonuclear neutrophils according to their ability to form oreols in a hypertonic medium. During inhibition of neutrophil function in vivo (desympathetization, tumor growth), oreol formation increased. Stimulation of neutrophils in vitro by adding noradrenaline to the incubation medium led to a decrease in their oreol-forming ability.

[Morpho-functional changes in the heart of sympathectomized animals during acute myocardial ischemia].

Experiments on 142 Wistar male rats were made to study the effect of chemical desympathization on functional and structural changes in the heart during acute myocardial ischemia produced by ligation of the anterior descending branch of the left coronary artery. In the desympathized rats with acute myocardial ischemia, arrhythmias occurred in a less number of cases and were less severe. One day after the artery occlusion the decrease in myocardial contractility was less considerable than in the control animals.