Mesenchymal cells in the treatment of focal brain injury induced by venous circulation disturbances in rats.

We studied the efficiency of bone marrow multipotent mesenchymal stem cells for correction of neurological deficit in rats with experimental sustained focal brain injury caused by venous outflow disturbances. It was found that neurological deficit in animals with transplantation of multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells decreased by 54-75% (vs. 14-17% in the control group) by day 21.

Targeting Nuclear Hormone Receptors: PPARα Agonists as Potential Disease-Modifying Drugs for Rheumatoid Arthritis.

In recent years, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) have received growing interest due to the broad spectrum of their biological activities. PPARα, an isoform of PPAR, plays an important role in lipid homeostasis and inflammation, which makes it a potential target for the treatment of chronic inflammatory disorders, including RA. This paper reviews studies on the properties of PPARα agonists which may be pertinent to the treatment of RA.

Delayed results of transplantation of fetal neurogenic tissue in patients with consequences of spinal cord trauma.

We analyzed delayed effects of transplantation of nervous and hemopoietic fetal cells to patients with consequences of spinal trauma. A decrease in neurological deficit associated with pronounced improvement of functional independence was observed in 48.9% cases.

Evaluation of the expression of isoforms of stem cell factor mRNA in fetal tissues and mononuclear cells at different stages of human development.

We studied the expression of isoforms of stem cells factor mRNA forming as a result of alternative splicing. Both isoforms of stem cell factor mRNA forming as a result of alternative splicing were found in different fetal tissues. Changes in the expression of alternative isoforms of stem cell factor in peripheral blood mononuclear cells were demonstrated from the prenatal and neonatal periods to adult organism.

Functional asymmetry of the cerebral hemispheres: its role in the pathogenesis of ectromelia and melanoma in (CBAxC57BL/6)F1 mice.

The aim of the present work was to identify the role of functional asymmetry in the cerebral hemispheres in the pathogenesis of infectious and oncological pathology in (CBAxC57BL/6)F1 mice. Mice with lefthemisphere dominance of motor functions ("right-handers") were found to be more resistant to infection with ectromelia virus and to show slower growth of tumors after subcutaneous injection of B-16 melanoma than animals with right-hemisphere dominance of motor control ("left-handers"). Thus, this report provides the first evidence for the role of functional asymmetry of the nervous system in the pathogenesis of ectromelia and melanoma (B-16) in (CBAxC57BL/6)F1 mice.

A new approach to evaluation of osteogenic potential of mesenchymal stromal cells.

We developed a new approach to evaluation of the intensity of osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stromal stem cells based on measurement of optical density of mesenchymal stromal cell cultures in a concentration range 625-10,000 cells per well after their culturing in osteogenic induction medium and staining of calcium deposits by the method of von Kossa. The proposed method allows comparative semiquantitative evaluation of osteogenic properties of mesenchymal stem cells depending on tissue sources (bone marrow, adipose tissue, placenta), in vitro cell density, number of passages, duration of culturing, and concentration of serum growth factors in the microenvironment. The developed approach makes it possible to compare functional activity of mesenchymal stromal cells in various pathologies.

Induction of antiidiotypic immune response with autologous T-cell vaccine in patients with multiple sclerosis.

Patients with different forms of multiple sclerosis were treated with a vaccine consisting of myelin-reactive T cells. It was found that after this treatment, lymphocytes from patients acquired the capacity to generate antiidiotypic proliferative response directed towards myelin-reactive T cells. The serum concentration of IFN-gamma decreased about 2-fold 1.

Stem cells of small intestinal epithelium.

Intestinal epithelium is a rapidly proliferating tissue and represents a unique model for the study of somatic stem cells. Here we summarized the data about markers, main properties, and methods of isolation of intestinal epithelial cells. Some aspects of molecular biology of the intestine are also discussed.

The role of asymmetry of nervous and immune systems in the formation of cellular immunity of (CBaxC57Bl/6) F1 mice.

We have previously shown the existence of functional asymmetry of the immune system and the role of brain hemispheres and different lobes of thymus in the development of humoral immune response in (CBA x C57Bl/6) F1 mice. The role of asymmetry of the nervous and immune systems in the formation of the cellular immune response [delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) reaction] in these mice has been studied in our work. In order to test the influence of asymmetry of the primary immune organs, thymus, on the cellular immune response, mice were thymectomized and then we studied the effect of the injection of cells from contralateral thymus lobes of right-dominant and left-dominant donors by motor asymmetry on how pronounced the DTH reaction in the back left paw was.

[Immunotherapy of lung tumors in Balb/c mice].

Tissue-specific immune reactions were used to develop a method of dealing with malignant tumors. Injection of proteins isolated from lung tissue of mice (CBAxC57BL/6)F1, of varying age, into mice Balb/c with urethane-induced lung tumors cut the number of such tumors by half. Direct correlation was found between the magnitude and nature of effect and level of lung protein injection.

[Adenocarcinoma of the stomach: clinical and immunologic features].

Lower natural killer cells activity (NKCA), varying stage of anemia and in vitro depressed colony-forming ability of committed precursors of hemopoiesis were identified in 50 gastric cancer patients. The patients with different patterns of the vegetative nervous system had tumors with a range of adenocarcinoma cell differentiation. A relationship was established between anemia stage, colony-forming ability of committed precursors of hemopoiesis, on the one hand, and vegetative nervous system pattern, stage of tumor cell differentiation and, to a less extent, NKCA, on the other.

Features of Immune Status in Patients with Tetralogy of Fallot during Operative Treatment.

Twenty six patients with tetralogy of Fallot at the age from 1 to 3 years old were examined. All examined patients required surgical correction of heart defect and were operated under conditions of artificial circulation. All patients were in a status of relative compensation or subcompensation.

Quantitative analysis of human immunoregulatory cytokines by electrochemiluminescence method.

Quantitative analysis of human immunoregulatory cytokines in physiological media and cell cultures plays an important role in fundamental and clinical research. Here we describe the quantification of interleukin (IL)-2, IL-4, IL-10 and interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) in human serum and peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC)-conditioned medium by electrochemiluminescence method (ECL). We demonstrate that this approach allows to detect cytokine concentration from 1 pg/ml.

[Characteristics and immunologic changes in patients with malignant brain tumors].

The investigation was concerned with assaying immunity and evaluating the role played by monocytes and tumor cells in the formation of T-cell dysfunction in malignant glioma (MG). The study group included 28 patients with anaplastic astrocytomas (n = 18) and glioblastomas (n = 10). MG patients showed significant changes in the numbers of CD16+ NK-cells and HLA-DR monocytes as well as lowered levels of HLA-DR expression on monocytes and proliferative response of T-lymphocytes as compared with both standard and alternative pathways of activation.

Functional asymmetry of thymus and the immune response in mice.

We have studied the capability of the mouse thymus for asymmetrical formation. Concanavalin A (Con A)-stimulated proliferation of thymocytes from the right and left lobes of the thymus appeared to be significantly different. The direction of the differences depends on the dominance of the brain hemispheres with regard to motor asymmetry.

Contribution of interleukin-1 to Th1- and Th2-dependent variants of chronic graft-versus-host reaction.

Semiallogenic transfer of lymphoid cells from parental DBA/2 strain to (C57Bl/6xDBA/2)F1 hybrids induces two variants of chronic graft-versus-host reaction with predominant activation of donor Th1 or Th2 cells [2] in genetically homologous recipients: first, severe inhibition of the humoral immune response, or second, autoimmune disease (lupus nephritis) against the background of suppressed cell and humoral immunity. These variants of chronic graft-versus-host reaction are characterized by different changes in interleukin-1 level.

[Level of Tx1- and Tx2-type cytokines in blood sera of hepatitis C patients].

The content of cytokines of type Tx1 (IL-2 and IFN-gamma) and type Tx2 (IL-4) in blood sera of 132 patients with hepatitis C and the combined form of hepatitis B + C was studied. For control, blood sera taken from healthy donors were used. A significant increase, in comparison with the control, in the content of IL-4 in all subgroups of the patients was registered.