[Blood serum immunoglobulins from patients with juvenile struma reduce the cAMP level in isolated human thyrocytes]. / Immunoglobuliny iz syvorotki krovi lits s iuvenil'noi strumoi snizhaiut uroven' tsAMF v izolirovannykh tireotsitakh cheloveka.

Clinico-hormonal examinations of 19 patients with juvenile struma revealed in many of them signs of latent hypothyrosis (increased age-specific level of blood serum TTH level and hyperergic reaction to TRH). Incubation of thyrocytes isolated from perinodular tissue of patients with euthyroid nodular goiter with IgG isolated from the blood serum of patients with juvenile struma resulted in a reliably lower content of cAMP in the cells than after thyrocyte incubation with IgG isolated from the blood serum of 9 healthy donors. This is indicative of the presence of thyroblocking antibodies in the blood serum of patients with juvenile struma. Though no correlation could be traced between the tested immunoglobulin activity, on the one hand, and blood serum TTH level and struma size, on the other, one may propose a contribution of thyroblocking antibodies to the pathogenesis of juvenile struma.

[Clinico-diagnostic characteristics of autoimmune thyroiditis in children]. / Kliniko-diagnosticheskie osobennosti autoimmunnogo tireodita u detei.

As many as 174 children (152 with autoimmune thyroiditis, 12 with thyroid diseases of non-autoimmune genesis and 10 with diffuse toxic goiter) underwent clinical and laboratory examinations with a purpose of delineating the clinical course and comparative assessments of the methods applied in the diagnosis of autoimmune thyroiditis. High risk for the disease in the pre- and pubertal age, the lack of a specific appearance, gradual disease development, uneventful course in many cases with a progressive development of hypothyrosis, and rare development of the grave patterns of hypothyrosis have been established. In clinically euthyroid conditions, the thyroliberin test revealed the predominance of latent or evident hypothyrosis in the majority of patients. Aspiration puncture of the thyroid accompanied by a cytological study of the punctate and detection of circulating immune complexes (increase of the content of medium-size circulating immune complexes) turned out to be of high diagnostic value. The measurement of the titer of antithyroid antibodies is of importance provided their level is high. Nevertheless the lack of antibodies does not allow one to exclude autoimmune thyroiditis. The scanning of the thyroid is of additional diagnostic significance, particularly in cases that require differentiation with nodular patterns of goiter and neoplasms.

[Changes in the duration of the Achilles reflex in euthyroid goiter in children]. / Izmeneniia dlitel'nosti akhillova refleksa pri "éutireoidnom zobe" u detei.

Changes in the duration of the Achilles reflex were studied in subclinical disturbances of thyroid function. For this purpose the duration of the Achilles reflex, the levels of T4, T3, iodine protein bound TSH and cholesterol were investigated in children admitted to hospital with the general diagnosis of the "euthyroid goiter". Clinical and laboratory findings revealed subclinical types of the diffuse toxic goiter, hypothyrosis, chronic thyroiditis, endemic goiter, nodular goiter, pubertal struma and sporadic euthyroid goiter. The aim of the study was to define the diagnostic importance of reflexometry in subclinical disorders of thyroid function and to assess the relationships between metabolic derangements and the duration of the Achilles reflex. Changes in the duration were shown to correspond to disorder of thyroid function. In 76% of the cases reflexometry brought about the correct assessment of the patient's thyroid status. A significant conformity of the levels of TSH, T3, T4 to the duration of the Achilles reflex was shown.

[Disturbance in the function of the spinal centers in diffuse toxic goiter in children (electromyographic study)]. / O narushenii funktsii spinal'nykh tsentrov pri diffuznom toksicheskom zobe u detei (élektromiograficheskoe issledovanie)

Peculiarities of the reflex and motor responses of the soleus muscle were studied in stimulation of the tibial nerve by stimuli of gradually increasing intensity, and also in double stimulation and against the background of contraction of the antagonistic muscles in children with diffuse goiter and in healthy individuals. In sick children an increase and a fall in the H-response amplitude with increase of the stimulation intensity occurred more rapidly than in healthy ones. A rapid restoration of the reflex response at the interval of 500 msec and greater was noted in studying the cycle of restoration of excitation of the motor cells of the anterior horn in sick children. Against the background of contraction of the antagonistic muscles the reciprocal inhibition of the reflex response of the muscle was weaker than in the healthy individuals. The data obtained led to a supposition that one of the causes of motor disturbances in case of an excess of the thyroid hormones in the organism could be a disturbance of the processes of the pre- and postsynaptic inhibition at the spinal level.

[Analysis of the causes of increased tremor in thyroid hyperfuction]. / K analizu prichin usileniia tremora pri giperfunktsii shchitovidnoi zhelezy

The authors present the results of examination of tremor (hand and trunk) of the amplitude of H- and T-reflexes and of the H-reflex inhibition during the contraction of antagonistic muscles and of facilitattion of T- and H-reflexes during the Yendrassik maneuvre in 33 children with hyperfunction of the thyroid gland and 20 normal subjects. It was established that the amplitude of tremor was greater and the frequency was less in these patients than in normal subjects; the amplitude of the H- and T-reflexes was enhanced, and the intensity of reciprocal inhibition of the soleus muscle motor neurons was less in the patients. Comparison of the amplitude of the T- and H-reflexes indicated that against the background of the Yendrassik maneuvre facilitation of the T-reflex was less intense and facilitation of the H-reflex was more intense than in normal subjects. The authors supposed that the enhanced tremor in the patients was due to the motor neurons pool depolarization, to decrease the efficacy of reciprocal inhibition and to diminished suprasegmental influences spread to the gamma-motor neurons.