ABSTRACT
This study analyzes the variability of 137Cs and 90Sr concentrations in wood and their radial distributions in the trunks of Scots pine and Silver birch trees in the small uniformly contaminated forest stands in the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone. Concentrations of both radionuclides follow a lognormal distribution with a large scatter of values measured in the trees within the stands (GSD ranges from 1.6 to 2.0). No correlation was found between the concentrations of the two radionuclides measured in individual trees, or between their concentrations and tree diameter. The average 137Cs and 90Sr Tag were 8.4 × 10-4 m2 kg-1 and 8.8 × 10-3 m2 kg-1 for pine, respectively, and 9.3 × 10-4 m2 kg-1 and 1.1 × 10-2 m2 kg-1 for birch, indicating a much higher availability of 90Sr for uptake by the studied species. For 137Cs, the Tag values are within the range recommended by the IAEA Handbook (IAEA, 2010), while the values for 90Sr exceed the recommended range for birch and are close to its upper value for pine. The highest concentrations of 137Cs in pine at the height of 1.3 m were measured in the youngest sapwood rings; they were lower in the rest of the sapwood and decreased further in the heartwood, but remained relatively high even in annual rings that were the heartwood at the time of deposition, suggesting sapwood-to-heartwood translocation of the radionuclide by diffusion and/or ray transport. In contrast, 90Sr concentrations increased through the sapwood from the trunk periphery in pine trees up to 80 years old and remained stable through the sapwood in older trees (except for higher concentrations in the young annual rings), but dropped to zero in physiologically inactive heartwood tissues. In most birch trees, regardless of age, 137Cs concentrations demonstrated an increasing trend from the trunk periphery towards the pith, while concentrations of 90Sr were relatively stable in the whole trunk except in the oldest annual rings, where they increased sharply, likely indicating active transport of the radionuclide to senescing tissues.
Subject(s)
Pinus sylvestris , Pinus , Radiation Monitoring , Wood , Betula , Forests , TreesABSTRACT
The effects of extracts from licorice (Glycyrrhisa glabra), great nettle (Urtica dioica), common burdock (Arctium lappa), and bur marigold (Bidens tripartite) on the humoral and cellular immune response and nonspecific resistance in mice were studied. Burdock and bur marigold extracts stimulated the humoral immune response, nettle and licorice extracts stimulated cellular response and nonspecific resistance, their effects being superior to those of pharmacopoeial Echinacea purpurea tincture.
Subject(s)
Immune System/drug effects , Immunity, Humoral/drug effects , Plant Extracts/pharmacology , Animals , Antibody-Producing Cells/drug effects , Antibody-Producing Cells/immunology , Antigens/immunology , Arctium/chemistry , Bidens/chemistry , Cell Count , Erythrocytes/immunology , Glycyrrhiza/chemistry , Male , Mice , Mice, Inbred CBA , Sheep , Spleen/cytology , Spleen/drug effects , Spleen/immunology , Urtica dioica/chemistryABSTRACT
Effect of the antiserotonin drug cyproheptadine on the erythropoiesis has been studied under conditions of the administration of cytostatics (fluoropyrimidine antimetabolite 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), alkylating agent cyclophosphane) with different mechanisms of action. It is established that the antiserotonin drug significantly accelerates regeneration of the erythroid hemopoietic branch, especially in the case of 5-FU. The depression of erythron under the conditions of cyclophosphane injections was retained. The erythropoiesis-stimulating effect of cyproheptadine is based on the restoration of the structural and functional organization of the bone marrow (formation of erythroid hemopoietic islets).
Subject(s)
Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic/toxicity , Antineoplastic Agents, Alkylating/toxicity , Cyproheptadine/pharmacology , Erythropoiesis/drug effects , Serotonin Antagonists/pharmacology , Animals , Bone Marrow/drug effects , Cell Proliferation/drug effects , Cyclophosphamide/toxicity , Erythroid Precursor Cells/cytology , Erythroid Precursor Cells/drug effects , Fluorouracil/toxicity , Male , Mice , Mice, Inbred CBAABSTRACT
The influence of Sorbus sibirica, Calendula officinalis and Althaea officinalis extracts on the humoral immune response and nonspecific resistance of mice to immunosuppression by cyclophosphan was studied. It was shown that these extracts are not inferior to Echinacea purpurea tincture in terms of stimulation of humoral immune response, phagocytic and bactericidal activity of peritoneal macrophages but exceed effect of E. purpurea on phagocytic activity of peripheral blood neutrophils.
Subject(s)
Immunity, Innate , Immunologic Deficiency Syndromes/drug therapy , Immunosuppression Therapy/methods , Immunosuppressive Agents/therapeutic use , Macrophages, Peritoneal/immunology , Phytotherapy/methods , Plant Preparations/therapeutic use , Animals , Cyclophosphamide/therapeutic use , Disease Models, Animal , Echinacea , Immunologic Deficiency Syndromes/immunology , Immunologic Deficiency Syndromes/pathology , Macrophages, Peritoneal/drug effects , Macrophages, Peritoneal/pathology , Male , Mice , Mice, Inbred CBA , Neutrophils/drug effects , Neutrophils/immunology , Neutrophils/pathology , Treatment OutcomeABSTRACT
Immune reactions of the progeny of female Wistar rats injected with paclitaxel a single MPD of 1 and 3 months before mating with intact males were studied. Thymic hyperplasia was detected in the progeny of female rats mated 1 month after treatment. Disorders in the antibody-specific and antibody-nonspecific mechanisms of the immune response were detected in the progeny of females mated with intact males 3 months after cytostatic treatment.
Subject(s)
Immunity/drug effects , Paclitaxel/toxicity , Animals , Animals, Newborn , Cytostatic Agents/toxicity , Female , Hyperplasia/chemically induced , Immunity/immunology , Male , Pregnancy , Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects , Rats , Rats, Wistar , Thymus Gland/drug effects , Thymus Gland/pathology , Time FactorsABSTRACT
Mice of different strains can be classified by the intensity of humoral immune reaction to thymus-dependent antigen as high, moderate, and low responders. High and moderate responders (CBA/CaLac, DBA/1, BALB/c) are characterized by high sensitivity of the productive phase of humoral immune response and phagocytic activity of macrophages to immobilization stress. In low responders (C57BL/6, CC57W) stress only slightly affected the productive phase of the humoral immune response, but activity of peritoneal macrophages decreased. These differences in the reactions of the immune system of inbred mice after immobilization stress reflect different reactions of the immune system to extreme factors.
Subject(s)
Immobilization , Animals , Catecholamines/metabolism , Immune System , Macrophages/metabolism , Mice , Mice, Inbred BALB C , Mice, Inbred C57BL , Mice, Inbred CBA , Mice, Inbred DBA , Mice, Inbred Strains , Phagocytosis , Species Specificity , Stress, Physiological , Thymus Gland/pathology , Time FactorsABSTRACT
We studied the effects of ultralow doses of anti-idiotypic antibodies to human gamma-interferon on humoral immune response in experimental animals immunized with a thymus-dependent antigen, delayed-type hypersensitivity, and phagocytic activity of neutrophils in the peritoneal exudate. This preparation stimulated the humoral immune response and activated phagocytosis, but had no effect on functional activity of T cells.
Subject(s)
Antibodies, Anti-Idiotypic/pharmacology , Antibody Formation/drug effects , Immunity, Cellular/drug effects , Interferon-gamma/immunology , Animals , Dose-Response Relationship, Drug , Female , Humans , Male , Mice , Neutrophils/drug effects , Neutrophils/immunologyABSTRACT
We studied immunotropic properties of antibodies to human interferon-gamma in homeopathic doses. The effects of these antibodies on the ratio between the counts of T helper (CD4+) and T suppressor cells (CD8+), production of interleukin-1 and interleukin-2, and functional activity of natural killer cells were evaluated. Potentiated antibodies slightly decreased the number of CD8+ cells in the spleen of experimental animals. After the addition to cultured human mononuclear cells the preparation produced a moderate comitogenic effect, stimulated proliferation of T and B lymphocytes, increased spontaneous and induced production of interleukin-1, and enhanced functional activity of natural killer cells (under certain conditions).
Subject(s)
Antibodies/pharmacology , Immunologic Factors/pharmacology , Interferon-gamma/immunology , Adult , Animals , CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes/drug effects , CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes/metabolism , CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes/drug effects , CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes/metabolism , Cells, Cultured , Humans , Interleukin-1/metabolism , Interleukin-2/metabolism , Killer Cells, Natural/drug effects , Killer Cells, Natural/metabolism , Leukocytes, Mononuclear/drug effects , Leukocytes, Mononuclear/metabolism , Male , Mice , Young AdultABSTRACT
T cells were most sensitive to cyclophosphamide in DBA/2 mice, while in C57Bl/6 mice both T and B cells were sensitive. The formation of antibody-producing cells and the production of specific antibodies were delayed in DBA/2 mice immunized after pretreatment with antitumor drug. Accumulation of antibody-producing cells in the spleen was more active in immunized C57Bl/6 mice treated with cyclophosphamide compared to animals not treated with cyclophosphamide.
Subject(s)
Antineoplastic Agents, Alkylating/pharmacology , B-Lymphocytes/drug effects , Cyclophosphamide/pharmacology , Macrophages/drug effects , T-Lymphocytes/drug effects , Animals , Antigen-Presenting Cells/drug effects , Bone Marrow Cells/drug effects , Bone Marrow Cells/immunology , Mice , Mice, Inbred C57BL , Mice, Inbred DBA , Spleen/cytology , Spleen/immunologyABSTRACT
The responses of immunocompetent cells to thymus-dependent antigen differ in mice of different strains. Immunization stimulated phagocytic activity of peritoneal macrophages in CBA/CaLac, DBA/2, and BALB/c mice and suppressed it in CC57W mice. By the formation of antibody-producing cells in the spleen in response to thymus-dependent antigen DBA/2 and CBA/CaLac mice can be classified as high responders, BALB/c mice as medium-responders, and C57Bl/6 and CC57W mice as low responders.
