[Selenium content in meat and poultry in Orenburg region].

Selenium content in beef, pork and poultry from Orenburg Region has been investigated. Regions with low (beef < 112 mcg/kg, pork--about 200 mcg/kg, poultry < 127 mcg/kg), medium and high (beef > 300 mcg/kg; pork--about 600 mcg/kg; poultry--170-180 mcg/kg) selenium levels are indicated. Positive correlations between selenium content in meat and soil are demonstrated (beef/soil +0.558, p < 0.001; pork/soil +0.557, p < 0.001; poultry/soil +0.389, p < 0.05). Meat contribution to selenium consumption is equal to: beef--4.6%, pork--6%, poultry--2.6%.

[The hygienic features of nutrition and elemental status in the children of the Orenburg region].

The paper analyzes the trace element status in the children residing in Orenburg and the Sakmarsky District, Orenburg Region. The study was conducted among 2nd-3rd-form pupils. Their hair samples were used as a biosubstrate to ascertain the trace element status; chemical elements were determined in accordance with guidelines 4.1.1482-03 and 4.1.1483-03 approved by the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation in 2003. The studies ascertained the children's trace element profiles that are indicative of the high prevalence of imbalance in the hair content of elements among the rural children in the presence of inadequate nutrition in both rural and urban schoolchildren.

[Drinking water quality indices in the Orenburg Region].

The quality of underground waters from 22 areas of the Orenburg Region was studied from the values of mineralization and pH and the amounts of the ions of Se, Cl, Pb, Cd, F, and phenols. High fluorine ion concentrations (5-12 mg/l), high mineralization (> 1 g/l), and alkalinity (pH > 8.0) were shown to be human risk factors in a considerable number of areas. Districts with cadmium, lead, and phenol ion-polluted underground waters were identified. The amount of selenium in the drinking water (18-319 ng/l) and in the sera of donors in Orenburg, Buzuluk, and Orsk (86-97 microg/l) fails to support the data available in the literature on environmental selenium pollution and is comparable with the relevant data for the Moscow Region.

[Selenium content in bread of Orenburg region].

Selenium content in wheat and rye bread from 35 districts of Orenburg region has been estimated. The results indicate heterogeneity of selenium distribution and the existence of decreased selenium levels in the West of the region. Different factors affecting selenium accumulation by cereals are discussed: heavy metals pollution, Ni and Cu mining, soil salinization.

[Influence of industrial factors on the health status of heat and power plant workers].

The hair levels of chemical elements (Al, As, Be, Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, I, K, Li, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, P, Pb, Se, Si, Sn, V, and Zn) were studied in Orenburg heat and power plant workers. The specific features of the elemental composition of biosubstrates were revealed in relation to the physical and chemical exposures of the workers to industrial factors. The peculiarities of element-to-element relations were established in man under different working conditions.

[Hepatoprotective properties of balm Herbamarin and hydrolysates from marine invertebrates in toxic hepatitis and ethanol intoxication].

Protective properties of a syrup balm "Herbamarin" and food hydrolysates of scallop, octopus and crab were investigated using experimental toxic hepatitis and ethanol intoxication. Preventive administration of the balm and hydrolysates to animals subjected to an intoxications by 40% alcohol and CCl4 normalized clinical-diagnostic parameters of liver and blood plasma of experimental animals.

[Effects of Gerbamarin T balms on functions of the cardiovascular and hepatobiliary systems]. / Vliianie bal'zamov "Gerbamarin" T na funktsional'noe sostoianie serdechno-sosudistoi i gepato-biliarnoi sistem.

The effects two balms of "Herbamarin" T series on some parameters of cardiovascular and hepatobiliary systems were studied in mice either kept on the cholesterol diet or treated with CCl4. The results allow to recommend these balms as additional components to the therapy of various cardiovascular and hepatic diseases.

[The biochemical mechanisms of energy support in Yersinia pseudotuberculosis cells at a low cultivation temperature]. / Biokhimicheskie mekhanizmy énergoobespecheniia kletok Yersinia pseudotuberculosis pri nizkoi temperature kul'tivirovaniia.

The object of the study was the first stage of biological oxidation: the transfer of hydrogen electrons to the components of the respiratory chain of Y. pseudotuberculosis cells by NAD and NADF, coenzymes of pyridine-dependent dehydrogenases, having labile redox properties. The study revealed that in the low-temperature cultivation of Y. pseudotuberculosis an increase in the content of NAD and NADF was 1.5- to 2.0-fold greater than that observed at 37 degrees C, which was indicative of the fact that at low environmental temperature pyridine-dependent dehydrogenases played a more important role than at high temperature (37 degrees C). This, in combination with other mechanisms, made it possible for bacterial cells to maintain the level of energy metabolism, necessary for their survival, in the environment with low and constantly changing temperature.

[Effect of cultivation temperature on nucleic acid level in bacteria Listeria monocytogenes and Yersinia pseudotuberculosis]. / Vliianie temperatury kul'tivirovaniia na soderzhanie nukleinovykh kislot u bakterii Listeria monocytogenes i Yersinia pseudotuberculosis.

The relationship between the multiplication of bacteria, the content of nucleic acid and the specific rate of their growth during their batch cultivation in nutrient broth and mineral medium at temperatures of 37 degrees C and 4-6 degrees C was studied in the causative agents of saprozoonotic infections with L. monocytogenes and Y. pseudotuberculosis used as typical representatives of such bacteria. The content of DNA was shown to remain practically unchanged after the alteration of cultivation temperature and the conditions of nutrition. The linear relationship between the content of RNA and specific growth rate was registered both at 37 degrees C and 4-6 degrees C. However a higher content of RNA at low temperatures was found to correspond to one and the same specific growth rate, which was linked with the additional synthesis of this nucleic acid.

Trypsin-like proteinase and its endogenous inhibitor from Yersinia pseudotuberculosis. Biological activity.

A trypsin-like proteinase (YPTP) and its endogenous inhibitor (ITYP) were isolated from the culture filtrate of the pathogenic bacterium Yersinia pseudotuberculosis, and their biological activities were studied. YPTP was found to be highly toxic for random-bred white mice. Under in vitro conditions the proteolytic enzyme destroyed protective proteins of the immune system of the animals--IgG, IgA, and proteins of the complement system (CIq, C3, and C5)--and, consequently, was a pathogenetic factor in yersinioses. The inhibitor ITYP was shown to manifest antibacterial activity against virulent forms of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis, Escherichia coli, and Salmonella typhimurium. The ITYP preparation was harmless and nontoxic.

[The biochemical characteristics of the products of the vital activity of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis in relation to the cultivation temperature]. / Biokhimicheskaia kharakteristika produktov zhiznedeiatel'nosti Yersinia pseudotuberculosis v zavisimosti ot temperatury kul'tivirovaniia.

For the first time the metabolic processes, taking place during "cold" cultivation of Y. pseudotuberculosis and involving organic and amino acids, were shown to be more economical, thus permitting the bacteria to maintain its viability for a rather long time at low temperature without the need to consume these substances from outside. At higher temperature the bacteria switches its metabolic paths to the consumption of nutrient substances in greater amounts from outside, increasing its constructive metabolism.

[A secreted trypsin-like proteinase from Yersinia pseudotuberculosis]. / Sekretiruemaia tripsinopodobnaia proteinaza iz Yersinia pseudotuberculosis.

A proteolytic enzyme splitting casein and catalyzing the hydrolysis of the ester bond in the synthetic substrate, BAEE, in a trypsin-like manner, has been isolated from the cultural filtrate of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis using ultrafiltration and gel-filtration. The molecular mass of the enzyme is 110 kDa. The rate of hydrolysis is proportional to the enzyme and substrate concentrations which is typical for the kinetics of enzymatic reactions. The Km value for the Y. pseudotuberculosis enzyme is 2.5.10(-3) M. The optimal conditions for the enzymatic reaction are as follows: pH 7.4-8.0 (phosphate buffer) and 37 degrees C. The enzyme is inhibited by phenylmethylsulfonylfluoride and tosyllysinechlormethylketone, the specific inhibitors of serine proteinases and trypsin, respectively. These and literary data on bacterial proteinases are suggestive of their possible role as major factors in bacterial pathogenicity.

[Structure of the O-specific polysaccharide of the Yersinia enterocolitica serovar O:4.32 lipopolysaccharide. Serologic relations of lipopolysaccharides of Y. enterocolitica O:4.32 and Y. intermedia O:4.33]. / Struktura O-spetsificheskogo polisakharida lipopolisakharida Yersinia enterocolitica serovara O:4.32. Serologicheskoe rodstvo lipopolisakharidov Y. enterocolitica O:4.32 i Y. intermedia O:4.33.

O-Specific polysaccharide has been isolated on mild acid hydrolysis of the lipopolysaccharide from Yersinia enterocolitica O: 4.32 (strain 96) and shown to consist of yersiniose B (3,6-dideoxy-4-C-(1-hydroxyethyl)-D-xylo-hexose, YerB) acetylated at C1' and 2-acetamido-2-deoxy-D-galactose residues in a molar ratio 1:2. Acid hydrolysis, methylation and 13C NMR studies indicated the polysaccharide to be composed of trisaccharide repeating units of the following structure: (sequence; see text) The data obtained revealed structural and serological interrelation between O-antigens of Y. enterocolitica O:4.32 and Y. intermedia O:4.33.