Association study of methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase genetic polymorphism 677C>T with schizophrenia in hospitalized patients in population of European Russia.

The purpose of the research was to investigate the association of methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (hereinafter MTHFR) genetic polymorphism 677C>T with schizophrenia in the Russian population in comparison with the control group of healthy blood donors. Also some characteristics of schizophrenia were examined in patients with/without defective T-allele of MTHFR677C>T polymorphism. 500 patients with schizophrenia and 499 blood donors were examined for T-allele carriage of polymorphism MTHFR677C>T by PCR method. 150 archival medical records were studied (in the first patients included in the study). The carriage of T-allele of genetic polymorphism MTHFR677C>T was significantly more common in patients than in healthy donors: 255/500 versus 219/499 (p=0,0287, χ2=4,79; OR=1,33, 95%CI [1037; 1707]). The number of patients with chronic type of schizophrenia onset was significantly more among T-allele carriers (n=77) than among normal CC-genotype carriers (n=73): р=0.038. The number of "incapacitated" persons in the group of patients with defective T-allele (n=77) was significantly higher than in patients with normal genotype (n=73, p=0.0439; OR=2.878, 95%CI=1.111-7.456). The results suggest that T-allele of genetic polymorphism MTHFR677C>T in the population of European Russia may increase the risk of developing schizophrenia and its unfavorable prognosis, which requires further investigation.

Effects of orientation at the phthalocyanine-CdSe interface on the electron transfer characteristics.

A phthalocyanine molecule adsorbed on the (101[combining macron]0) surface of wurtzite CdSe is theoretically modeled by the DFT method. We have found that a linker does not affect substantially the redox properties of phthalocyanine, while saturation of the macrocycle with peripheral substituent groups causes a downward shift in the energy position of its frontier orbitals that can hinder electron injection to the CdSe surface. Tilting of the phthalocyanine molecule relative to the surface also leads to the lowering of its molecular electronic levels relative to the bands of CdSe. At a tilting angle of 30°, the LUMO level of the dye appears to be lower than the conduction band minimum of cadmium selenide, which makes the electron transfer to its hybridized surface unfavorable. By contrast, the HOMO level of the phenylbutyric acid linker provides a suitable intermediate channel for the hole transfer from the valence band of CdSe to the phthalocyanine that points to the possible acceptor behavior of the phthalocyanine molecule in its hybrids with CdSe nanostructures.

[Structural changes in the gastric and duodenal mucosal capillaries in asthma].

Morphological examination of microcirculatory bed vessels in the gastric and duodenal mucous membranes was performed in asthmatic patients. The gastroduodenal area showed signs of capillary dysfunction and a vascular component of mucosal remodeling, like bronchial wall remodeling in asthma.

[Comparative morphology of the gastric mucosa in asthmatic patients using inhaled glucocorticosteroid therapy].

The immunomorphological characteristics of the gastric mucosa were evaluated and analyzed in patients with asthma of varying severity who received or did not receive inhaled or oral glucocorticosteroid therapy and in the control group. Immunohistological examination and morphometric analysis were used to study inflammatory infiltration in fundic mucosal biopsy specimens from patients with and without asthma. There were crucial immunomorphological differences between the examined patient groups and signs of the gastroprotective effect of inhaled glucocorticosteroids used in the basic therapy of asthma on the gastric mucosa. There was evidence that it is urgent to prevent erosive and atrophic gastritis and other inflammatory stomach diseases in asthma.

[Eosinophilic esophagitis in an asthmatic patient].

The paper contains the results of clinical and morphofunctional examinations of a patient with eosinophilic esophagitis complicated by esophageal stenosis and detected in the presence of controlled mild persistent asthma and food allergy. The endoscopic and morphological diagnostic criteria pathognomonic for this disease have been confirmed. The immunohistochemical study of esophageal mucosal biopsy specimens revealed the specific features of the composition of an infiltrate, which account for the early development of fibrosis and permit eosinophilic esophagitis to be referred to as special immunocompetent diseases.

[Eosinophilic oesophagitis in bronchial asthma].

Combination of bronchial asthma and gastrointestinal pathology is frequently encountered in clinical practice. Clinical symptoms of this condition are highly diversified and gastrointestinal diseases play an important role in exacerbation of bronchial asthma. The prevalence of allergic diseases has recently become rampant. Eosinophilic oesophagitis is worth of special attention because its histological criteria, unlike clinical ones, are well defined. They include chronic immune antigen-mediated inflammatory oesophageal disease with pronounced intraepithelial eosinophilic infiltration and clinical symptoms resulting from oesophageal dysfunction that resemble manifestations of gastroesophageal reflux disease but fail to respond to antireflux and antacid therapy. Many specific and practical aspects of the problem remain to be elucidated. The poor awareness of clinicians of this disease hampers its adequate diagnostics and treatment. In order to revise and optimize the former diagnostic and therapeutic algorithm., an interdisciplinary expert group was set up in 2010 constituted by specialists of the American College of Gastroenterology, American Academy of Asthma, Allergy and Immunology, and Society of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition. Results of the work of this group together with the literature data on eosinophilic esopahgitis are discussed in the present review.

[Natural foci of leptospirosis on the territory of Moscow in 1995 - 2004].

The results of ten-year observations of the natural foci of leptospirosis on the territory of Moscow are presented. Information on the foci, the main species of small mammals (the reservours of the infection), the etiological structure of leptospires, circulating among rodents and insectivores, is given.

[Rodents as the vectors of infective agents in the natural foci of infections in the Moscow megapolis].

This work deals with the results of 40-year observations on the circulation of infective agents in the natural foci of infections (tularemia, leptospirosis, hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome) among rodents and other small mammals in the territory of the Moscow. The monitoring of their frequency and the infection rates remains the main effective measure for the prophylaxis of dangerous infections among the population of the megapolis.

[Natural foci of leptospirosis in Moscow in 1995 - 2004].

The article deals with the results of the 10-year study of the synanthropic urban foci of leptospirosis on the territory of Moscow. Information on the manifestation of the activity of the foci under study, rodents serving as the reservoir of infection in these foci, the etiological structure of the leptospires among these rodents, the state of leptospirosis morbidity among humans is presented.

Outbreak caused by tobramycin-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa in a bone marrow transplantation unit.

Between May and August 1995, 5 patients in a bone marrow transplantation (BMT) ward developed bacteremia caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa resistant to tobramycin (TRPA). Previously, isolates of TRPA had been limited to patients who were treated in 1 intensive care unit (ICU) of this tertiary care teaching hospital in Helsinki, Finland. To study whether the outbreak was caused by a single or multiple strains of P. aeruginosa, 102 isolates of TRPA from clinical samples obtained from different hospital units and 22 isolates obtained from the hospital environment were characterized by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. All isolates from hematological patients produced 1 unique fragment pattern, which was also isolated from 3 ICU patients before the BMT ward outbreak began as well as from 5 shower heads in the BMT ward. The outbreak in the BMT ward was successfully controlled by eradicating the probable environmental source--contaminated hand showers--but the endemic infections continued in the ICU.

[Incidence and risk factors of papillomavirus infection and cervical dysplasia in sexually active adolescent girls]. / Chastota i faktory riska papillomavirusnoi infektsii i displazii èpiteliia sheiki matki u seksual'no aktibnykh devushek-podrostkov.

A cytological examination of 425 sexually active females aged 13-17 established cervical HPV infection incidence at 30.3 +/- 2.2% while that of cervical dysplasia--4.5 +/- 1.0%. The risk factors for HPV infection included low education and income level (p < 0.05), number of sexual partners exceeding three (p < 0.05), poor hygienic standards of woman (p < 0.05) and those of partner (p < 0.001) and smoking of more than 5 cigarettes per day (p < 0.001). The risk factors of cervical epithelial dysplasia were number of partners of 5 or more (p < 0.001), poor hygienic standards of male partner (p < 0.001) and smoking of 10 cigarettes and more per day (p < 0.001), etc.

[Effect of adenosine cyclic monophosphate on insulin secretion in healthy rats and in those with alloxan diabetes]. / Vliianie 3',5'-adenozinmonofosfata na sekretsiiu insulina u zdorovykh zhivotnykh i u zhivotnykh s alloksanovym diabetom.

Studies on rats and dogs demonstrated exogenous cAMP to aid elevation of the blood insulin level in healthy animals and, to a lesser extent, in the animals with a mild course of diabetes mellitus caused by alloxan damage of beta-cells. In case of a severe course of diabetes mellitus exogenous cAMP produced no stimulating action on the insulin secretion.