[The production of autoantibodies to nerve tissue glycolipid antigens in patients with traumatic spinal cord injuries]. / Produktsiia autoantitel k glikolipidnym antigenam nervnoi tkani u bol'nykh s travmaticheskimi povrezhdeniiami spinnogo mozga.

The production of autoantibodies (AAB) to the specific antigen of myelin-containing components of the nervous tissue galactocerebroside (GalC) was revealed in 117 patients with traumatic injuries to the spinal cord of various severity in periods of 18 months to 46 years after the injury. The degree of nervous system destruction, the type of the course of posttraumatic myelopathy, and the level of production of AAB to GalC were found interrelated. The existence of AAB provides evidence of sensitization of the immune system to nervous tissue antigens in spinal cord injury, while the level of AAB to GalC reflects the activity of the continuing destructive process due to the injuring effect of AAB under conditions of impaired permeability of the blood-brain barrier and shows the desirability of desensitization therapy.

[Serotonin and kinins in the cerebrospinal fluid in brain tumors]. / Serotonin i kininy likvora pri opukholiakh golovnogo mozga.

Concentrations of serotonin, 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid, melatonin and parameters of the kinin system in the cerebrospinal fluid were monitored in 109 cases of brain tumor. All the levels were increased prior to surgery but returned to normal postoperatively unless disease followed an unfavorable course. It was suggested that the above-mentioned physiologically active substances play a certain role in compensatory mechanisms assuring recovery of CNS function.

[Autoantibodies to glycolipid antigens of oligodendroglia in acute and chronic disorders of spinal circulation]. / Autoantitela k glikolipidnym antitelam oligodendroglii pri ostrykh i khronicheskikh narusheniiakh spinal'nogo krovoobrashcheniia.

Measurements were made of the titers of autoantibodies to antigenic markers of oligodendrocytes and myelin galactocerebrosides in the blood serum and cerebrospinal fluid from 29 patients with ischemic cerebrospinal insult and 100 patients with ischemic myelopathy. Acute and chronic disorders of spinal circulation were found to be associated with production of auto-antibodies to galactocerebrosides. The interrelationship was discovered between the fact of auto-antibody production and the degree of the recovery of deranged function (in poor recovery, auto-antibodies were preserved in the blood serum up to 3 years in diagnostically significant titers). A correlation was demonstrated between the rate of ischemic myelopathy progress and the fact of demonstration of autoantibodies to galactocerebrosides in the blood serum. The data obtained can be used in judging the character of the disease and planning the rehabilitation measures.

[Biologically active substances of lung tissue in rabbits in an inflammatory bronchopulmonary process]. / Biologicheski aktivnye veshchestva legochnoi tkani pri vospalitel'nom bronkholegochnom protsesse u krolikov.

The paper is concerned with metabolic reconstitution in a pathologically changed lung tissue in rabbits with acute and chronic bronchopulmonary inflammation. Acute bronchopulmonary inflammation is associated with a drastic increase of the adrenaline, noradrenaline, acetylcholine, histamine and serotonin content in the abnormal lung tissue. The concentration of these substances in the blood outflowing from the lungs is also increased. The intensity of changes in the content of the biologically active substances correlated with the pattern of the developing pathological process. In lingering and chronic bronchopulmonary inflammation, the changes in the content of the biologically active substances were of undulatory character which was consequent on repeated exacerbations.

[Serotonin metabolism in patients with brain tumors]. / Obmen serotonina u bol'nykh s opukholiami golovnogo mozga.

In patients with brain tumours there was revealed an increase in the content of serotonin, 5-oxyindol acetic acid (5-OAA) and melatonin in the liquor, and of serotonin in the plasma rich with platelets. The content of serotonin or products of its metabolism in the liquor, as well as of serotonin in platelets depends on the involvement of truncus cerebri and hypothalamus in the pathologic process and on the gravity of the patient's condition. The serotonin content, in contrast to 5-OAA, s significantly higher in patients with tumours attended by epileptic attacks. The data obtained testify to a possible role of serotonin in the pathogenetic mechanisms of tumours development in the central nervous system.

[Cerebrospinal fluid melatonin in diseases of the nervous system]. / Melatonin likvora pri zabolevaniiakh nervnoi sistemy.

In 66 patients with some diseases of the nervous system (epilepsy, brain tumors, traumatic brain lesions, discorgenic lumbosacral radiculitis) melatonin content in liquor was determined by a fluorimetric method, especially modified for this purpose. The increase of melatonin concentration in liquor mostly significant in frequent epileptic strokes was found. In brain tumors the hormone content depended upon the severity of the patients' state, the existence of epileptic strokes, brain stem and hypothalamus involvement into the process. In traumatic subarachnoid hemorrhages, in the hypothalamic syndrome, the melatonin content was very high. An assumption on melatonin defensive role in conditions of the nervous system pathology and the topico-diagnostical significance of its study in liquor is made.