[Current methods for preparing samples on working with hematology analyzers].

The paper raises a problem of preparing samples in hematology. It considers whether the preanalytical stage is of importance in hematological studies. The use of disposal vacuum blood collection systems is shown to solve the problem in the standardization of a blood sampling procedure. The benefits of the use of close tube hematology analyzers are also considered.

[Principles and potentialities of the standardization of morphocytochemical diagnosis of acute leukemias].

Under the present conditions, the competitive capacity of a health care facility is provided by the high level and timeliness of diagnosis of disease. The diagnosis of the types of acute leukemia (AL) may be accomplished immunologically, by using a 33-marker panel and without consideration of the morphocytochemical parameters of blast cells. But such an approach complicates and prolongs the examination of patients with AL. Moreover, morphocytochemical data more exactly define the stages of blast cell differentiation than does the immunological phenotype. Their preparation methods are simple and cost-effective. Only M0, M6, and M7 forms of leukemia require compulsory blast cell phenotyping, particularly in the differential diagnosis of acute myeloid leukemia and acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Search for new markers of leukemia cells, including lesions at the chromosomal or molecular levels, is under way. Some of them are only of theoretical value while other markers have been already used by hematologists to diagnose leukemia. Standardization in this essence is the self-assessment of a facility and reference comparison, which are based on the principles of its orientation to the patient, the adjusted system for controlling the quality of health care that is up to the world standards rather than the compliance with the state-regulated standard. The present paper discusses the ways of establishing the uniform rates and requirements for the morphocytochemical diagnosis of acute leukemias.

[Microvzor-2: a system for automated dry blood smear analysis]. / Mikrovzor-2: kompleks avtomaticheskogo analiza krovi po sukhomu mazku.

Upgraded system Microvzor-2 for investigation of blood morphology in space flight is composed of soft- and hardware for dry smear image analysis. Ground-based testing showed that it could be utilized to investigate a broad spectrum of blood parameters in space flight, including erythrocytes, hemoglobin content in erythrocytes, volumetric erythrocyte distribution, diagnostics of anisocytosis, and poikilocytosis, leukocytes and leukocyte count. Analyzed are smears prepared from a fixed volume of finger blood. The process consists of smear scanning, input of the vision field images in the spacecraft computer and ensuing automated identification and counting. Information is stored in a dedicated database. Results of analysis are displayed as forms and cell galleries.

[Quantitative morphology of periferal erythrocytes and bone marrow erythrokaryocytes in acute leukemia and hemopoietic depressions]. / Kolichestvennaia morfologiia éritritsitov perifericheskoi krovi i éritrokariotsitov kostnogo mozga pri ostrykh leikozakh i depressiiakh krovetvoreniia.

Morphology of peripheral blood erythrocytes was studied in patients with acute leukemia and aplastic anemia by a Russian cytoanalyzer Mekos-C. Twenty-eight patients with acute myeloblastic leukemia, 15 with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, and 11 with aplastic anemia were examined. Erythrocytes (n = 500) were examined in fixed non-stained blood smears. Hemoglobin content and morphometric parameters of each cell were studied and automatic classification of cells was carried out. The data of computer morphodensitometry are compatible with the data of cytochemical studies of the bone marrow erythroid cells (PAS reaction after McManus). The results indicate circulation of erythrocyte subpopulations differing by shape and other signs (hemoglobin content, section area, shape factor) in the blood of patients with acute leukemia and aplastic anemia. The share of pathological erythrocytes in the peripheral blood reflects failure of erythropoiesis.

Dopaminergic involvement in the process of reinforcement from diethyl ether vapor in rats.

1. Male and female Wistar rats were placed in boxes for 30 min daily and allowed to nose-poke in two holes on opposite walls, which opened into evaporation chambers through valves. One chamber contained diethyl ether vapor another-air, the contents being alternated randomly. 2. Rats inhaled the contents of evaporation chambers while nose-poking differed by the level of intake of diethyl ether vapor. Rats with the intake time of more than 3 sec formed about 15% of population. Their preference for diethyl ether was above 0.55. 3. There was significant negative correlation between the time of vapor inhalation and the time of immobility in forced swimming test in females but not in males. 4. Withdrawal of diethyl ether vapor decreased the inhalation time. On the first day after ether deprivation inhalation time rose above average level. Relationship between concentration of ether vapor and the time of its inhalation was inverted U-shaped function. Substitution of acetone vapor elevated the time of the vapor inhalation. 5. D-amphetamine in dose 0.05 mg/kg elevated the time of inhalation of and preference for ether vapor in some rats. In doses 0.05-1.0 mg/kg amphetamine selectively suppressed the time of vapor inhalation. 6. Haloperidol in doses 0.05 and 0.1 mg/kg elevated the time of vapor inhalation on the first day in females and suppressed it in doses 0.05-0.3 mg/kg dose-dependently on the second day. Atypical neuroleptic cis-carbidine elevated the time of vapor inhalation in doses 2.5 and 5.0 mg/kg and suppressed it at 10 mg/kg. 7. Diethyl ether vapor can be established as reinforcer in rats. Female rats are more liable to reinforcement from ether vapor than males and show more pronounced response to haloperidol. This may be related to its more active behavior in the forced swimming situation. 8. The results point to potential involvement of dopamine system in the process of reinforcement from ether vapor.

[Blood viscosity, deformability and morphological types of erythrocytes in vibration disease]. / Viazkost' krovi, deformiruemost' i morfologicheskie tipy éritrotsitov pri vibratsionnoi bolezni.

The study evaluating pathogenesis of microcirculatory disorders in subjects with vibration disease covered 63 patients. The patients demonstrated trends to low blood (and, especially, serum) viscosity, to decreased RBC deformability evaluated by filtration and viscosimetry methods, higher number of degenerative and reversibly changed RBC (echinocytes and stomatocytes). The authors discuss the role of these rheological disorders in pathogenesis of angiodystonic syndrome in vibration disease.

[Automated cytophotomorphometric tests of blood smears in general clinical studies and population screening]. / Avtomatizirovannye tsitofotomorfometricheskie testy mazkov krovi dlia obshchei kliniki i skriningovykh obsledovanii naseleniia.

Automation of routine operations of photomorphometry of blood smears realized in the MEKOS-C cytoanalyzer helped create a new level of using a set of cytological tests, such as assessment of the leukocyte and erythrocyte formulae and of the histogram of hemoglobin distribution in red cells, estimation of leukocyte subtypes, assessment of the characteristics of the nucleolar system and the nucleoli-forming sites. Automated complex analysis of an increase in the measured characteristics of red and white blood cells impossible in common microscopy and flow cytoanalyzers appreciably improves the sensitivity and accuracy of tests and extends the range of their application. Low cost of analysis of a blood smear permits the use of MEKOS-C not only in clinical studies, but even in overall prophylactic screenings of the population.

[Physiological (programmed) cell death in hemopoiesis]. / Fiziologicheskaia (zaprogrammirovannaia) gibel' kletok pri gemopoéze.

According to current concepts, pluripotent cells proliferate and differentiate into "committed" precursors. These committed precursors divide, mature, and give rise to red cells, granulocytes, monocytes, and platelets of the blood. The life span of mature circulating cells being short, and their populations in the blood very stable, a constant and strict regulation of hematopoiesis is needed. The regulation of hematopoiesis is believed to be mediated through precursor cell interaction with specific molecules (glycoproteins) in their microenvironment. Soluble forms of these molecules are termed "hematopoietic growth factors" and include erythropoietin, colony-stimulating factors, interleukins, and stem cell factors. Hematopoietic growth factors not only stimulate the proliferation of precursor cells, but activate the differentiation program and maintain the viability of these cells as well. The normal fate of precursor cells devoid of these factors is programmed suicide. The morphology of such cell death is usually that of apoptosis, rather than of necrosis. The concept of apoptosis was proposed 22 years ago. Apoptosis is a widespread and morphologically distinct process of cell death. The significance of apoptosis stems from its active nature and its ability of controlling biological systems. The present review of published and authors' own data describes apoptosis morphology and presents evidence of the participation of cell reactions of this type in hematopoiesis regulation. The major point in the review is the balance of three normal processes: proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis, which maintains the homeostasis of hematopoiesis, similarly as of any other cell system; it is well illustrated by recent findings in experimental and clinical hematology.

Comparison of the effects of 2-deoxyglucose and immobilization on secretion and synthesis rate of catecholamines in the adrenal gland: a microdialysis study in conscious rats.

Using microdialysis, extracellular 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (DOPA), noradrenaline (NA) and adrenaline (AD) concentrations in the adrenal gland were monitored in conscious rats during and after 60 min of immobilization (IMM) as well as after injection of 500 mg kg(-1) 2-deoxyglucose (2-DG). IMM produced a rapid and transient increase in secretion of AD (20-fold), NA (13-fold) and DOPA (3.6-fold). This was accompanied by an increase in blood pressure (+18 mmHG) and heart rate (+146 b.p.m.). Repeated exposure to IMM (daily 60 min, for 5 days) had no influence on either catecholamine secretion of haemodynamic profiles, indicating the lack of habituation to stressful conditions. Unlike IMM, the stress of 2-DG-induced central neuroglucopenia stimulated the release of AD without affecting NA secretion. AD levels peaked (5.1-fold increase) 40-60 min after 2-DG injection and then slowly declined. 2-DG induced no changes in blood pressure but reduced the heart rate (-48 b.p.m.). In separate experiments, steady-state dialysate DOPA levels, reached during continuous infusion of decarboxylase inhibitor NSD 1015 into adrenal gland tissue through the dialysis probe, served as an index of adrenomedullary tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) activity. IMM evoked a marked response in TH activity (DOPA formation increased 2.7-fold), which remained elevated 60 min after the cessation of stress when AD and NA secretion had already fallen to baseline. After 2-DG, despite significant hormonal response, adrenal TH activity was unchanged. These results give clear evidence that IMM and 2-DG-induced neuroglucopenia may be considered as two different types of stressful stimuli.

[Morphologic characteristics of lymphocytes 6 years after the Chernobyl accident]. / Morfologicheskaia kharakteristika limfotsitov cherez 6 let posle avarii v Chernobyle.

The examination of peripheral blood lymphocytes from persons exposed to low-dose radiation after the Chernobyl accident demonstrated that the exposure to radiation at the time of the accident and further living in the contaminated territory entail a significant increase in the number of cells with a large thick nucleus and scare cytoplasm. Such morphological picture may be attributed to stable adaptation typical for persistent activation of the general adaptation syndrome and is explained by adaptation-stress relations.