[Long-term effects of structum administration (according to data from multicenter trial)]. / Otdalennye rezul'taty primeneniia struktuma (po materialam mnogotsentrovogo issledovaniia).

AIM: To evaluate duration of a clinical response to the drug structum in patients with osteoarthrosis (OA) of the knee and hip joints as well as structum effects on OA course and that of concomitant diseases. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The duration of a clinical response to structum after the end of the treatment and its effect on OA and concominant diseases course were studied for 12 months in 9 centers participating in the study of the drug efficacy and tolerance in patients with gon- and coxarthrosis in an open multicenter randomized controlled 6-month trial. Out of 555 patients with OA of the knee and hip joints enrolled in the first study, the examination covered 373 patients: 159 patients of the test group treated for 6 months with structum and 214 controls. By basic clinical parameters the groups were similar. Clinical examination was made after structum treatment and 12 months later and included assessment of the number of exacerbations, hospitalizations, outpatient consultations, days of temporary disability for OA, pain in the joints while walking and at rest by the visual scale, Leken's functional index, x-ray pictures of the joints, administration of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID), exacerbations of concomitant diseases (gastrointestinal diseases, arterial hypertension, ischemic heart disease). RESULTS: An overall functional Leken's index in patients with gon- and coxarthrosis given structum 12 months after the treatment did not reach the initial values as well as pain and daily need in NSAID. Structum effect in patients with knee joint OA persisted for 4.6 months, in hip joint OA--4.1 months; in patients with stage I-II the effect lasted longer than in stage III (5.2 and 4.6 months vs 4.17 and 3.24 months, respectively. Even short-term therapy with structum reduced the number of further exacerbations, hospitalizations and visits to their doctor. 12 months after structum therapy the effect persisted in 40% patients. Frequency of exacerbations of the concomitant diseases was less than in patients on continuous NSAID. CONCLUSION: Structum is a highly effective drug against OA as it acts long, reduces frequency of exacerbations, hospitalizations, visits to the doctor, duration of disability, NSAID requirement and improves the course of some concomitant diseases.

[Results of the multicenter clinical trial of structum preparation in Russia]. / Itogi mnogotsentrovogo klinicheskogo issledovaniia preparata struktuma v Rossii.

AIM: To study clinical effectiveness and tolerance of structum in patients with osteoarthrosis (OA) of the knee joints (KJ) and hip joints (HJ) in a multicenter open randomised trial. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A 6-month trial of effectiveness and tolerance of structum has been performed in 9 medical centers and included outpatients (males and females) with KJ OA or HJ OA satisfying the OA diagnostic criteria of the American Rheumatology College, having x-ray stage I-III according to Kellgren-Lawrence with manifest pain, a total functional Leken index from 4 to 11, regular intake of non-steroid antiinflammatory drugs (NAID) for 30 days in the last 3 months. Consent was obtained from each patient. 192 patients received structum, 363 matched patients served control. Structum was given per os for 3 weeks in a dose of 1.5 g/day then in a dose 1.0 g/day up to 6 months. The patients continued on NAID. The patients' examination was performed in the beginning of the study, at its months 3 and 6. RESULTS: Leken index in HJ and KJ OA significantly fell after 3 months of structum treatment. Up to month 6 it fell still further (p < 0.05). After 6 months of treatment pain syndrome relieved both at rest and movement, pain at rest disappeared fully in 57% of NJ OA patients and 46% of HJ OA patients, for movement pain it was 17 and 13%, respectively. During the treatment NAID intake was less required in both groups (p < 0.05) while 55% of patients in both groups could discontinue NAID after 6 months of the treatment. Tolerance of the drug was rather good, side effects were mild. CONCLUSION: Structum (chondroitin sulphate) is an effective drug for treatment of KJ and HJ OA: it relieves pain, preserves and improves articular function, allows to reduce or discontinue NAID, is well tolerated.

[Complicated gastroduodenal ulcers in rheumatology patients]. / Oslozhnennye gastroduodenal'nye iazvy u revmatologicheskikh bol'nykh.

An analysis of observations of 250 patients with different rheumatological diseases has shown that 18% of the patients had ulcer disease with complications. The greatest risk of bleedings and perforations took place during the first year of treatment with nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs. The main risk factors of complications were determined. They are: male sex, high parameters of gastric secretion.

[Detection of antibodies to adipose tissue cell membranes in human blood]. / Obnaruzhenie antitel k kletochnym membranam zhirovoi tkani v syvorotke krovi liudei.

In serum of some healthy women and patients with fibroadenomatosis of the mammary gland antibodies to the cell membranes of adipocytes were detected. Interconnections between these antibodies and corresponding antigens in blood, on the one hand, and hormonal-metabolic status of probands, on the other hand, were observed. Possible autoimmune origin of phenomenon detected and its relation to the normal and pathological processes in adipose tissue are discussed.

[Lowering the complement-fixing capacity and induction of tolerogenic properties in human globulins by urea treatment]. / Snizhenie antikomplementarnosti i pridanie tolerogennykh svoistv chelovecheskomy globulinu putem obrabotki mochevinoi.

Deaggregation of human globulin by the treatment with urea solution has been studied. Urea treatment resulted in dose-dependent lowering of complement fixing globulin capacity. The optimal urea dose was 0.12 M for 10 mg/ml of protein. Deaggregated globulin was stable and tolerogenic in the experiments on mice.

[Evaluation of several immunologic indices in suppurative surgical infections]. / Otsenka nekotorykh immunologicheskikh pokazatelei pri gnoinoi khirurgicheskoi infektsii.

The clinical course of the disease was correlated with the indices characterizing the activity of different components of the immune system in 47 patients with a purulent surgical infection. The investigation has shown the clinical value of immunological tests studied to be not identical. The determination of the concentration of the circulating immune complexes and the migration activity of macrophages is proposed for the prognostic assessment of the course of the disease.

[Complement consumption as criterion of the tolerogenicity of a globulin preparation]. / Potreblenie komplementa kak kriterii tolerantnosti globulinovogo preparata.

Experiments on mice (296 animals) were made to study the capability of native and deaggregated preparations of human globulin to fix complement as well as the relationship of this indicator to tolerogenic properties of the preparations in question. Ultracentrifuged preparations were discovered to have the decreased capability to activate complement. As anticomplementary properties of the preparations become more demonstrable their tolerogenicity declines. The decreased capability to activate complement can be used as criterion in screening tolerogenic preparations.

[Decreased anaphylactogenic properties of disaggregated gamma-globulin]. / Snizhennye anafilaktogennye svoistva dezagregirovannogo gamma-globulina.

Immunological properties of native, aggregated, and disaggregated (tolerogenic) human gamma-globulin were compared in experiments on mice and guinea pigs. Disaggregated preparation was shown to give diminished local and general hypersensitivity reaction in sensitized animals and had decreased ability to induce secondary humoral immune response.

[Influence of cortisone on the implantation of skin allotransplants]. / Vliianie kortizona na prizhivlenie kozhnykh allotransplantatov

Skin transplants of CC57 Brown mice to CBA mice different in strong antigens controlled by H-2 locus of histocompatibility were studied with special attention given to the division of epithelial cells. Five-day-long injecting of cortisone (single dose 2,5 mg) was performed in 2 variants of experiments: 2 days before or 3 days after operation. The mean day of rejection of the graft after injection of the hormone was prolonged from 6,9 to 17,8--19,8 days. Cortisone retarded development of the inflammatory reaction, formation of the granular tissue and decreased mitotic activity in the recipient's epithelium delaying its growth and thus the transplant elimination. Degenerative changes in the transplant tissues diminished, while the mitotic activity kept its sufficiently high level until rejection.

[Stimulation of cellular immunity and immunologic memory be somatotropic hormone]. / Stimuliatsiia somatotropnym gormonom kletochnogo immuniteta i immunologicheskoi pamiati

The role of somatotropic hormone (STH) in the development of delayed hypersensitivity and immunological memory was studied in guinea pigs. The STH injected at periods of sensitization and realization of delayed hypersensitivity stimulated the skin reactions. Suppression of the endogenic STH by the antiserum to the guinea pig. STH prevented development of hypersensitivity at both periods. Hypersensitivity was restored after the cessation of antiserum effects. The period of sensitization proved to be most sensitive, whereas the period of immunological memory persistence remained resistant.