[Experience with complex treatment for childhood amblyopia].

The effects of mexidole on the higher efficiency of treatment for diseases involving the visual nerve apparatus and on the achievement of stable visual function were studied in children. The study covered a study group of 36 children aged 5 to 12 years (mean 8.50 +/- 0.56 years) who had amblyopla of various genesis. A control group comprised 30 patients (mean age was 8.20 +/- 0.56 years) who had also amblyopia of various genesis and 25 healthy children (mean age was 8.20 +/- 0.63 years). The patients of the first two groups received the similar course pleoptic treatment. Those of the study group were additionally given mexidole by the conventional regimen. Mexidole used in children with amblyopia enhanced the efficiency of complex pleoptic treatment in 83% of cases and long maintained the visual functions achieved during stimulation. The agent has a positive effect on the values of visually evoked potentials.

A site-specific endonuclease from the thermophilic strain Bacillus species F4.

A strain producing the site-specific endonuclease BspF4I was found during screening of thermophilic bacteria isolated from soil. The restriction endonuclease, free from contaminant nonspecific nucleases, was purified using three steps of column chromatography--on hydroxyapatite, blue agarose, and DEAE-Trisacryl. The enzyme is stable on storage and exhibits maximal activity at 48-56 degrees C in the presence of albumin in buffer containing 10 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.5) and 10 mM MgCl2. BspF4I recognizes the sequence 5;-GGNCC-3; on DNA and is an isomer and not an isoschizomer of the endonuclease Sau96I. Unlike the prototype, BspF4I does not cleave the site in a defined way. A strand with purine in the center of the sequence is cleaved after the first G, as in the case of the prototype, while the strand with pyrimidine is cleaved either before or after the first G.