[Immunological monitoring of endogenous attack-like psychoses].

To analyze the possibility of using immunological parameters for the assessment of the activity of the process and prediction of the quality and completion of remission, we compared the dynamics of clinical and immunological parameters in 76 patients with endogenous attack-like psychoses during pharmacotherapy of a psychotic episode. Authors confirmed evidence for the activation of innate and adaptive immunity in the acute stage of psychosis as well as the correlation between immunological parameters (leukocyte elastase (LE) activity, alpha(1)-proteinase inhibitor (alpha(1)-PI), the level of autoantibodies to nerve growth factor (Aab-NGF)) and clinical symptoms assessed with the PANSS. The improvement of the clinical state assessed by the reduction in PANSS total score was noted in all patients though there were variations in the dynamics of immunological parameters. The increase of immunological parameters, along with the absence of changes at the discharge from the hospital, suggests that the remission was of low quality and the pathological process did not attenuate. Outpatient examination revealed the different dynamics of psychopathological disorders: stable state in 50% patients, moderate worsening of psychological state in 50% patients. Worsening of clinical symptoms after the discharge and in the outpatient stage was correlated with the elevation of the activity/level of immunological parameters. The changes in LE activity and Aab-NGF level precede the changes in mental state of patients in the following 1-2 months. These parameters may be used for monitoring of patients and prediction of quality and completion of remission.

[Inflammatory markers in schizophrenia in aged].

OBJECTIVE: To identify inflammatory markers in schizophrenia in aged. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The main group included 29 patients with schizophrenia, mean age 72.1 ± 6.9 years. A comparison group comprised 34 patients with Alzheimer's disease, mean age 73.4 ± 7.9 years. Seven plasma inflammatory indicators were determined. RESULTS: There was a significant increase in the activity/content of acute inflammation stage proteins: α1-proteinase inhibitor and C-reactive protein as well as anti-inflammatory interleukin-10 compared to the controls while the activity of other inflammatory molecules (leukocyte elastase, tumor necrosis factor alpha, interleukin-1 receptor antagonist) was not changed. No correlations between immunological parameters and clinical presentations were found. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that inflammation does not play a significant role in the remote stages of schizophrenia, in contrast to earlier stages of the disease, and the activity of the pathological process decreased in the late stages. These characteristics can reflect the body reactivity in elderly patients.

[Inflammatory markers in Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia].

The following markers of inflammation: enzymatic activity of leukocyte elastase (LE), functional activity of alpha-1-proteinase inhibitor (α1-PI), levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) were measured in the blood plasma of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and vascular dementia (VD). The results confirm the presence of an inflammatory component in the pathogenesis of AD and VD. The high level of CRP may be considered as a marker of VD in the early stages of disease. There was an elevation of α1-PI activity in AD patients compared to age-matched controls. The α1-PI activity, levels of CRP and IL-6 increased with the severity of dementia while the LE activity significantly decreased compared to controls (p<0.01). In patients with AD, the IL-6 level was negatively correlated with MMSE scores (Spearman r = -0.46, p=0.0077) and, therefore, can be considered as a biological marker of the severity of the pathological process. Positive correlations between CRP and IL-6 may plausibly reflect an ability of IL-6 to induce the synthesis of CRP.

[Innate and adaptive immunity in children with psychotic forms of autism-spectrum disorders].

Leukocyte elastase (LE) activity, functional activity of alpha1-proteinase inhibitor, C-reactive protein, autoantibodies to nerve growth factor and to basic myelin protein have been studied in the blood serum of children with psychotic forms of autistic disorders - children psychosis (F84.02) and atypical children psychosis (F84.11). The activation of innate immunity (the increase in LE activity and acute phase proteins) was seen in children psychosis. The more severe mental disturbances, that are characteristic of endogenous atypical children psychosis, were accompanied by the activation of both innate and adaptive immunity ( the increase of the level of autoantibodies to neuroantigenes in the peripheral blood). Correlations between immunological and clinical parameters suggest the involvement of innate and adaptive immunity in the formation of autistic and cognitive disorders in children.

[The state of the immune system in endogenous mental diseases with pronounced affective disorders].

Parameters of innate and adaptive immunity were studied in the blood serum of 180 patients, aged 15-25 years, with different endogenous mental diseases with depressive and mania disorders in the clinical picture (affective psychoses (29 patients), schizoaffective psychoses (106 patients) , slow-progressive schizophrenia (23 patients) and intermittent-progressive schizophrenia (22 patients)). The activation of innate immunity (the increase in the degranulation activity of leukocyte elastase (LE) and functional activity of alpha-1-proteinase inhibitor (α1-PI) were found in all the diseases. The increase in disease severity (from affective disorders to intermittent-progressive schizophrenia) was correlated with the significant elevation of LE activity. The LE activity did not depend on the polarity and severity of affective pathology in each diagnostic group. The mean levels of autoantibodies to the nerve growth factor and the myelin basic protein did not differ from the control values in all the groups of patients.

[Plasmid expression vectors with elements of the E. coli alkaline phosphatase gene]. / Plazmidnye ékspressionnye vektory s élementami gena shchelochnoi fosfatazy E. coli.

A family of plasmid expression vectors, containing fragments of the E. coli alkaline phosphatase gene (phoA), has been constructed for the lambda PR promoter-directed thermoinducible superproduction of fusions of heterologous polypeptides to the N- or C-terminus of E. coli alkaline phosphatase and its leader peptide. Effective expression and export to periplasm of resulting fusion proteins, which may retain enzymatic activity of the phosphatase, has been shown.

[Synthesis of visual rhodopsin in a cell-free translation system. II. Functional properties of recombinant rhodopsin and its mutant forms]. / Sintez zritel'nogo rodopsina v beskletochnoi sisteme transliatsii. II. Funktsional'nye svoistva rekombinantnogo rodopsina i ego mutantnykh form.

Functional expression of bovine visual rhodopsin in the cell-free translation system with cotranslational insertion of the protein into phosphatidylcholine liposomes is described. The recombinant rhodopsin has spectral and functional properties similar to those of natural rhodopsin from bovine retina. Two mutant rhodopsins with amino acid substitutions in the hydrophilic C-terminal domain were obtained using oligonucleotide-directed mutagenesis. It was found that substitution Cys-316----Ser does not affect rhodopsin's ability to activate the visual amplification cascade, whereas double mutation Asp-330----Asn, Asp-331----Asn dramatically lowers the rhodopsin functional activity.

[Synthesis of visual rhodopsin in a cell-free translation system. I. Influence of the structure of the synthetic bovine visual opsin mRNA on its translational efficiency]. / Sintez zritel'nogo rodopsina v beskletochnoi sisteme transliatsii. I. Vliianie struktury sinteticheskoi mRNK zritel'nogo opsina byka na éffektivnost' ee transliatsii.

Influence of structural changes in nontranslated regions and translation initiation site of the in vitro synthesized bovine opsin mRNA on its translational efficiency in the wheat germ cell-free system has been studied. It is shown that level of the opsin synthesis up to 30 micrograms per 1 ml of translational mixture can be attained by optimizing structure of 5'-nontranslated region.

[Nucleotide sequence of the archaebacterial mobile genetic element ISH S1]. / Nukleotidnaia posledovatel'nost' arkhebakterial'nogo mobil'nogo geneticheskogo élementa ISH S1.

The complete primary structure (1449 b. p.) of mobile genetic element ISH S1 from Halobacterium halobium has been elucidated using the dideoxy/M13 sequencing procedure. Computer analysis of the structure reveals similarity in overall structural organization of ISH S1 and other known transposable genetic elements of halobacteria and makes it possible to propose a hypothetical model of halobacterial promoter.