[A combined preparation stalevo in Parkinson's disease: a 5-year experience of continuous dopaminergic stimulation].

Levodopa remains a 'gold standard' for the treatment of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), but its chronic use is accompanied by fluctuations of symptoms and dyskinesias related to unfavorable pharmacokinetics of levodopa and progressing loss of the nigrostriatal neurons. Prescribing inhibitors of catechol-O-methyl-transferase (enzyme of dopamine metabolism), entacapone or tolcapone, is a perspective approach to the correction of the above-mentioned complications. We followed up 402 patients with PD who received long-term therapy with a combined preparation Stalevo (levodopa/carbidopa/entacapone) for 2-5 years (2.9 ± 0.9 years). The high (92.8%) compliancy and good tolerance of the drug in patients with PD was shown. Stalevo leads to the stabilization of the response to levodopa, improvement of patients' functional capacities, increase in their everyday activity, and improvement of quality of life. Stalevo may be regarded as a preparation of choice in the treatment of motor complications in elderly patients, correction of night symptoms of PD and in a number of other clinical situations arising in hospital and outpatient practice.

[Mexidant increases the effectiveness of levadopa treatment of Parkinson's disease].

The efficiency of mexidant therapy in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) has been evaluated. The study included 49 patients aged 58-65 with a trembling-rigid and trembling forms of PD at an disease duration of 6.5 +/- 3.8 years. All patients were treated with levadopa-containing drugs, dopamine receptor agonists and/or amantadine. In addition, 27 patients received mexidant at a dose of 200 mg/day (i.v.) for the first 10 days, followed by intramuscular injections of 100 mg (twice a day) for 10 days. The dynamics of symptoms in the group of patients receiving mexidat showed that the inclusion of this drug into the therapeutic regime significantly decreased the degree of levadopa therapy side effects. Mexidant reduced the oxidative damages of blood plasma lipoproteins by neutralizing the growth of lipid hydroperoxide and increased the endogenous antioxidant status. The presented data show that mexidant enhances the efficiency of PD therapy.

[Method of preparation of tissue engineering and cell cultivation collagen by acid extraction of calf skin].

Seven methods of preparation of intact native collagen with telopeptides by acid extraction of calf skin have been compared; the hide was first dehaired by original mild enzymatical method using Bacillus licheniformis protease. The noncollagenous proteins and proteoglycans were previously removed by different ways and collagen was extracted by acid solvents and purified by salt precipitation. The dynamic of noncollagen impurities removing was followed by noncollagen proteins and hexuronic acids analysis in extracts. The purity of the resulting collagen was determined by polyacrilamide gel electrophoresis. The gel-forming capacity of the collagen was determined and the suitability of the product for tissue engineering was estimated by cultivation of fibroblasts and cardyomyocytes of new-born rats on collagen gells. All collagens obtained were not cytotoxic and had good gel-forming capacity. The preparation method with noncollagen impurities removing with 0.02 M K2HPO4 and collagen solution with 0.5 M acetic acid and 5 mM EDTA proved to be the best by final yield of the product and cell reaction to it. Hence, the optimal variant of collagen preparation method has been developed. The Russian Federation patent on this method was taken out.

[Experience with application of trospium chloride in patients with neurogenic detrusor overactivity].

Overactive bladder (OAB) is observed in such brain diseases as stroke, hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy, Parkinson's disease (PD), multiple sclerosis (MS). Trospium chloride (spasmex) was used in OAB patients with MS (n = 87), stroke (n = 83), encephalopathy (n = 47) and PD (n = 36) in doses from 15 to 45 mg/day in 2 to 36 month courses. The response with minimal side effects was achieved in 94% patients. In addition to basic effects, trospium chloride relieved spastic constipation in patients with stroke, hypersalivation in PD and anal incontinence in MS.

[7-year experience in usage of mirapex in patients with different forms of primary parkinsonism].

The results of mirapex (pramipexol) treatment of 402 patients with Parkinson's disease and juvenile parkinsonism during the period from 6 months to 7 years are summarized. Mirapex was used in monotherapy as well as in combination with levadopa and other antiparkinsonic drugs. The drug was well tolerated and effective in rest tremor, hypokinesia, muscle rigidity and depression, the more pronounced effect being seen at the early stage of the disease. The use of mirapex allows an effective control of motor fluctuations developing during long-term continuous levodopa therapy. The results obtained characterize mirapex as a drug of choice in the treatment of juvenile parkinsonism. In case of a break in mirapex treatment, the recommencement of treatment usually is not accompanied by reduced sensitivity to drug effect.

[Cytochemical activity of mitochondrial enzymes in Parkinson's disease]. / Tsitokhimicheskaia aktivnost' mitokhondrial'nykh fermentov pri bolezni Parkinsona.

Using cytochemical computerized morphometric method, activity of the key enzymes of energetic metabolism (succinate dehydrogenase, alpha-glycerophosphate dehydrogenase, malate dehydrogenase, glutamate dehydrogenase and lactate dehydrogenase) was studied in blood lymphocytes of 75 patients with Parkinson's disease and 15 healthy controls. The signs of systemic mitochondrial insufficiency, which correlated with the disease duration and severity, were found in all the patients, including those with juvenile parkinsonism. These data may provide a basis for introducing cytochemical monitoring as well as for administration of modern "mitochondrial" drugs (yantavit, coenzyme Q10, L-carnitine, etc).

[Modelling of myocardial hypertrophy in vitro for solving problems of medicinal correction]. / Modelirovanie gipertrofii miokarda in vitro dlia resheniia voprosov medikamentoznoi korrektsii.

The work has been done on primary heart culture from neonatal rat ventricle. Cardiomyocyte hypertrophy was modelled using noradrenaline (NA), angiotensin II (AII) and fetal serum, respectively. Cell hypertrophy of primary heart cultures was assessed by measuring the surface area, the scope of protein synthesis estimated by 3H-leucine autoradiography and the contents of nucleic acids in gallocyanin-chromalum stained cardiomyocytes. The structure of myofibrillar apparatus was studied by rhodamine-conjugated phalloidin and indirect immunofluorescence of muscle alpha-actinin. Treatment with 10(-6) M NA increased 3H-leucine incorporation in 9-day old heart culture by 42% without changing cell size. AII in a dose 1 microM stimulated protein synthesis activity by 1.3 fold and the surface area by 1.7 fold, both in 2- and 9-day old primary heart cultures. The maximum stimulation of cell hypertrophy was provided by the medium supplemented with fetal serum. RNA contents in the cytoplasm of cardiomyocytes increased by 7.8 fold and the myocardial cell size by 2.9 fold in serum-supplemented culture by 9 days of cultivation. In the medium with fetal serum, amounts of cardiomyocytes with tetraploid nuclei reached 33%, against 14% in control. Coculturing of myocardiocytes and fibroblasts rendered effects of fetal serum on the growth of myocardiocytes. Cultivation in the presence of 1 microM enalapril, an ACE inhibitor, suppressed the development of cardiac muscle cells hypertrophy. The effect of enalapril depended on the degree of cellular hypertrophy. Addition of 10 microM amiloride to the medium lowered the protein synthesis by 29% independently on the initial cellular hypertrophy.