[Psychologic adjustment to therapy in children with cancer]. / Osobennosti psikhologicheskoi adaptatsii k lecheniiu detei s onkopatologoiei.

Peculiarities of adjustment of pediatric cancer patients and their perception of the disease were studied in a group of 29 including 12 cases of hematooncological diseases and 17 cases of different solid tumors. Projective psychological methods were used. Such menifestations of failure to adjust as lower selfesteem, feeling of guilt, helplessness, passivity, anxiety and fear were observed in nearly all the patients. Adequate adjustment was found to be determined by the formation of a similarly adequate perception of the disease which in turn becomes possible when the problems involved were discussed with the patient by competent medical staff and well-counseled parents in an open and trust-worthy manner.

[The role of parents in the psychological adjustment of children with cancer]. / Rol' roditelei v psikhologicheskoi adaptatsii detei s onkopatologiei.

The behavior of parents may have a decisive impact on the child's adjustment to treatment. Their positive attitudes have a calming effect, support the patient's emotionally and overcome problems and bear sufferings involved in the treatment. Conversely, negative attitude may ruin the adjustment and provoke pessimism, lack of cooperation and even aggressiveness. Although the nature and degree of parental behavior and attitude may vary, their impact on pediatric patient adaptation processes shows a general trend. Of particular importance is the pattern of parental attitude at stages of treatment which involve frustration, extrapunitive behavior of parents being a possible negative factor. Our experience suggests that psychologists employed at children's oncological clinics should provide more counseling for parents and more training professional for the medical staff to improve adjustment of patients to therapy.

Quinolinate-induced cortical cholinergic damage: modulation by tryptophan metabolites.

Certain products of tryptophan metabolism interact with excitatory amino acid receptors to produce or protect against excitotoxicity. In this study, the action of several tryptophan metabolites, yielded by the kynurenine pathway, on cortical cholinergic toxicity was evaluated following focal injection into the rat nucleus basalis magnocellularis (nbM). Metabolites were injected singly or in combination with a fixed dose of quinolinic acid (QUIN). Cholinergic toxicity, or protection against it, was evaluated by measurements of choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) activity or potassium-evoked release of [3H]acetylcholine [( 3H]ACh) from slices of the frontoparietal cortex, from the injected and uninjected sides. Focal injections of QUIN and 3-hydroxyanthranilic, but not kynurenic, picolinic, quinaldic or anthranilic acid, produced a dose-related decrease in ChAT activity, with QUIN being more potent. Kynurenic, picolinic, quinaldic and anthranilic acid, co-injected into the nbM with QUIN (120 nmol), produced dose-related antagonism of the neurotoxicity associated with QUIN alone. Picolinic acid also prevented the reduction in cortical [3H]ACh release induced by injections of QUIN. Kynurenic and picolinic acid produced a complete blockade of QUIN's effect on cortical ChAT activity, while quinaldic and anthranilic acid produced a partial blockade. The order of effectiveness against QUIN was kynurenic greater than picolinic greater than quinalidic or anthranilic acid. Evaluation of thin sections following Cresyl violet staining indicated that injections of QUIN produced neuronal loss and glial proliferation, while co-injections of picolinic or quinaldic acid with QUIN protected neurons. These findings show that several tryptophan metabolites have the potential to either produce or antagonize cholinergic toxicity.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Kynurenic acid protects against the neurochemical and behavioral effects of unilateral quinolinic acid injections into the nucleus basalis of rats.

It has recently been demonstrated that kynurenic acid (KYN), an endogenous tryptophan metabolite, provides almost complete protection against the neurotoxic and mnemonic effects of another tryptophan metabolite quinolinic acid (QUIN) on the cell bodies of the nucleus basalis magnocellularis (nbm). The present study further investigated whether unilateral coinjections of KYN and QUIN into the rat nbm antagonized the effects of QUIN alone. Food-deprived rats were pretrained on an eight-arm radial maze, with four arms baited, until choice accuracy stabilized to greater than or equal to 87% correct. Postoperatively, rats were tested on the radial maze for 32 consecutive days. Feeding behavior and locomotor activity were also measured to determine if nonassociative factors accounted for any observed behavioral deficits. QUIN lesions resulted in significantly more working and reference memory errors compared with sham-operated and coinjected animals, which did not differ significantly from each other. There were no reliable group differences in amount of food eaten or locomotor activity. The QUIN group had a reliable decrease in cortical choline acetyltransferase, with no significant changes for the sham and coinjected groups. Results confirm that KYN antagonizes the neurotoxic and mnemonic effects of QUIN alone and suggest that the memory deficits induced by nbm lesions cannot be solely attributed to changes in feeding or locomotor activity.

[Characteristics of intracellular and excretory glycosaminoglycans in hereditary mucopolysaccharidoses]. / Kharakteristika vnutrikletochnykh i ékskretiruemykh glikozaminoglikanov pri nasledstvennykh mukopolisakharidozakh.

A system for detection and diagnostication of mucopolysaccharidoses (MPS) was organized to ensure the medico-genetic service of the families, where these diseases occurred. Content of intracellular and urinary glycosaminoglycans (GAG) was studied by means of a number of methods in various types of MPS. Amount of excreted GAG's was expressed as relative units to reduce the age differences. In all the patients with MPS hyperexcretion of GAG's was found, except of some cases of MPS IV, as well as the spectrum of non-dialyzed and cetyl pyridinium chloride precipitated GAG's was altered, where the latter fraction was increased and high molecular GAG's were also prevailed as compared with normal state. All the patients were divided into four classes depending on the spectrum of GAG's excreted as shown by means of electrophoresis. The data obtained in estimation of GAG's using electrophoretic technique corresponded to the results of column chromatographic analyses but the electrophoretic procedure was distinctly less labour-consuming.

[Characteristics of the Gd- alleles discovered in a population check of pupils in the city of Kostroma]. / Kharakteristika allelei Gd-, vyiavlennykh pri populiatsionnom obsledovanii uchashchikhsia g. Kostromy.

The population study of distribution of G-6-PD alleles among normal Russian school-children of Kostroma town was carried out. In total, 952 children were examined, 429 girls and 523 boys (from 7 to 18 years old). The frequency of Gd- alleles is 0.36%. Two Gd- alleles discovered in this study belong to the III class. One of them was characterized according to the WHO programme. This allele designated "Kostroma" has not been described earlier.

Bullous keratopathy following lens extraction in eyes with acute glaucoma due to intumescent cataract.

Nine cases are presented, six of them in detail, which suggest that there is a high risk of bullous keratopathy developing when the lens is removed for the treatment of acute glaucoma due to an intumescent cataract. In some cases the keratopathy is due to detachment of Descemet's membrane from the cornea. Acute glaucoma due to an intumescent cataract should be treated medically or by peripheral iridectomy. The lens should be removed only after the intraocular pressure has been normal and the cornea free of edema for at least 6 weeks.

Myopia-aphakia. I. Prevalence of retinal detachment.

Retinal detachment after cataract extraction occurred in nine out of 136 eyes with myopia of 6 or more dioptress (6-7 per cent), during a follow-up period of 1 1/2-9 1/2 years. Five of the nine detachments occurred within 3 months of cataract extraction. All patients with retinal detachment were under the age of 63 years. Relatively young patients with high myopia bear a special risk of developing retinal detachment after lens extraction. The possible reason for this is discussed.