[Spondylarthropathies and rheumatoid arthritis in some Finno-Ugrian populations in Russia]. / Spondiloartropatii i revmatoidnyi artrit v nekotorykh ugro-finskikh populiatsiiakh Rossii.

AIM: Determination of the prevalence of spondylarthropathies (SAP) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) among Finno-Ugrian population of Russia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A one stage expedition trial was made of representative samples of Mordovian and Mari populations including 1312 citizens aged over 14 years. RESULTS: Incidence rate of SAP among Mordovian and Mari examinees was 0.7 and 0.2%, respectively, ankylosing spondylitis being most frequent finding. RA occurred in 2.5 and 0.6%, respectively. All the RA cases were females without family history of this disease. CONCLUSION: SAP and RA prevalence among Mordovian and Mari populations was high but their course is more favorable than among other population of Russia.

[Acute rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease: immunological studies]. / Immunologicheskie issledovaniia pri ostroi revmaticheskoi likhoradke i revmaticheskikh porokakh serdtsa.

A total of 216 patients with rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart from the Institute of Rheumatology and 126 patients with rheumatic heart diseases alone from the Center of Cardiosurgery were clinically and immunologically studied. The immunological study included the detection of b-hemolytic group A streptococcus, O-antistreptolysin, the measurement of C-reactive protein, immunoglobulins, C3, C4, Ciq-binding, anticardiolipin antibodies, etc. The findings indicated that the secondary penicillin prophylaxis prevents streptococcal pharyngitis and recurrence of acute rheumatic fever after 5 years. The high levels of Ciq-binding and anticardiolipin antibodies were directly proportional to the incidence rates of acute endocarditis and associated with the occurrence of venous and arterial thromboses.

[The determination of C-reactive protein by an immunoenzyme method]. / Opredelenie C-reaktivnogo belka immunofermentnym metodom.

The developed enzyme immunoassay of C-reactive protein is based on the use of a plane modified by a phosphorylcholine derivative lisolecithin. The method is highly sensitive (5-8 ng / ml), well reproducible; the correlation coefficients in measurements of blood serum C-reactive protein are compatible to results obtained by rocket immunoelectrophoresis and capillary precipitation: 0.94-0.98 and 0.88-0.95, respectively.

[The clinico-immunological subtypes of systemic lupus erythematosus]. / Kliniko-immunologicheskie subtipy sistemnoi krasnoi volchanki.

Based on clinico-immunologic studies subtypes of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) were distinguished. The ANF-R++H-DNA-CH50 variant determines acute onset of SLE with renal injury in the form of diffuse glomerulonephritis. The ANF-Sp-RNP-RF mirrors the development of Raynaud's syndrome, Sjögren's syndrome, polymyositis, pneumosclerosis and myocarditis. The ANF-Sp-Ro-RF variant is associated with skin derangement in the form of discoid foci, anular, papulosquamous eruption, vitiligo, hyperpigmentation, and cerebrovasculitis. The Ro-anti-Po, La-anti-La system is related to the idea of SLE, seronegative in accordance with ANF, when rat liver sections are used as a substrate in immunofluorescence.

[Activity of natural killer cells of peripheral blood in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and their clinical significance]. / Aktivnost' natural'nykh killerov perifericheskoi krovi u bol'nykh revmatoidnym artritom i ikh klinicheskoe znachenie.

The authors studied the activity of peripheral blood natural killer cells in 25 patients with rheumatoid arthritis by 51 Cr release assays with K-568 target cells. Data on the comparative clinico-immunological analysis by the cytotoxicity index are submitted. There is a relation between the nature of rheumatoid arthritis course and the presence of systemic manifestations such as nodules, polyneuropathy, proteinuria, carditis, levels of the rheumatoid factor, anti-DNA, CRP, cryoglobulinemia and changed activity of peripheral blood natural killer cells. Patients with rheumatoid arthritis having a combination of marked changes of humoral immunity with changed cytotoxicity of the peripheral blood natural killer cells activity can be referred to the group of risk.

[Approach to evaluation of the indicators of Yersinia infections in reactive and rheumatoid arthritis]. / Podkhody k otsenke pokazatelei iersinioznoi infektsii pri reaktivnom i revmatoidnom artrite.

A total of 140 patients with reactive arthritis due to Yersinia infection were under observation for 2-10 years. A group of 104 patients with erosive rheumatoid arthritis served as control for analysis of the results of bacteriological and serological studies. The bacteriological analysis of the feces, urine, smears of the feces and blood were made repeatedly. As established the articular syndrome in reactive arthrosis has its specific features depending on the nature of the pathological process: primary, recurrent and chronic. Patients with primary reactive arthritis exhibited recovery without residual phenomena and relapses in 35.8% of the cases; in 86% the disease relapsed; in 36% it was chronic, persisting for a number of years as a non-erosive seronegative arthritis; in 25.3% arthralgia persisted; in 6.2% the clinical picture of secondary osteoarthrosis developed; in 17.3% the disease changed into spondyloarthritis and in 1.2% of the cases it changed into RA. Since in reactive arthritis Yersinia infection was confirmed in 48.5% of the cases and in RA in 14-21%, laboratory diagnosis cannot serve as an absolute criterion for reactive arthritis. It is necessary to take into consideration the anamnesis and the peculiarities of the clinical picture and the course of the articular syndrome.

[Effect of dimethyl sulfoxide and dimethyl sulfone on a destructive process in the joints of mice with spontaneous arthritis]. / Vliianie dimetilsul'foksida i dimetilsul'fona na destruktivnyi protsess v sustavakh pri spontannom artrite u myshei.

The authors used the blind method for evaluation of the morphological picture of the joints and the level of circulating immune complexes to study the effect of prolonged oral administration of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and its main metabolite dimethyl sulfone on the development of spontaneous arthritis in 36 Mrl/Mn/lnr female mice. It was found that DMSO and dimethyl sulfone lessen the destructive changes in the joints, while DMSO also inhibits the manifestation of immune disorders, i. e. produces a "basal" effect on the course of spontaneous chronic arthritis in experimental animals.

[The clinico-prognostic assessment of DNA antibodies and antinuclear factors in rheumatoid arthritis patients]. / Kliniko-prognosticheskaia otsenka antitel k DNK i antinuklearnykh faktorov u bol'nykh revmatoidnym artritom.

As many as 195 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) were examined for the clinical characteristics of the disease course depending on the presence or lack of antibodies to DNA or of antinuclear factor (ANF). Provided the patients' blood serum contained antibodies to DNA and ANF, RA was noted to run a graver course associated with a high-active process, marked erosive and destructive lesions of the joints, and the development of systemic manifestations. Excess production of the antibodies in question was accompanied by an increase of circulating immune complexes and rheumatoid factor, and a decrease of serum IgG. Glucocorticoids were demonstrated to be effective in suppression of autoimmune disorders. The presence of antibodies to DNA and of ANF is a prognostically unfavourable sign, indicating the development of systemic manifestations.

[Comparative study of the activity of immunoglobulin G and therapeutic preparations of normal human immunoglobulin in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus and rheumatoid arthritis and in healthy persons]. / Sravnitel'noe issledovanie aktivnosti immunoglobulina G i lechebnykh preparatov immunoglobulina cheloveka u bol'nykh sistemnoi krasnoi volchankoi, revmatoidnym artritom i u zdorovykh lits.

The authors consider that the development of immunopathological reactions in SLE, AIDS depends on the reduction in normal gamma-globulin level in the patient's serum. The sera with anti-DNA, anti-HIV antibodies show a decreased binding of corresponding antigens and decreased concentrations of gamma-globulin with normal features.

[Anti-cardiolipin antibodies and other immunological disorders in patients with systemic scleroderma]. / Antikardiolipinovye antitela i drugie immunologicheskie narusheniia u bol'nykh sistemnoi sklerodermiei.

A total of 104 patients with scleroderma were examined. Anticardiolipin antibodies were detected in 37.5 per cent of the patients with systemic scleroderma and in 3 per cent of healthy individuals; they were more often detected in 46.8 per cent of the patients with diffuse affections of the skin, atherosclerosis, Raynaud's syndrome accompanied by ulcero-necrotic affections of the skin as compared to patients with restricted affections of the skin (sclerodactylia and focal scleroderma)--29.8 per cent. No significant changes in the frequency of detecting a rheumatic factor, antibodies to Scl-70 were revealed in subgroups of patients with scleroderma, positive and negative anticardiolipin antibodies. Of the greatest interest is a significant difference in levels of C-reactive protein which were high in half of the patients with anticardiolipin antibodies. Anticentromere antibodies were detected twice as more often in patients without anticardiolipin antibodies that corresponded to systemic sclerodermia with minimum involvement of the skin into the pathological process. It is suggested that ulcero-necrotic affection of the skin in systemic sclerodermia is associated with C-reactive protein but it is not of an immunocomplex nature.

[Antinuclear, anticentromere and anti-ScL-70 antibodies in rheumatic diseases]. / Antinuklearnye, antitsentromernye, anti-ScL-70 antitela pri revmaticheskikh zabolevaniiakh.

Methods are described that are used for the titration of antinuclear, anticentromere, and anti-Scl-70 antibodies in systemic scleroderma, systemic lupus erythematosus, and rheumatoid arthritis: indirect immunofluorescence with various antigenic substrates (sections of fresh-frozen rat liver and Hep-2 cell culture), counter-current immunoelectrophoresis, isolation of Scl-70 antigen. Use of Hep-2 cells as a substrate for indirect immunofluorescence was found clinically and diagnostically more effective since it permitted the detection of anticentromere antibodies and anti-Scl-70. Nucleolar, mottled, homogeneous, marginal immunofluorescence types were observed when rat liver sections and Hep-2 cells were used for substrates. Anticentromere antibodies and anti-Scl-70 were isolated significantly more frequently in systemic lupus erythematosus or rheumatoid arthritis.

[Study of the synovial fluid in rheumatoid arthritis]. / Izuchenie sinovial'noi zhidkosti pri revmatoidnom artrite.

A comparative study of the synovial fluid (SF) composition was conducted in 72 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) with relation to the presence of the rheumatoid factor (RF) and clinical manifestations of this disease. A statistically significant difference in the SF composition (the number of leukocytes, neutrophils and ragocytes) was shown in seropositive and seronegative RA. The content of total protein and glucose in SF did not practically differ in both cases. In the common group of the RA patients correlation was established between the number of neutrophils, the level of total protein, percentage of ragocytes, the level of complement in SF and a degree of general inflammatory activity of disease. A subgroup of RA patients (32%) was identified with the prevalence of lymphocytes, a slight rise of the level of total protein, a low percentage of ragocytes and rather a high level of complement. In 87% of the above patients noticeable osteochondrous destruction (III-IV roentgenological stage) was noted against a background of low inflammatory activity. The data obtained confirmed an important role of SF investigation for the elucidation of the mechanisms of pathogenesis, differential diagnosis and prognosis.

[Importance of the determination of antibodies to n-DNA in systemic lupus erythematosus and other rheumatic diseases (comparative study of radioisotope and immunoenzyme technics)]. / Znachenie opredeleniia antitel k nativnoi DNK pri sistemnoi krasnoi volchanke i drugikh revmaticheskikh zabolevaniiakh (sravnitel'noe izuchenie radioizotopnoi i immunofermentnoi tekhniki).

Altogether 95 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus, 36 patients with rheumatoid arthritis, 10 with sclerodermia systematic, 10 with Bekhterev's disease, 9 with rheumatic fever, and 20 healthy persons were examined. An analysis of the results made it possible to establish that in SLE, sclerodermia systematic and Bekhterev's disease the frequency of detection of higher levels of antibodies to n-DNA using enzyme immunoassay and radionuclide methods was approximately the same. SLE patients were characterized by a 2-fold increase in the level of antibodies to n-DNA as compared to patients with sclerodermia systematic, Bekhterev's disease and rheumatic fever suggesting usefulness for differentiation of these diseases. In rheumatic fever and rheumatoid arthritis antibodies to n-DNA in minimal elevated levels were revealed more frequently under enzyme immunoassay than in radionuclide ones. In SLE high levels of antibodies to n-DNA under the method of radionuclide binding showed significant correlation with a decrease in complement hemolytic activity, high levels of circulating immune complexes, with a higher frequency of detection of the antinuclear factor, and reflected lupus nephritis severity. Enzyme immunoassay used for the detection of antibodies to n-DNA showed correlation of high levels of these antibodies with signs of developing cerebrovasculitis and pulmonary lesion.

[DNAse II from phagocytes in the study of the pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus]. / DNKaza II kletok fagotsitiruiushchego riada v izuchenii patogeneza sistemnoi krasnoi volchanki.

Activity of acid DNAase (DNAase II) was shown to decrease in neutrophils from peripheric blood of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus as well as in macrophages of liver tissue from mice of the F1(NZB/w) strain during development of the lupus syndrome. Inhibition of the DNAase II activity in phagocytic cells might be among the reasons of accumulation of extracellular highly polymeric DNA in blood of the patients with systemic lupus erythematosus and to play a definite role in pathogenesis of the disease.