[Focal laser thermocoagulation for localized prostate cancer].

Focal therapy involving destruction of prostate specific region containing a clinically meaningful tumor is a new treatment for prostate cancer. Despite the absence of long-term results of applying this method of treatment, there are prerequisites that allow to consider focal therapy as a method with a lower risk of side effects typical of conventional treatment. Focal laser thermocoagulation is a developing technique with a number of advantages, the most important of which is the ability to perform the treatment under the real-time magnetic resonance imaging control. This review describes the principles of laser thermocoagulation, and presents the data of already published clinical studies, as well as the eligibility criteria for focal laser thermocoagulation of prostate cancer. The prospects of development of the method are discussed.

[Using laser radiation in partial nephrectomy for renal tumors].

In recent years, the number of organ-sparing operations for renal tumors has been increasing steadily due to comparable oncological outcomes and the desire to preserve functioning renal parenchyma. Another technique, which is becoming increasingly popular, is so-called zero ischemia partial nephrectomy, which allows bleeding to be controlled during the operation without clamping the renal artery, thus avoiding renal ischemic injury. One of the most interesting and promising instruments for partial nephrectomy is a laser radiation. It combines good cutting and coagulating properties, thus enabling partial nephrectomy to be carried out without vascular clamping. This literature review presents the physical basis of laser technology and evidence from published clinical studies on using of various types of laser radiation for partial nephrectomy. The prospects for further development of the technique are discussed.

[MICROBIOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF INFECTIOUS BALANOPOSTHITIS].

Treatment and prevention of diseases of the male reproductive organs largely influence male population fertility and the health of the future generations. This review summarizes current views on the problem of infectious balanoposthitis and presents generalized information on its pathogens. Refined classification and diagnostic workup are provided. The important role of pathogenic microflora in the formation of the glans penis and foreskin inflammation is shown. Importance of Enterococcus spp. in the etiology of balanoposthitis is demonstrated. The modern treatment regimens and prevention of balanoposthitis are described.

[Prospects of use coryneformic bacteria drug to prevent and treat respiratory infections].

This work shows the Codivac efficiency in its aerosol form to treat children sick of influenza and acute respiratory viral infections. Course of therapy with the Codivac drug leads to improve clinical picture and rapid elimination virus from human organism as compared with children undergone traditional therapy. Recovery is accompanied with improving of indices of cell immunity. The article shows the prospects of use Codivac to prevent and treat respiratory infections.

[The humoral immunity against diphtheria].

Results of the conducted study showed that naturally acquired antibacterial and postvaccinal antitoxic antibodies against diphtheria were found in human blood sera. Challenge of ADT-M toxoid to adults resulted in production of antitoxic as well as antibacterial antibodies in high concentrations. In response to challenge of ADT-M toxoid simultaneously with bacterial vaccine against diphtheria Codivac both antibacterial and antitoxic antibodies were synthesized in blood on optimal physiologic levels. This study revealed dynamics of some specific characteristics of humoral immune response after challenge of two different vaccines against diphtheria--ADT-M toxoid and Codivac vaccine.

[Immunoloical aspects of the antropogenic response to the antigens of symbiotic non-toxigenic diphtherial corynebacteria].

Corynebacteria, being ancient symbionts of open cavities of human body, carry unique, balanced immunogenic stimuli, formed in the process of evolution, thus maintaining non-specific resistance at a certain level. They favor formation of human microcenotic communities as a normal biological and physiological phenomenon. Codivak, a preparation of natural antigens of a symbiotic strain of non-toxigenic diphtherial corynebacteria, is able to correct not only disturbances of oropharyngeal immunity, but also general cell-mediated and humoral immunity disorders.

[Specific antibodies and their role in the formation of antidiphtheria immunity].

In human sera, studied with the use of the enzyme immunoassay, antidiphtheria postvaccinal antitoxic IgG and naturally acquired antibacterial IgG, IgM and IgA were detected. In the blood of children and adults aged up to 50 years antitoxic IgG were present at normal and high concentrations. In 50% of children antibacterial IgA were absent, while specific antibacterial IgM could be found at high concentrations. Changes in the content of antibacterial antibodies of different classes in sera were observed with age. More than 90% of adults had antibacterial IgA and IgG at normal and hig concentrations, while the level of IgM decreased. Under the influence of ecological, social, anthropogenic and other environmental factors the optimum levels of specific antibodies were replaced by anomalous ones, which led to an increased number of persons susceptible to diphtheria infection and in the intensity of the circulation of the infective agent. The deficiency of antidiphtheria antibacterial antibodies in the blood determined the necessity of correcting immunity by means of not only toxoid, but also bacterial antigens.

[Characteristics of antitoxic and antibacterial immune response in nontoxic forms of oropharyngeal diphtheria]. / Pokazateli antitoksicheskogo i antibakterial'nogo immunnogo otveta pri netoksicheskikh formakh difterii rotoglotki.

The enzyme immunoassay system (EIA) for differentiation of antibodies in therapeutic heterogeneous antitoxic serum and antibodies to Corynebacterium diphtheriae toxigenic strains in patients and carriers was developed. The use of EIA permitted the dynamic evaluation of the characteristics of humoral antitoxic and antibacterial immune response in 50 patients with the localized and disseminated forms of stomatopharyngeal diphtheria and 14 "healthy" carriers of toxigenic C. diphtheriae. As revealed in this study, the symptoms of the disease in patients with disseminated forms of stomatopharyngeal diphtheria developed in the presence of statistically significant low quantitative values of antitoxic and antibacterial antibodies to C. diphtheriae antigens. In the group of patients with the localized forms of the disease the initially low level of antitoxic antibodies was detected with the concentration of antibacterial antibodies remaining unchanged. During the period of convalescence the levels of antitoxic antibodies in both groups reached those of healthy persons. In case of localized forms of the disease the level of antibacterial antibodies decreased as compared with healthy persons, starting from the second week of the disease. The period of convalescence in the disseminated forms was characterized by the low concentration of antibacterial antibodies. Carrier state was formed in the presence of high levels of antitoxic antibodies and significantly low levels of antibacterial ones.

[The immunomodulating properties of a diphtheria bacterial vaccine in in vitro experiments]. / Immunomoduliruiushchie svoistva difteriinoi bakterial'noi vaktsiny v opytakh in vitro.

In this investigation lymphocytes sensitized with Corynebacterium diphtheriae antigens obtained from carriers and convalescents were used. The new diphtheria bacterial vaccine Codivac, in contrast to other comparable preparations (diphtheria toxoid, staphylococcal toxoid, staphylococcal vaccine, levamisole), was found to produce a more direct effect by modulating the levels of T-lymphocytes, depending on their initial levels in the patient. Codivac, together with other preparations, can be used for the study of the problems of immunostimulation and immunocorrective therapy.

[A method of reversed radial immunodiffusion and determination of diphtheria antibodies]. / Metod obrashchennoi radial'noi immunodiffuzi i opredelenie protivodifteriinykh antitel.

Measurements of precipitating antidiphtheria antitoxic and antibacterial antibodies in human blood sera, carried out by this new technique, have demonstrated higher levels of both antibody types in healthy adult vaccinees than in normal subjects who had contacts with diphtheria patients. Convalescents after diphtheria develop elevated levels of antitoxic and antibacterial antibodies, these levels growing to reach the concentrations similar to those in healthy vaccinees.

[Characteristics of the serologic antibacterial response of patients with diphtheria and of bacterial carriers]. / Osobennosti serologicheskogo antibakterial'nogo otveta u bol'nykh difteriei i bakterionositelei.

The enzyme immunoassay system for the detection of specific antibacterial antibodies to Corynebacterium diphtheriae membrane protein (mol. wt. 64 KD) has been used. The physicochemical nature of these antibacterial antibodies has been established and their quantitative characteristics have been determined. The analysis of the dynamics of the formation of antimicrobial IgG- and IgM-antibodies in diphtheria patients (on days 3-28 of the disease) has shown that by the time of convalescence the antibody level increases about 200-fold (p less than 0.0001). The possibility of using the dynamics of the formation of specific antimicrobial IgM-antibodies for the serodiagnosis of carrier state is shown, even if the increase of the level of antimicrobial IgG-antibodies is insufficient for this purpose (not more than twofold).

[Immunomodulating properties of the antigens of the cell walls of nontoxigenic Corynebacterium diphtheriae]. / Immunomoduliruiushchie svoistva antigenov kletochnykh stenok netoksigennykh korinebakterii difterii.

The total protein fraction was obtained by extraction with nonionic detergent NP-40. The fraction composition and molecular parameters were studied with DDS-Na electrophoresis in polyacryl amide gel. Common properties of the Corynebacterium diphtheriae protein fraction 66 kD and an analogous fraction of the cell walls of staphylococci and the measles virus were shown with immunoblotting. Cell-mediated mechanisms of the immune response to contact with antigens of Corynebacterium diphtheriae cell walls were revealed.

[Use of immunoenzyme analysis for determining antibacterial antibodies in diphtheria infection]. / Ispol'zovanie immunofermentnogo analiza dlia opredeleniia antibakterial'nykh antitel pri difteriinoi infektsii.

A diagnostic EIA system for the detection of antibacterial antibodies in diphtheria infection has been developed. As antigen, homogeneous membrane protein (mol. wt. 64 KD) obtained from Corynebacterium diphtheriae cell walls has been used. This protein antigen has been prepared with the use of nonionic detergent NP-40.

[Isolation and immunochemical characteristics of soluble membrane proteins from the cell wall of Corynebacterium diphtheria]. / Vydelenie i immunokhimicheskaia kharakteristika rastvorimykh membrannykh belkov kletochnykh stenok korinebakterii difterii.

A method for isolation of immunochemically active proteins from Corynebacterium diphtheria membranes was elaborated. The proteins were solubilized with the nonionic detergent NP-40 and gel-filtered through an Ultrogel AcA-34 column under denaturating conditions. The purified proteins (Mr = 64 kD) were antigenically active in a solid phase radioimmunoassay with human antidiphtheria antibodies.

[Method of setting up the bacterial lysis reaction of Neisseria meningitidis strains]. / Metodika postanovki reaktsii bakterial'nogo lizisa shtammov Neisseria meningitidis.

A new method for making the reaction of the bacterial lysis of N. meningitidis strains has been developed, this method differing insignificantly from that recommended by the World Health Organization. The article presents the detailed descriptions of the preparation of Dulbecco's solution to be used in this reaction; the techniques of testing the sera of baby rabbits for the absence of antimeningococcal activity (the sera without such activity are used as the source of complement); the preparation of the meningococcal culture and the human sera under test for making the reaction; the techniques of making the controls and evaluating the results. This investigation has revealed that the reaction is highly sensitive and sero-group-specific. It has also confirmed the data on the presence of inherent bactericidal activity in some human sera after thermal inactivation and on the prozone phenomenon in the sera with high titers. This reaction has been used for the characterization of the sera of volunteers immunized with meningococcal bivalent vaccine A+C manufactured in the USSR.

[Chemical composition of a preparation of the cell walls of Corynebacterium diphtheriae]. / Khimicheskii sostav preparata kletochnykh stenok Corynebacterium diphtheriae.

The chemical characteristics of 6 batches of the preparation, obtained from the cell wall of C. diphtheriae grown in liquid and solid culture media, with respect to their content of nitrogen, hexoses, pentoses, total amino sugars, lipids and to the possible admixture of nucleic acids are presented. From the results of the chemical analysis of these batches their standardization according to the ratio of total amino sugars and pentoses to total nitrogen in C. diphtheriae cell-wall preparation is proposed.

[Direct IgG-mediated reactivity of human neutrophils to Corynebacterium diphtheriae peptidoglycan]. / Priamaia IgG-oposredovannaia reaktivnost' neitrofilov cheloveka k peptidoglikanu Corynebacterium diphtheriae.

The direct and IgG-mediated reactivity to C. diphtheriae peptidoglycan in the system of neutrophilic phagocytosis was studied. Peptidoglycan treated with IgG (2-20 mg/ml) isolated from commercial immunoglobulin stimulated the reduction of nitro blue tetrazolium by human neutrophils. Direct (IgG-independent) reactions were much less intensive. The problem of normal IgG opsonizing C. diphtheriae peptidoglycan is discussed.

[Extracellular material of some representatives of the genus Corynebacterium (the electron microscopic aspect)]. / K voprosu ob éktratselliuliarnom materiale nekotorykh predstavitelei roda Corynebacterium (élektronno-mikroskopicheskii aspekt).

At the active developmental phases (up to 2 days) cells of toxigenic and nontoxigenic corynebacteria form extracellular vesicle-like material of two types which can be revealed both on whole cells set off by metal and stained negatively, and in ultrathin sections. Extracellular material of the first type is a derivative of an extensive membranous coat of corynebacteria and is formed as a result of its fragmentation. Vesicles of this type are devoid of electron microscope-dense content, have no tendency to coalescence, and fail to promote cell agglutination. Extracellular material of the second type is primarily formed by local thickening of the surface wall layer limited by its external dense layer and the main massif. These thickenings are filled with a microgranular substance of medium electron optic density; after accumulation this substance is released into the external environment. Vesicles of this type promote cell agglutination. Undoubtedly, extracellular material of the second type has a direct relation to the cell metabolic processes. Extracellular material of both types is encountered in all the cultures grown both on hard and in fluid nutrient media. However, in the latter case the process is apparently much more intensive. There is strict correlation between the morphology of the extracellular material and strain signs of the culture, although material of the second type is found to prevail in the cells from cultures possessing toxigenic activity.

[Comparative electron-microscopic study of 8 representatives of the genus Corynebacterium grown on solid nutrient medium during the stationary phase of development]. / Sravnitel'noe elektronno-mikroskopicheskoe izuchenie 8 predstavitelei roda Corynebacterium, vyrashchennykh na tverdoi pitatel'noi srede v statsionarnoi faze razvitiia

After 18 hours of growth on selective serum-agar medium C diphtheriae cultures with different toxicogenic activity, and also diphtheroid and Hoffmann's baccillus cultures were removed, washed of the remnants of the nutrient medium and fixed under cold conditions by two combined methods (with glutaric aldehyde-osmic acid--uranyl acetate, and potassium permeanganate--uranyl acetate). The preparations were studied in ultrathin sections. It appeared that corynebacteria had during the stationary phase of development a general structural plan characteristic of Gram positive microorganisms and for all the corynebacterium genus. Cells of diphtheria toxicognic strains had signs of the accelerated (in comparison with other strains) rate of development; the principal mass of toxicogenic cells after 18 hours of growth had morphological signs of the stage of rest. The majority of cells whose toxicogenicity was inconstant had an extensive microcapsule which was also a characteristic element of the diphtheroid and Hoffmann's bacillus ultrastructure. The total thickness of the walls in the cells of toxicogenic strains and of the strains whose toxicogenicity was inconstant constituted 190-200 A; in nontoxicogenic strains, diphtheroid and Hoffmann's bacillus it was from 230 to 320 A. Surface structures of corynebacteria were differentiated better in the cells with toxicogenic activity. In the majority of cells of nontoxicogenic strains and also diphtheroid and Hoffmann's bacillus individual wall layers were differentiated with difficulty.