[Chronic constipation and its treatment]. / Khronicheskie zapory i ikh lechenie.

Altogether 850 patients suffering from chronic constipation were examined. Of these, 80% only showed functional changes in the intestine, 5% lost the defecation reflex, and 15% manifested inflammation-induced lesions in the intestine. 80% of the patients demonstrated symptoms of dysbacteriosis. Multimodality treatment appeared to produce an appreciable effect in the majority of the patients. As a result many of the patients gave up laxatives.

[The synthetic peptide preparation dalargin in the treatment of peptic ulcer]. / Sinteticheskii peptidnyi preparat dalargin v lechenii iazvennoi bolezni.

The paper is concerned with the results of clinical assessment of a new peptide drug dalargin in therapy of duodenal peptic ulcer. Assessment of the efficacy of dalargin was compared to that of tagamet and placebo using double "blind" control. A total of 180 males with exacerbation of duodenal ulcer were examined, of them 90 received dalargin only, 70 received tagamet and 20 persons participated in an experiment based on a method of double "blind" control. An average period of duodenal ulcer healing in the patients on dalargin therapy was 21.4 +/- 1.2 days, and by the 28th day complete cicatrization was observed in 87.5% of the patients. In tagamet therapy an average period of cicatrization was 23.7 +/- 1.8 days, by the 28th day ulcer healing was observed in 87.3%. With placebo ulcer healing by the 4th week was observed in 30% of the examinees, in dalargin therapy in 80%. A conclusion was made of high efficacy of dalargin for therapy of peptic ulcer.

[Gastrin, gamma-endorphin and somatostatin cells of the stomach and duodenum in patients with duodenal ulcer treated with dalargin]. / Gastrinovye, gamma-éndorfinovye i somatostatinovye kletki zheludka i dvenadtsatiperstnoi kishki u bol'nykh iazvennoi bolezn'iu dvenadtsatiperstnoi kishki pri lechenii dalarginom.

The distribution of gastrin-, gamma-endorphin and somatostatin-producing cells in antral and duodenal mucosa was studied in biopsies from 26 patients with duodenal ulcer and from 13 controls by the immunohistochemical (PAP) method. The number of antral somatostatin-producing cells after dalargin treatment was significantly higher in comparison with controls and patients treated with antacids plus atropine. These changes may be connected with the antiulcer activity of dalargin, a new opioid peptide drug.

[Effect of testosterone, its 5 alpha-reduced metabolites, estradiol and progesterone on the formation of an experimental duodenal ulcer in male rats]. / Vliianie testosterona, ego 5 al'fa-vosstanovlennykh metabolitov, éstradiola i progesterona na obrazovanie éksperimental'noi duodenal'noi iazvy u krys-samtsov.

The influence of different doses (0.01, 0.1, 1.0, 10.0, 100.0, 250.0, 1,000.0, 2,500.0 gamma/kg body weight) of testosterone, dihydrotestosterone, 5 alpha-androstane-3 alpha, 17 beta-diol, 5 alpha-androstane-3 beta, 17 beta-diall, 4-androsterone-3,17-dione, estradiol and progesterone on the formation of cysteamine-induced duodenal ulcer was studied in mature male rats. It has been shown that all the steroids, but for progesterone, bring down the ulcer index after six days of i/p administration, the effect depending on the nature and dose of a steroid. Estradiol and 4-androstene-3,17-dione proved to be the most effective in the given dose range. The results do not only confirm the role of androgens and estradiol in the pathogenesis of duodenal ulcer, but also indicate the participation of their precursors and metabolites in the ulcer induction. The prospects of using steroids in the treatment of ulcer are discussed.

[Experience with the treatment of duodenal ulcer using H2-histamine receptor blockers]. / Opyt lecheniia iazvennoi bolezni dvenadtsatiperstnoi kishki blokatorami H2-gistaminovykh retseptorov.

The authors compared the efficacy of the blockers of H2-histamine receptors with the conventional multimodality treatment in patients with peptic ulcer of the duodenum and explored the effect of cimetidine on the secretory and motor functions of the stomach and on the endocrine status of the patients. It was established that cimetidine made the healing of duodenal ulcers more rapid as compared with the use of the multimodality therapy. It was also found that the drug efficacy was mainly related to the suppression of hydrochloric acid secretion in the stomach and to the recovery of motor activity of the stomach and duodenum. It is demonstrated that cimetidine has a broad-range action on the endocrine system, which should be taken into consideration in administering cimetidine.

[Immunomorphological methods for identifying cells of the APUD system of the digestive organs]. / Immunomorfologicheskie metody identifikatsii kletok APUD-sistemy organov pishchevareniia.

Possibilities of application of immunomorphologic methods to gastrointestinal apud cells study were evaluated. These are: immunofluorescent, immunoenzyme, immune-peroxidase, peroxidase-antiperoxidase, avidinbiotin. Causes of immunologic and non-immunologic non-specific background staining and the means of its elimination are discussed, as well as problems of fixation and embedding of the material.

[Effect of dalargin on the content of endorphins, leucine-enkephalin ACTH and corticosterone of the blood of stressed rats]. / Vliianie dalargina na soderzhanie v krovi stressirovannykh krys éndorfinov, letsin-énkefalina, AKTG i kortikosterona.

Stress caused by acute cysteamine duodenal ulcer was induced in Wistar male rats. All the endogenous opioides under study were involved in the stress-reaction mechanism. Protective dalargin (synthetic enkephalin analogue) administration revealed a tendency towards normalization of endorphin, L-enkephalin and ACTH blood levels.

[Dynamics of the basal gastrin concentration of duodenal ulcer patients during the development of remission of the disease]. / Dinamika bazal'noi kontsentratsii gastrina u bol'nykh duodenal'noi iazvoi v protsesse stanovleniia remissii zabolevaniia.

The authors describe the results of studying basal gastrin secretion in patients with peptic ulcer of the duodenum at different phases of disease treated in 3 stages. It was revealed that basal secretion of gastrin experienced substantial changes in the course of transition from the phase of exacerbation to the phase of disease remission. It was noted that the onset of the clinico-endoscopic remission of peptic ulcer did not correlate in all the cases with normalization of basal gastrin level. Patients who did not show normalization of basal gastrin level during treatment were more prone to the development of repeated exacerbations. Based on the data obtained the authors determined the prognostic importance of radioimmunoassay of gastrin basal concentration over time. The increment of gastrin concentration by more than 35 pg/ml of the level seen during peptic ulcer exacerbation is a prognostically unfavourable sign, for the probability of relapses rises up to 79% during a year.

[Interrelation between the analgesic and ulcerogenic action of cysteamine]. / Vzaimosviaz' mezhdu anal'geticheskim i ul'tserogennym deistviem tsisteamina.

Interrelationship was studied between the influence of cysteamine on pain threshold and ulcerogenic effect on the duodenum. Cysteamine (350 mg/kg) induced analgesia in mice which was prevented by naloxone (1.5 mg/kg). In rats, cysteamine produced duodenal ulcers with concomitant analgesia. The intensity of ulceration was higher in animals with lower basal pain threshold. The correlation between central and peripheral effects of endogenous opioids in the development of experimental duodenal ulcers is discussed.

[Clinical evaluation of hexapeptide dalargine used in the treatment of duodenal ulcer]. / Klinicheskaia otsenka geksapeptida dalargina kak sredstva lecheniia iazvennoi bolezni dvenadtsatiperstnoi kishki.

Experiments on rats were made to study antiulcerous activity of the majority of endogenous opioid-like peptides and 22 synthetic analogs. Duodenal ulcers were induced in animals by cysteamine hydrochloride. A hexapeptide called dalargin demonstrated the maximal antiulcerous activity in experimental duodenal ulcer. The drug dose applied was 10-15 micrograms/kg. The drug action was found to be mediated via opiate receptors. The drug did not cause the development of addiction or physical dependence. Dalargin was studied in 45 male patients with exacerbation of duodenal ulcer. The mean period of healing amounted to 21.8 days. The use of dalargin in a dose of 2 mg a day intramuscularly produced no side effects or changes in blood characteristics. The mechanisms of dalargin action are discussed from the viewpoint of the general principles of peptide pharmacology.

[Effect of beta-endorphin on G-cells in rats with experimental duodenal ulcer]. / Vliianie beta-éndorphina na G-kletki u krys s éksperimental'noi iazvoi dvenadtsatiperstnoi kishki.

Immunohistochemistry was used to study the changes in the number of G cells in the antral part of the stomach of rats (40 animals) with cystamine-induced duodenal ulcer treated with beta-endorphine. In the stomach of rats with cystamine-induced ulcer the number of G cells was discovered to be significantly increased, which was removed by an opioid peptide. Naloxone did not block the action of beta-endorphine. Thus, beta-endorphine changes the number of G cells, the drug action being not associated with opiate receptors.

[Evaluation of current preparations and local application in treating peptic ulcer exacerbation]. / Otsenka nekotorykh sovremennykh preparatov i mestnogo vozdeistviia v lechenii obostreniia iazvennoi bolezni.

The effects of modern antiulcerous drugs and local action on the gastric mucosa by endoscopy were studied and compared. The endocrine characteristics of the blood serum were analysed in patients with duodenal ulcer after acute and prolonged use of antiulcerous drugs. The treatment with high doses of phosphalugel and cimetidine was shown to compare very favourably with conventional therapy. Duogastron was found to have a low antiulcerous activity. Cimetidine, duogastron and reglan exerted a marked effect on the endocrine system, which should be taken into consideration on prolonged drug use. Local action on the gastric mucosa by means of endoscopy appeared to be effective in patients resistant to drug therapy.

[Endorphin-containing cells in the gastric antral mucosa in duodenal ulcer]. / Kletki, soderzhashchie éndorfiny, v slizistoi obolochke antral'nogo otdela zheludka pri iazvennoi bolezni dvendatsatiperstnoi kishki.

Immunohistochemical staining with the use of peroxidase-antiperoxidase was applied to study cells producing gamma- and alpha-endorphines in the gastric antral mucosa in duodenal ulcer. The cells producing gamma-endorphines were discovered to be mainly located in the epithelium of the cervical and upper third of the pyloric glands and to be alike G-cells producing gastrin. The cells producing alpha-endorphine were found both in the epithelium of the upper third of the gastric pyloric glands and in the gastric mucosa lamina proper. In peptic ulcer, there was an almost two-fold increase in the amount of gamma-endorphine-producing cells and diminution of epithelial endocrine cells producing alpha-endorphine.

[Morphometric evaluation of the effect of opioid peptides on cysteamine-induced ulcer in rats]. / Morfometricheskaia otsenka vliianiia opiopodobnykh peptidov na tsisteaminovuiu iazvy u krys.

Morphometry was used to study the action of an enkephalin analog and beta-endorphine on the duodenal mucosa in rats with an experimental ulcer induced by cysteamine. Enkephalin produced a more powerful protective action than endorphine. The antiulcerous action was manifested in the diminution of dystrophic changes, redistribution of inflamed cells with an increase in the lymphocyte and monocyte counts, and in the reduction of the number of tissue macrophages and histocytes. Administration of opioids provoked a particularly marked increase in the eosinophil count in the duodenal mucosa. All these effects were abolished by naloxone. It is concluded that the tissue effects of opioids are mediated by specific opiate receptors.