[Principles of the calculation of blood corpuscles in biological fluids, by using slide trays].

Counting blood corpuscles in biological fluids, by using slide trays is a current, rapid, and convenient method. For their adequate calculation, it is necessary to know the volume of biological material under the chamber array of a slide tray, the total volume of the chamber in microl, and the degree of biological material concentration. When the Nechiporenko test reveals single urinary costs, it is recommended to count the latter in the whole chamber of a slide tray, followed by division of their count by the total volume of the chamber in microl. All required data must be given in an instruction for slide trays.

[The diagnostic value of the metabolites of adrenaline, norepinephrine, dopamine, and serotonin in the laboratory diagnosis of drug abuse].

The present review describes the diagnostic value of the metabolites of epinephrine, norepinephrine, dopamine, and serotonin in the laboratory diagnosis of drug abuse. The metabolism and effects of these substances in health and drug addiction are considered. A procedure for their analysis is presented.

[Use of molecular genetic diagnostic methods in periodontology and implantology].

The authors have studied the species-specific composition of major periodontopathogenic bacteria (P. gingivalis, P. intermedia, B. forsythus, A. actinomycetemcomitans, and T. denticola), by applying the Russian reagent kit developed and made by HPF "GENETECH", and some fungi, microorganisms, and viruses among the Moscow Region inhabitants with chronic generalized periodontitis in 2006-2008. The studies have shown it possible to use molecular genetic methods for diagnosis, drug therapy monitoring, and epidemiological studies in periodontology and implantology.

[Analytical characteristics micromatrix semiquantitative method used in serial tests with video digital registration].

A multiplex analytical system has been developed to carry out microformat latex agglutination tests with video digital registration. The system makes it possible to apply less than 1 microl drops of latex and samples in the matrix format to a carrier and to make the test in 30 points at once, as well as to record and to interpret the results of the test, by keeping analytical information for each sample. Comparison of the results of determination of the serum levels of C-reactive protein, rheumatoid factor, and antistreptolysine in the system developed by the authors with the results obtained in the macroagglutination test by the immunoturbidimetric technique leads to the conclusion that the methods are comparable. The proposed type of a latex agglutination test based on a matrix approach and miniaturization assures efficient production and the quality of laboratory studies.

[Absence of hepatitis C virus RNA in ambiguous results of mass blood screening for hepatitis C virus antibodies].

The purpose of the study was to elucidate whether hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA was present in the blood of patients from a Moscow therapeutic-and-prophylactic institution with uncertain results of a study of anti-HCV that were obtained using the algorithm developed for mass screening. The two-stage scheme of testing the serum for anti-HCV, which was obligatory in accordance with the Order of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, was supplemented by a study the samples having a low optical density samples and those with controversial results in the test systems with the expanded spectrum of detectable anti-HCV, the instructions of which comprises criteria for an uncertain result. Sera with uncertain results of anti-HCV tests were assessed by two polymerase chain reaction (PCR) techniques for HCV RNA. The cDNA fragments complementary to HCV RNA were detected in the sera obtained from two elderly persons in PCR when a signal was recorded in agarose gel. The other real-time PCR failed to detect RNA in none sera with an uncertain result as to anti-HCV.

[Use of a scanner to register the results of enzyme immunoassay in the standard microplates].

Whether a commercially available scanner might be used as a vertical photometer of 96-well microplates for enzyme immunoassay (EIA) was studied. The analytical characteristics of the scanner in this regard were assessed, by comparing the findings with the respective photometric data obtained by a "VICTOR" EIA analyzer. It is concluded that the scanner registration system in combination with "Expert-Lab EIA" may be used in all types of EIA. The scanner system provides additional possibilities as compared with the conventional photometric analyzers.

[Analytical methods for measuring the content of trace elements in children with chronic gastrointestinal diseases].

Plasma trace elements (TE) were determined by atomic absorption spectrometry with electrothermal atomization and by mass spectrometry with inductively bound plasma. These techniques are highly effective and may be used to determine TE in biological samples. In children, chronic gastrointestinal diseases are accompanied by mineral metabolic disorders. In children with chronic gastrointestinal diseases whose age was 6 to 15 years and whose weight was varying, the scores of some TEs depend on a child's body weight and may be used to evaluate the degree of a pathological process.

[A scanner-based system for documentation, objective assessment, and recording of the results of latex-agglutination tests].

The present paper describes the use of the scanner "Expert-Lab Agglutination" system to record the results of latex-agglutination tests in making a reaction on the lids of 96-well immunoassay plates. The described system provides a possibility of having a primary image of all tests carried out on a carrier. Software offers the prospect of contrasting the images of individual and control samples, increasing the size of images, and comparing the latter. The use of special image treating techniques may also yield objective figures characterizing the rate of a reaction. The possibility of archiving primary information and retrospectively appraising the correctness of the result of an analysis at any required moment is of fundamental importance to the latex-agglutination test.

Disorders in restructuring of T-cell receptor gamma-chain in malignant skin lymphomas.

Disorders in restructuring of T-cell receptor gamma-chain in DNA from skin biopsy specimens and peripheral blood lymphocyte of patients with malignant skin lymphomas at different stages of the disease were detected by PCR. Nucleotide sequences of monoclonal T-cell receptors were determined. The study showed that DNA sequences from the skin and lymphocytes did not coincide in some cases.

[Chromatin nuclear proteins in evaluation of the effectiveness of treatment of patients with psoriasis]. / Iadernye belki khromatina v otsenke éffektivnosti lecheniia bol'nykh psoriazom.

Histone proteins and nucleic acid precursors were studied in 10 normal subjects and 20 patients with disseminated psoriasis before and after combined therapy including Enkad. A drop in the concentrations of H1 histones was detected in the blood lymphocytes and plasma in parallel with an increase in the concentrations of arginine-rich histones and a many-fold decrease in the acid-soluble fraction representing a pool of nucleic acid precursors. After combined therapy the ratio of lysin- and arginine-rich nuclear proteins in blood lymphocytes changed significantly and approximated the normal value; the distribution of histone-like proteins virtually did not change in the plasma, but the level of plasma and erythrocyte acid-soluble fraction normalized. This indicates positive changes in nucleic acid transport after therapy. The authors demonstrate the possibility of these findings for evaluation of the treatment efficiency.

[Metabolism of purine compounds in psoriasis]. / Metabolizm purinovykh soedinenii pri psoriaze.

The pool of free purine derivatives and activities of the key enzymes of purine metabolism (adenosine deaminase, purine nucleoside phosphorylase, and 5'-nucleotidase) in lymphocytes, erythrocytes, and epidermis homogenates were measured in 20 normal subjects and 15 patients with psoriasis by high-performance liquid chromatography. The levels of AMP, GMP, and IMP purine monophosphates are decreased in the epidermis and red cells of psoriasis patients, whereas the final products of hypoxanthine, xanthine, and uric acid metabolism are accumulating, and the activities of ADA and PNP are increased double in the skin, all this indicating purine derivatives catabolism.

Changes of nucleotide patterns in liver, muscle and blood during the growth of Ehrlich ascites cells: application of the reversed-phase and ion-pair reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography with radial compression column.

The pool of purine compounds was analysed in liver, skeletal muscle and blood of mice during the growth of Ehrlich ascites tumour cells. Three fast isocratic high-performance liquid chromatographic methods were used. (1) Determination of nucleotides by an isocratic ion-pair reversed-phase chromatography with a 10 mM ammonium phosphate buffer containing acetonitrile and tetrabutylammonium phosphate. (2) Separation of nucleosides and nucleobases in cell extracts by a reversed-phase system with methanol and 50 mM potassium phosphate buffer as eluent. (3) Nucleosides and nucleobases in body fluids were analysed by a reversed-phase system with 10 mM potassium phosphate containing methanol. These methods allow the rapid determination of purine compounds in small biological samples from various cell types and body fluids, with high accuracy and sensitivity. The pool of cellular nucleotides increased during the exponential phase of tumour growth. Adenosine accumulated significantly in all tissues in the stationary phase of tumour growth.

Ion-pair high-performance liquid chromatography of purine compounds in the small intestinal mucosa of children with coeliac disease.

Isocratic methods are described for the separation of purine compounds in specimens of jejunal mucosa available by peroral biopsy from patients with coeliac disease. The first mode provided separation of both the ionic nucleoside monophosphates and the non-ionic nitrogen bases and nucleosides. The second mode was applicable to analyses of the nucleoside mono-, di- and triphosphates only. These chromatographic procedures were carried out with tetrabutylammonium phosphate as an ion-pair modifier and different concentrations of acetonitrile in the mobile phase. The modes are flexible in that they permit the optimization of the separation of these compounds according to the purpose of the investigation. The results of studies on purine metabolite patterns in coeliac mucosa are discussed.

[Metabolic pool of purine compounds in erythrocytes of mice during growth of transplanted tumors]. / Metabolicheskii pul purinovykh soedinenii v éritrotsitakh krovi myshei v protsesse rosta perevivnykh opukholei.

The pattern of purine derivatives was studied in the erythrocytes of C3HA and ICR mice during Hepatoma 22 and Ehrlich ascites tumor cells growth. Host erythrocytes purine nucleotides, nucleosides and bases were affected by the implanted tumors. The results indicated that the host erythrocytes markedly concentrated adenine and guanine nucleotides on the 5th and 11th-12th day of tumor growth. By contrast, content of nucleosides and bases were sharply decreased during the log growth phase (5th day) with the restoring of these precursors within the 11th-12th day (plateau phase). These observations indicate that aspects of the purine compounds metabolism in host erythrocytes are linked with tumor development.

The catabolism of endogenous adenine nucleotides in rat liver mitochondria.

The degradation of intramitochondrial adenine nucleotides to nucleosides and bases was investigated by incubating isolated rat liver mitochondria at 37 degrees C under non-phosphorylating conditions in the presence of oligomycin and carboxyatractyloside. Within 30 min the adenine nucleotides were degraded by about 25 per cent. The main products formed were adenosine and inosine the contents of which increased five- to sevenfold. Compartmentation studies revealed that about 50 to 60 per cent of the adenosine formed remained inside the organelles whereas inosine was almost completely released into the surrounding medium. Outside the mitochondria only very small amounts of adenine nucleotides were detected. Similar incubations in the presence of [14C]-adenosine yielded no [14C]-inosine ruling out extramitochondrial adenosine deamination. It is concluded that endogenous adenine nucleotides can be degraded in mitochondria via AMP dephosphorylation and subsequent adenosine deamination. A purine nucleoside transport system mediating at least the efflux of inosine from the mitochondria is suggested.