[The problem of diagnosis and differential diagnosis of botulism in pregnant women. Case report].

The article describes a clinical observation of a severe course of a sporadic case of foodborne botulism in a woman at 32 weeks gestation with a successful resolution of pregnancy by independent childbirth. No adverse effects of botulism on pregnancy, delivery, and fetal development were noted. Anti-botulinum serum was administered to the patient no earlier than 96 hours from the onset of the disease. The paper analyzes the clinical picture of botulism, on the basis of which it is necessary to carry out a differential diagnosis.

[Current view on Blastocystis species: clinical forms, diagnosis and treatment].

The symptomatic form of Blastocystis spp. infection not only with mild diarrhea or dysentery-like syndrome, but also with the development of severe ulcerative necrotic lesions of the intestine. Meanwhile, the pathogenicity of these microorganisms should not be exaggerated, due to majority asymptomatic cases or infection transmission with minor impaired bowel function.

[Listeriosis of the Central nervous system].

OBJECT: To study the main causes of severe course and high mortality in patients with nervous form of listeriosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The analysis of the course of Listeria meningoencephalitis (LM) in 36 patients aged from 9 to 85 years, who were treated in the Infectious clinical hospital No. 2 DZM (IKB No. 2 DZM). Along with standard examination methods, blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) polymerase chain reaction tests were performed to identify Listeria monocytogenes. The sensitivity of the pathogen to antibiotics was determined by serial dilutions on the WalkAway 96 Plus device of Siemens, USA. RESULTS: LM in 84% of cases developed in patients with disorders in the immune system, in particular, with infection with the human immunodeficiency virus - in 25% of cases. The clinical picture of the disease, changes in CSF were not typical for bacterial purulent meningitis of another etiology. It is noted that LM is characterized by early involvement of the substance and ventricles of the brain in the process. CONCLUSION: Severe course and high mortality are due to atypical picture of the disease, late diagnosis, low bioavailability of the pathogen for antibiotics (intracellular persistence of the pathogen) and frequent resistance to them. The mortality from the nervous form of listeriosis was 33.3%.

The problem of diagnosis of generalized and focal forms of salmonellosis.

The article describes the clinical observation with an unfavorable outcome of the generalized form of salmonella infection caused by Salmonella typhimurium group B in a woman of 60 years without immunodeficiency, complicated by the development of multiple abscesses of the lower parts of abdominal cavity, probably of appendicular origin. In a short literary review, the pathogenetic mechanisms that contribute to the formation of generalized and extraintestinal forms of salmonella infection are discussed.

[Difficulties in the diagnosis of diarrhea-associated hemolytic uremic syndrome in adults]. / Trudnosti diagnostiki gemolitiko-uremicheskogo sindroma, assotsiirovannogo s diareei, u vzroslykh.

Hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) is a rare, but menacing condition registered mainly in children. The paper gives a detailed description and analysis of a clinical case of HUS with a favorable outcome in an adult woman who developed the syndrome in the presence of bloody diarrhea. It considers an update on the etiology, pathogenesis, and clinical features of HUS associated with diarrheal syndrome and discusses differential diagnostic features, diagnostic problems, and characteristics of management tactics for patients.

[Human babesiasis].

The paper describes a case of imported babesiasis caused by Babesia microti. This is an account of the second case of babesiasis in the Russian-language medical literature. Its clinical picture and laboratory data in the course of the disease are depicted and analyzed. Its clinical differential diagnosis with malaria and an update on the diagnosis and treatment of babesiasis are discussed.

[Induction of the SOS response in Escherichia coli cells under osmotic stress and in the presence of N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine].

We investigated the dynamics of the SOS response induction and the frequency of reversions induced by the monofunctional alkylating compound N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine in Escherichia coli cells exposed to osmotic stress for 1 h. During the stress treatment of the wild-type cultures adapted and not adapted to the alkylating agent, the maximum SOS response values and induced reversion frequencies were recorded twice. The SOS response values and induced reversion frequencies remained unchanged during the whole period after attaining the maximum values in adapted and nonadapted cells carrying a mutation in the excision repair gene. Presumably, the SOS mutagenesis mechanisms are turned on in the cells with an inactivated excision repair system earlier than in wild-type cells.

[Mismatch repair].

Specific repair systems are activated in response to the DNA damage. Mismatch repair protects the genome of prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells from lesions that appear during process of DNA replication or are induced by mutagenic factors. The methyl directed mismatch repair distinguishes the new strand from the old strand by the hemi-methylated state of the DNA and controls the fidelity of genetic information after homologous recombination. The very short patch repair restores the mismatches at the sites with nucleotide sequence CC(W/T)GG. The "8-oxoG" pathway is independent of the hemi-methylated state of the DNA, and removes the oxidated nucleotides from the genome of prokaryotes and eukaryotes. Mutations in genes of mismatch repair enhance the process of mutagenesis in prokaryotic cell, and are the reason for the development of the colon cancer in humans. The mechanisms of mismatch repair and the role of defective repair proteins in mutagenesis and carcinogenesis are discussed in this review.

[Use of Doppler fluorometry for the assessment of microcirculation in patients with severe mechanical trauma]. / Ispol'zovanie dopplerofloumetrii dlia otsenki mikrotsirkuliatsii u postradavshikh s tiazheloi mekhanicheskoi travmoi.

Described in the paper are issues related with studying the micro-hemocirculation in victims with mechanical shock-genesis trauma by using the laser Doppler fluorimetry. The results are indicative of a nature of changes occurred in the microcirculation system in such victims with different-severity traumatic shock. It is concluded that, in principle, it is possible to use the method in question within the diagnostics of the impaired microcirculation in patients with shock-genesis lesions at disease exacerbation.