[An infant form of Alexander disease (a clinical case and literature review)]. / Mladencheskaya forma bolezni Aleksandera (opisanie klinicheskogo nablyudeniya i obzor literatury).

We present a case of the infant form of Alexander disease. The case uniqueness is that the patient's examination had been started at the preclinical stage and was continued during the manifestation and fastigium of disease. We present rare images obtained during neurosonography at the preclinical stage of the disease as well as the unique findings of MRI studies. The MRI findings at disease onset and 3 years later indicate that the infant form of Alexander disease is characterized by clinical stages.

[Specificity of action of extracellular proteases from Streptomyces spp]. / O spetsifichnosti deistviia vnekletochnykh proteaz iz Streptomyces spp.

The ability of an Actinomyces strain--Streptomyces spp. to produce extracellular proteases has been studied under varied cultivation conditions during the growth cycle. The activity of enzyme preparations precipitated from the culture liquid was determined with various substrates--gelatin, casein, fibrinogen, fibrin and collagen. The isolated enzyme complex possessed caseinolytic, fibrinolytic, thrombolytic and collagenolytic activities.

[Effect of vitamin A on immunological status of patients with chronic pneumonia]. / Vliianie vitamina A na sostoianie immuniteta pri khronicheskoi pnevmonii.

Effect of vitamin A on some patterns of specific and unspecific immunity was studied in patients with chronic pneumonia. The vitamin was administered into the patients during 7 days at a daily dose of 500,000 IU. Administration of vitamin A was found to stimulate several immunological patterns: content of T- and B lymphocytes in peripheral circulation as well as IgG and IgM blood serum were increased. After the vitamin A treatment the cellular immunity was also stimulated, involving the activation of lymphocyte blast transformation with PHA and the increase in exhibition of skin reaction towards PHA. In response to vitamin A administration activation was observed of unspecific bactericidal, and complement activities in blood serum as well as of the myeloperoxidase activity in leukocytes of peripheral circulation. Administration of vitamin A into the control patients within a week at a daily dose of 10,000 IU did not alter the immunological patterns studied.