[The new international criteria of cardiac infarction and highly sensitive troponins: new possibilities and new problems].

The article deals with short review of main provisions of international recommendations concerning new diagnostic criteria of cardiac infarction and algorithms of highly sensitive measurement of circulating concentrations of cardiac troponins. The particular attention is paid to methods of serial highly sensitive measurement of levels of troponins making it possible to confirm or to exclude cardiac infarction during 1-3 hours after admission of patient. The perspectives and problems related to implementation of highly sensitive troponins into common practice of laboratory diagnostic are discussed.

Stress-induced evolution and the biosafety of genetically modified microorganisms released into the environment.

This article is focused on the problems of reduction of the risk associated with the deliberate release of genetically modified microorganisms (GMMs) into the environment. Special attention is given to overview the most probable physiological and genetic processes which could be induced in the released GMMs by adverse environmental conditions, namely: (i) activation of quorum sensing and the functions associated with it, (ii) entering into a state of general resistance, (iii) activation of adaptive mutagenesis, adaptive amplifications and transpositions and (iv) stimulation of inter-species gene transfer. To reduce the risks associated with GMMs, the inactivation of their key genes responsible for stress-stimulated increase of viability and evolvability is proposed.

Immobility test: effects of 5-hydroxytryptaminergic drugs and role of catecholamines in the activity of some antidepressants.

Fenfluramine and m-chlorophenylpiperazine, two drugs purported to enhance central 5-hydroxytryptaminergic transmission, and metergoline, a 5-HT antagonist, did not modify the duration of immobility induced in rats made to swim in a restricted space. Nomifensine, desipramine and amineptine, three antidepressants known to block neuronal catecholamine uptake, significantly reduced the duration of immobility. Penfluridol, a dopamine antagonist at central receptors, counteracted the effect of nomifensine and amineptine but not that of desipramine. Propranolol and phenoxybenzamine respectively reduced the effects of desipramine and nomifensine but did not modify amineptine's effect. Metergoline pretreatment did not counteract the effect of any drug. The results indicate that various antidepressants can reduce the duration of immobility in rats by activating dopaminergic and/or noradrenergic mechanisms in the brain. Either alpha- or beta-noradrenergic receptors could contribute to the anti-immobility effects, depending on the drug used. The immobility test appears to be insensitive to drugs activating or reducing 5-HT-ergic mechanisms in the brain.