[Anti-CD4 autoimmunity in HIV-infected persons in Russia].

The frequency of anti-CD4 antibodies was determined in the sera or plasma derived from the patients infected with HIV-1 belonging to different genetic subgroups. The anti-CD4-antibodies in a dilution of > or = 1:1000 were found in 14% of the patients infected with the gagA/envA virus characteristic for injectable drug users in East Europe. The frequency of autoimmune antibodies among the HIV-infected patients with envB virus was substantially less (4.4%). Competitive ELISA using monoclonal antibodies to different CD4 domains demonstrated that irrespective of the viral genotype, the autoimmune epitope is located within the D4 or D3/D4 domains of CD4 receptor.

[Detection of genomic RNA of the hepatitis A virus in clinical samples using the blot hybridization method]. / Detektsiia genomnoi RNK virusa gepatita A v klinicheskikh obraztsakh s pomoshch'iu metoda tochechno gibridizatsii.

The synthetic oligonucleotide sequence 3'CTCCTCGTACTTTA-5' complementing hepatitis A virus RNA was compared with cDNA probes in identification of viral genomic RNA. The clinical materials from patients in the 1-2 weeks of jaundice were screened. High specificity of the technique was demonstrated. Possibility of clinical using of the blot hybridization technique is discussed.

[The characteristics of the HIV isolated from HIV-infected persons and AIDS patients on the territory of the CIS]. / Kharakteristika VICh, vydelennykh ot VICh-infitsirovannykh lits i bol'nykh SPIDom na territorii SNG.

HIV strains were isolated from HIV-infected patients and AIDS patients in CIS. A total of 81 HIV isolates were obtained. The isolates were identified by using immunofluorescence and enzyme immunoassay, by determining the activity of reverse transcriptase, immunoblot, electron microscopy, polymerase chain reaction. Of the 81 isolates 79 were HIV-1 and 2 HIV-2. The strains differed in their infectivity, the kinetics of virus antigen accumulation, and the spectrum of susceptible cell lines. The viruses isolated may be assigned as two groups: high and low infective. The biological properties of the national HIV isolates were shown to be similar to the prototype HIV strains isolated elsewhere.

[Electron microscopic research in non-A, non-B viral hepatitis with a fecal-oral mechanism of infection transmission]. / Elektronno-mikroskopicheskie issledovaniia pri virusnom gepatite ni A ni B s fekal'no-oral'nym mekhanizmom peredachi infektsii.

Fecal specimens collected in the early stage of the disease from hepatitis patients classified by serological, clinical, and epidemiological data as non-A-non-B hepatitis were examined by means of cross immune electron microscopy. Extracts of feces from such patients were found to contain full, semi-empty, and empty virus particles without envelopes, 27-30 nm in size, forming immune complexes only in the presence of acute and convalescent sera from patients with this type of hepatitis. The lack of serological crosses with hepatitis A and non-A-non-B viruses isolated in other regions suggests that this virus is antigenically distinct. The final solution requires further studies in which methods of molecular biology of viruses should be used.

[The enhancement of the diagnostic reliability of immunoblot for HIV-1 antibodies by enriching the preparation for immunoblot with the HIV-1 gp120 protein]. / Uvelichenie diagnosticheskoi dostovernosti immunoblota na antitela k VICh-1 za schet obogashcheniia preparata dlia immunoblota belkom gp120 VICh-1.

The diagnostic value of original immunoblot system depends on the availability of enveloped protein GP120 because it is the antibodies to this polypeptide that frequently indicate the running virus infection. This polypeptide is lost during purification of viral material but remains free in culture medium. The extraction of GP120 from culture fluid with immunosorbent based on sepharose 4B with ligated immunoglobulins from HIV-1-infected persons enriched the preparation for immunoblot with proteins increasing its diagnostic value.

[Serological proof of the existence of a variety of non-A, non-B hepatitis with a fecal-oral transmission mechanism]. / Serologicheskie dokazatel'stva sushchestvovaniia raznovidnosti gepatitia ni a, ni B s fekal'no-oral'nym mekhanizmom peredachi.

An outbreak of hepatitis in one of Siberian regions mainly among adults of 19-35 years of age was studied. The epidemiological studies showed the infection to spread by the fecal-oral mechanism of transmission. In 90% of the patients the disease was mild, in 10% of moderate severity; no severe forms or fatal outcomes were observed. This refers also to pregnant women irrespective of the term of pregnancy. Among 78 subjects examined, antibody to hepatitis A virus of the IgM class (anti-HAV-IgM) were detected in 14%, HBsAg in 6%. No rise in titer of total anti-HAV in the convalescent period (within 3-6 months) was observed. Immune electron microscopy studies of fecal extracts from patients revealed immune complexes of virus particles 32-35 nm in size which were formed only with sera from patients in the acute stage and convalescents from this outbreak (to a lower degree). Negative results were obtained with sera containing anti-HAV and antibody to hepatitis non-A-non-B virus (HnAnB) with fecal-oral transmission mode from India, Central Asia, and Afghanistan. These data attest to the distinct nature of this causative agent among HnAnB viruses with the fecal-oral transmission mechanism.

[The immune structure and specific laboratory indices of acute hepatitis A in lower monkeys of the Sukhumi Nursery]. / Immunostruktura i spetsificheskie laboratornye pokazateli ostrogo gepatita A u nizshikh obez'ian Sukhumskogo pitomnika.

The study of the rate of occurrence of hepatitis A (HA) markers among monkeys, both newly arriving and those born and living for long periods (aboriginals) in the Sukhumi farm, was carried out. The rate of detection of antibody to HAV (anti-HAV) was shown to vary from 47% (Papio hamadryas) to 100% (Macaca arctoides and Macaca fascicularis). The level of infection with HAV varied among different groups of the same species: Macaca rhesus from 30% to 96%, Papio hamadryas from 0 to 82%. During a long-term observation period seroconversion to HAV was observed in monkeys arriving to the farm from natural habitats. In M. rhesus upon arrival the anti-HAV were detected in 7% and by the end of the observation period reached 100%, in green monkeys 28% and 92%, respectively. Anti-HAV of the IgM class were detected in animals with seroconversion. In fecal extracts from M. rhesus and in the liver, feces, and intestinal contents of green monkeys HAV was found cross-reacting with simian and human sera containing anti-HAV. The virions isolated from a green monkey liver had a buoyant density in CsCl 1.36 g/cm3, and HAV from feces of a M. rhesus sedimented in the density zone of 1.34 g/cm3.

[Radioimmunoassay for the detection of hepatitis type A virus]. / Radioimmunologicheskii metod vyiavleniia virusa gepatita tipa A.

A solid phase radioimmunoassay variant for type A hepatitis virus detection is presented. The specificity of the method was demonstrated in the competitive neutralization tests.

[Determination of the hepatitis B virus surface antigen (HBsAg) by immunoenzyme analysis]. / Opredelenie poverkhnostnogo antigena virusa gepatita B (HBsAg) metodom immunofermentnogo analiza.

Studies aimed at the development of a variant of ELISA for the determination of hepatitis B virus surface antigen (HBsAg) showed the assay to be most effective when a modified periodate method of conjugation of highly purified horseradish peroxidase with the IgG-fraction of antiserum to HBsAg was used. With the resulting conjugates, the "sandwich"-test on polystyrene solid phase could detect HBsAg in concentrations up to 5 ng/ml which is several thousand-fold higher in sensitivity than counter immunoelectrophoresis, one order of magnitude more sensitive than the passive hemagglutination test, and comparable with the radioimmunoassay (RIA). The specificity of the method was confirmed by positive results of the neutralization test. By this method, HBsAg in the sera of hepatitis B patients was detected as frequently as by the RIA.

[The use of immunoenzyme analysis in studying the etiologic structure of influenza morbidity in 1985-1988]. / Primenenie immunofermentnogo analiza dlia izucheniia étiologicheskoi struktury zabolevaemosti grippom v 1985--1988 gg.

In the periods of epidemic increases in the incidence of influenza in 1985-1988, approximately 600 patients with clinical diagnoses of ARVI and influenza were examined for the presence of viral antigen in nasopharyngeal washings by solid-phase enzyme-immunoassay and for antibody rises in paired blood sera. The use of modified SPEIA and original test sera for influenza type A and B viruses in rapid diagnosis of influenza made it possible to decode the etiology of the epidemic situations in 1985-1988. Influenza A and B virus antigens were detected in a high portion of the examined nasopharyngeal washings. The analysis of the distribution of positive results in the detection of viral antigen in the clinical specimens and in influenza serodiagnosis demonstrated a high correlation of the results (93.9%). The etiological pattern of influenza in recent years is characterized by simultaneous circulation in the human population of influenza A (H1N1, H3N2) and B viruses, as reflected by detection of mixed infections in 1-3% of the cases.

[Properties of an infectious agent isolated from the blood of patients with type B hepatitis and donor-antigencarriers]. / Svoistva infektsionnogo agenta, vydelennogo iz krovi bol'nykh gepatitom tipa B i donorov-antigenonositelei

An infectious agent different from HB-Ag was detected in sera from patients with hepatitis B and donors-carriers of HB-Ag. This agent can be passaged for a long time in the human tissue-chick embryo system and has a density of 1.38--1.40 g/ml in cesium chloride gradient.

[Comparative study of antigens specific for hepatitis B in transfected cell cultures]. / Sravnitel'noe izuchenie antigenov, spetsifichnykh dlia gepatita tipa B, v transfitsirovannykh kletochnykh kul'turakh

A comparative study of antigens detected in the livers of patients with hepatitis B. in the mesonephros of the human tissue--chick embryo system infected with the agents isolated from the blood of hepatitis patients, as well as antigens detectable in cell cultures transfected by the DNA isolated from these tissues was carried out. The results are in favour of the hypothesis on the integrational nature of serum hepatitis.

[Specific immunity in preschool children at high risk of infection with hepatitis A virus]. / Spetsificheskii immunitet u detei preshkol'nogo vozrasta v usloviiakh vysokogo riska infitsirovaniia virusom gepatita A.

The dynamics of postinfection immunity to hepatitis A (HA) in preschool children was studied for 2 years in an area with a high activity of the epidemic process. In primary examinations by radioimmunoassay, anti-HAV were found in 82% of the subjects. The degree of the immunity intensity was found to be markedly variable: in 21% of the children the titre of anti-HAV was 1:10, in 28%-1:40, in 37%-1:160, in 14%-1:640. One year later, in the group of children with titres 1:10-1:40 the antibody level increased from 4- to 64-fold in 66% of the subjects. The rate of increase expressed in mean coefficients of antibody rise were the higher the lower the initial anti-HAV titres were. In the children with the initial titre below 1:10 this value approached 100, and anti-HAV-IgM were found in half of the examined subjects, one third of them having experienced the jaundice form of HA. The children with titres of 1:10-1:40 were found to have both manifest (14% and 11%, respectively) and asymptomatic (only anti-HAV-IgM) forms of HA. In the group of children with titres of antibody of 1:160-1:640 neither manifest HA forms nor anti-NAV-IgM could be detected. In this group the anti-HAV titre increased 4-fold or more in only 9% whereas a decrease was observed in 59% (with titre of 1:160) and in 73% (with titre of 640). No changes in anti-HAV levels were observed in 32% and 18%, respectively. Thus, the results of the study indicate that at low levels of postinfection immunity reinfection with HAV is possible and may run both manifest and asymptomatic course.

[Immune structure and rubella incidence in pregnant women in Moscow]. / Immunostruktura i zabolevaemost' krasnukhoi u beremennykh zhenshchin Moskvy.

The immune structure of the Moscow City population (mostly, pregnant women) in relation to rubella virus antigen. Specific antihemagglutinins were found in 82%-93% of pregnant women, depending on their age. Examination of sera from 207 pregnant women who had contacts with rubella patients demonstrated clinically manifest rubella verified serologically in 9.2%, and asymptomatic form of rubella in 8.6%. By an immunochemical method (treatment of sera with staphylococca reagent) specific rubella IgM were found in 7 (100%) pregnant women who had experienced clinically manifest rubella, and in 6 (14.3%) pregnant women with asymptomatic rubella.

[The detection of antibodies to HIV protein p24 in human blood sera by the method of lanthanide immunofluorescent analysis]. / Vyiavlenie antitel k belku p24 VICh v syvorotkakh krovi cheloveka metodom lantanidnogo immunofliuorestsentnogo analiza.

A competitive time-resolved fluoroimmunoassay (TR-FIA) system for the detection of antibodies to protein p24 of HIV was developed on the basis of monoclonal antibodies. The advantages of this test system over analogous enzyme immunoassay system and commercial test system "Antigen" (USSR) were demonstrated. The newly developed test system of TR-FIA was used for examination of sera from HIV-infected persons.

[Prevalence of genotypes of the hepatitis C virus, circulating in northwestern and central parts of Russia]. / Rasprostranenie genotipov virusa gepatita C, tsirkuliruiushchikh na territoriiakh severo-zapadno i i tsentral;no i chaste i Rossii.

Testing of 90 sera for antibodies to hepatitis C virus (HCV) by genotyping methods resulted in determination of the genotype in 83 cases: 47 cases with 1b genotype, 27 with 1a, 7 with 3a, 1 with 2a, and 1 with 2b genotype. Hence, preliminary data indicate the predominance of HCV genotype 1b among patients with hepatitis C in these regions of Russia.

[The sensitivity of rhesus and cynomolgus macaques to the human hepatitis A virus]. / Chuvstvitel'nost' makak rezusov i iavanskikh makak k virusu gepatita A cheloveka.

Hepatitis A infection characterized by virus excretion in feces, synthesis of specific IgM antibody, increased activity of alanine aminotransferase in the blood serum, and a complex of morphological lesions in the liver typical of acute hepatitis was reproduced in M. fascicularis (M. f.) and Macaca rhesus (M. r.) using 2 strains of hepatitis A virus (HAV) isolated from human patients. The incubation period varying from 9 to 23 (mean 16) days in M. f. and from 12 to 35 (mean 18) days in M. r. in primary infection shortened to 1-12 (mean 10) and 3-6 (mean 5) days in the process of virus passage from monkey to monkey. The disease was observed to run both manifest forms (except jaundice) typical of human HA and an inapparent form in which the level of enzymes remained within normal limits but HAV could be detected in feces, anti-HAV-IgM in the blood serum, and morphologically acute hepatitis in the liver. Immune electron microscopy of both the initial material and in monkey feces at the levels of all three passages revealed complexes consisting of spherical viral particles 27-29 nm in size coated with antibodies. The immune complexes formed upon addition to the fecal extracts under study of IgG isolated both from human convalescent sera and from sera of experimentally infected monkeys collected in the acute stage of the illness.

[Distribution and features of infection with hepatitis viruses B and C during hemodialysis treatment]. / Rasprostranennost' i osobennosti infitsirovaniia virusami gepatitov B i C v usloviiakh lecheniia gemodializom.

The prevalence of hepatitides B and C was evaluated in 140 patients treated by hemodialysis. Almost half of patients (48%) had acute hepatitis B which completely resolved. Acute hepatitis B was detected in 6% in the course of observation. In 6% chronic hepatitis B was diagnosed, and in 24% chronic hepatitis C. A combination of hepatitides B and C was diagnosed in 2% patients. Only 12% patients were not infected with hepatitis. Genotype 1b predominated in patients with HCV infection (73%); genotypes 1a, 21, and 3a were equally incident (9%). Replication of HBV and HCV in patients with uremia under conditions of hemodialysis was detected in 83 and 86% patients, respectively. Relationship between HBV and HCV infection and the duration of hemodialysis treatment was analyzed. The percentage of non-infected patients persistently decreased, and the time course of HBV and HCV infection was different. Infection with HBV after the beginning of hemodialysis occurred sooner (16.0 +/- 4.0 months) than with HCV (30.2 +/- 4.6 months, p < 0.04). The levels of SGPT and SGOT in patients with various manifestations of HBV and HCV infection treated by hemodialysis were followed up.

[Regularities in the spread of hepatitis C virus and its genotypes in Russian and countries within the former USSR]. / Zakonomernosti rasprostraneniia virusa gepatita C i ego genotipov v Rossii i stranakh SNG.

The incidence of markers of hepatitis C virus (HCV in the blood of 4216 normal subjects living in the European Russia (Northern, North-Western, Central, Central Chernozem, Volga-Vyatka, Volga, and North Caucasian regions), in the Urals, in Siberia (Eastern Siberian region), in the Far East, and in Monogolia is assessed. The incidence of antibodies to HCV varied from 0.7% in the Central region to 3.8% in the Central Chernozem and 10.7% in Mongolia. HCV genotyping (identification of 1a, 1b, 2a, 2b, and 3a genotypes) was performed using 469 RNA of HCV-positive sera of donors and patients collected in Russia, Moldova, Turkmenistan, and Mongolia. The 1b genotype predominated everywhere (68.9%), its incidence being the highest in Moldova (96%). Unclassifiable variants of HCV were found in 28 (6%) of sera. The regularities of HCV genotypes circulation in the European Russia were the same as in other European countries, whereas their prevalence in Eastern Russia was rather like that in China or Japan. The prevalence of genotypes did not depend on the clinical manifestations of diseases caused by HCV.

[Hepatitis A foci in children's collectives studied by using clinico-biochemical, virological and serological diagnostic methods]. / Izuchenie ochagov gepatita A v detskikh kollektivakh s primeneniem kliniko-biokhimicheskikh, virusologicheskikh i serologicheskikh metodov diagnostiki.

In 4 foci of hepatitis A (HA) at children's institutions in Moscow 218 children and 30 staff members were examined. Simultaneously with clinico-biochemical studies, specific IgM and IgG in the blood and hepatitis A virus (HAV) antigen in feces were determined by radioimmunoassay. Different forms of HA were detected in 29.1% of children in kindergartens, 19.4% of school children and 3.3% of adults, which was due to great differences in the size of the immune stratum among them (IgG to HAV was detected in 8-10% of children aged 3-6 years and in 83% of adults). In 2/3 of children with HA in the foci the disease was not accompanied by jaundice, 1/5 of them having the inapparent form of this infection. In 45% of the patients HAV antigen was detected in feces, irrespective of the form of HA, 5-14 days before the appearance of hyperfermentemia, and in 2/3 of them this antigen was also detected during the first 6 days after that. Simultaneously with an increase in aminotransferase activity, all of the HA patients showed the presence of specific IgM in their blood.