[Assessment of the safety, tolerability and effectiveness of first Russian generic aceclofenac in patients with undifferentiated peripheral inflammatory arthritis].

AIM: To evaluate the effectiveness and tolerability of the drug in patients with undifferentiated peripheral inflammatory arthritis (UPIA). MATERIALS AND METHODS: We observed 60 patients (39 women and 21 men) met G. Hazlewood et al., UPIA criteria, 2011. Patients were divided into 3 groups: with monoarthritis, oligoarthritis and polyarthritis. They took aceclofenac 100 mg twice day for 3 weeks. RESULTS: We noted significant decreasing in pain level according to visual analogue scale: in patients with monoarthritis by 69.3 mm (p0.001); in oligoarthritis group by 47.5 mm (p0.001), in patients with polyarthritis by 30 mm (p0.001). The life quality by the EQ-5D-5L index was improved too in all groups from 0.616 to 0.829 (p0.001). The satisfaction with the therapy was: in monoarthritis patients (80% of patients and 93% of doctors noted good results), in oligoarthritis group (53% and 39% accordingly) and polyarthritis (74% and 64% respectively). We suppose the difference was due to the fact that mono- and oligoarthritis patients suffered from initial forms of seronegative spondylarthropathy, in which the effectiveness of NSAIDs is traditionally higher; polyarthritis patients probably had debut of rheumatoid arthritis. Adverse events of therapy were mild. We noted gastrointestinal tract symptoms (dyspepsia) and increased ALT in 10 patients and increased blood pressure in 1 patient. The symptoms did not require discontinuation of therapy. Сonclusion. Post-registration observational study of first Russian generic aceclofenac (Alental, Vertex, Russia) was conducted. In UPIA patients aceclofenac therapy was most effective in mono- and oligoarthritis patients. The first Russian generic aceclofenac (Alental, Vertex, Russia) has good efficacy, tolerability and safety and can be recommended for arthritis treatment.

[Novel hepatokine in rheumatoid arthritis laboratory diagnostics.]

Fetuin-A (α2-Heremans-Schmid glycoprotein, AHSG) is a glycoprotein mainly secreted by hepar in adults. It was shown, that AHSG is a positive as well as a negative acute-phase protein with pro- and anti-inflammatory effects. We studied serum levels of an AHSG in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and healthy controls in order to determine its role in the diagnostics of this disease. We measured serum levels of AHSG in 110 patients with RA and 30 healthy controls. To determine RA phenotype we measured rheumatoid factor and anticitrullinated protein antibodies. All patients were examined by the rheumatologist to identify clinical features of RA. Serum CRP and ESR were measured to assess inflammation. Mean level of AHSG in group with RA was 765,67±120,66 (Hereinafter M±σ), which was significantly lower than of healthy controls (812,76,2±76,2 µg/ml; p=0,0437). Insignificant difference of mean levels of AHSG was observed between men and women with RA (p=0,424). The reference ranges for AHSG measured from the healty controls were 653,55-972,19 ug/ml (M±2σ). We studied mean levels of AHSG according to the clinical and immunological manifestations of RA. AHSG levels were significantly lower within patients positive on ACCP, with moderate or high disease activity, with 2nd, 3rd and 4th x-ray stages and functional classes, with erosivity, extra-articular manifestations and complications. The moderate negative correlation was observed between AHSG level and CRP (r=-0,3146; p<0,001), ESR (r=-0,344; p<0,001) and DAS28 (r=-0,4334; p<0,001). In summary, AHSG mean levels were significantly different in patients with RA. It can be used to improve the diagnostics of RA activity, severity, extra-articular manifestations and complications.

Effects of ionic liquid as additive and the pH of the mobile phase on the retention factors of amino benzoic acids in RP-HPLC.

As an organic salt, ionic liquids are widely used as new solvent media. In this paper, three positional isomers, such as o-amino benzoic acid, m-amino benzoic acid, and p-amino benzoic acid are separated with four different ionic liquids as additives to the mobile phase using reversed-phase (RP) high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Amino benzoic acids are biologically active substances; the p-isomer is present in a group of water-soluble vitamins and is widely known as a sunscreen agent. The ionic liquids used are 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate, 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate, 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium methylsulfate, and 1-octyl-3-methylimidazolium methylsulfate. The effects of the length of the alkyl group on the imidazolium ring and its counterion, the concentrations of the ionic liquid, and the effect of the pH of the mobile phase on the retention factor of the amino benzoic acid isomers are studied. Separation with the ionic liquid in the eluent was better than the separation without the ionic liquid. The pH mainly affected the retention and elution order of the solutes in RP-HPLC.

[Results of epidemiological surveys for iodine-deficiency diseases within the framework of the Thyromobile project].

In the Russian Federation, there are virtually all areas whose population is at risk for iodine-deficiency disorders. During 2003, we made epidemiological studies of iodine-deficiency disorders within the framework of the Thyromobile project supported by the pharmaceutical company "Nycomed"in 12 regions of the Russian Federation. A total of 2673 individuals were examined. According to the WHO recommendations, the study covered prepubescent children aged 8 to 11 years. It involved physical examination, thyroid ultrasound study, blood sampling for ioduria, intelligence test, and sodium chloride iodine assay. The findings indicated that the tension of goiter endemia corresponded to the level of iodine deficiency, which was in the range of mild iodine deficiency, in most regions other than some districts of the Volgograd, Astrakhan, Nizhni Novgorod regions where the median of ioduria in schoolchildren corresponded severe iodine deficiency. The studies indicated that the population's use ofiodinated salt is not up to the recommendations of international expert organizations. Intelligence tests revealed an 11-18% IQ decrease in children from virtually all study areas. According to the strategy of iodine deficiency control in the Russian Federation, it is advisable to use iodinated salt for mass prevention and drugs containing a physicological dose of iodine for group and individual prevention.

A novel vacuolar protein encoded by SSU21 / MCD4 is involved in cell wall integrity in yeast.

Using a screening procedure for obtaining yeast strains with enhanced ability to secrete heterologous protein, we have isolated a mutant with alteration of the cell wall structure. This mutant displayed strong decrease in cell wall mannoprotein content, which was not accompanied by decreased glycosylation of secreted proteins. The mutation defines a gene, designated SSU21(identical to previously characterized MCD4), which encodes a novel vacuolar protein. SSU21 is probably connected to the cell integrity protein kinase C-mediated pathway, since ssu21 and pkc1Delta double mutant is synthetic lethal. To our knowledge, this is the first example of a yeast vacuolar protein whose alteration results in a cell wall defect.