[The differentiation of the antigens making up the circulating immune complexes]. / Differentsiatsiia antigenov v sostave tsirkuliruiushchikh immunnykh kompleksov.

A simple method for the detection and analysis of circulating immune complexes (CIC) in specimens of biological fluids is proposed. The method was approved in the examination of patients with chronic infections caused by mycoplasmas and Streptococcus pyogenes L-forms. The method made it possible to diagnose infectious diseases accompanied by the formation of immune complexes and to study the dynamics of the processes of the accumulation and elimination of CIC in the course of the disease. Thus, the detection rate of specific antigens (Ag) incorporated into CIC in patients with mycoplasmal pneumonia exceeded 90 %. In children aged up to 1 year this rate decreased to 40 %. The diagnostic value of the determination of specific Ag incorporated into CIC was shown in streptococcal infections caused by S.pyogenes L-forms, viz. in frequently relapsing erysipelas, as well as in subacute rheumatism and in infectious allergic myocarditis.

[Urogenital mycoplasmosis and Mycoplasma carriage during pregnancy and in inflammatory processes of the genitalia in workers in the electronics industry]. / Urogenital'nyi mikoplazmoz i mikoplazmonositel'stvo pri beremennosti i vospalitel'nykh protsessakh genitalii u rabotnits élektronnoi promyshlennosti.

To find out the spread of urogenital Mycoplasma carriership urogenital mycoplasmosis (UGM) among women living and working under similar conditions and making up risk groups with respect to these infections, pregnant women, gynecological patients and clinically healthy women were specially surveyed. As revealed in this survey, UGM and Mycoplasma carriership were found in clinically healthy female workers significantly more often than in other similar groups of the same region. In the group of pregnant women the occurrence of Mycoplasma carriership and UGM reached 90%. In cases of sterility the facts of asymptomatic Mycoplasma carriership and UGM were registered.

[The laboratory diagnosis of mycoplasmosis and ureaplasmosis in urological and gynecological patients]. / Laboratornaia diagnostika mikoplazmoza i ureaplazmoza u urologicherskikh i ginekologicheskikh bol'nykh.

The survey of 630 patients with urogenital pathology, habitual miscarriage and sterility revealed that they were mostly (91-100%) infected with M. hominis and/or U.urealyticum. This fact indicates the necessity of organizing the epidemiological control of these infections. It is expedient to use the complex of laboratory methods for diagnosing these infections through the effectiveness of such methods may vary in different nosological forms. Thus, colpitis and nonspecific urethritis were shown to be most effectively diagnosed by the serological methods.

[The persistence of Ureaplasma and its arthritogenic action in the experimental infection of rabbits]. / Persistentsiia ureaplazm i ikh artritogennoe deistvie pri éksperimental'nom infitsirovanii krolikov.

In the experimental intraperitoneal infection of rabbits with U. urealyticum, serotype VIII, transitory polyarthritis with immunomorphological characteristics different from those of human rheumatoid arthritis has been shown to develop in the animals. The pathological process develops simultaneously with Ureaplasma infection. U. urealyticum persists in the body of infected rabbits during 12 weeks of observation. The mechanism of the resorption process in the bone tissue of joints, running similarly to periosteocytic osteolysis, is discussed.

[Detection of Mycoplasma infection in the postpartum period]. / Vyiavlenie mikoplazmennoi infektsii u zhenshchin v poslerodovom periode.

The comparative results of microbiological and serological testing of parturients with uneventful and complicated course of the postpartum period were presented. The data justified the etiological role of M. hominis and U. urealyticum in the development of postpartum complications.

[Mycoplasma and Ureaplasma infections in chronic genital inflammatory processes, abortion and infertility]. / Mikoplazmoz i ureaplazmoz pri khronicheskikh vospalitel'nykh protsessakh genitalii, nevynashivanii beremennosti i besplodii.

A total of 43 females including 13 with sterility, 23 with habitual miscarriage and 7 pregnant women with a history of chronic inflammatory diseases were examined by using various tools to detect their Mycoplasma and Ureaplasma infections. The females had been studied for bacterial and chlamydial infections. Forty of them turned out to be infected with M. hominis and U. urealyticum. In some cases, sanation led to the improvement of the patients' status, the occurrence of pregnancy, its favourable course and termination in subjects with sterility and habitual miscarriage. The value of the findings is discussed in the paper.

[Arthritic pathogenicity of Mycoplasma and Mycoplasma arthritis in humans]. / Artritogennost' mikoplazm i mikoplazmennye artrity cheloveka.

The review deals with Mycoplasma-induced arthritis. It provides the author's own results and the data available in the literature, which suggest that "arthritogenic" Mycoplasma make an etiological contribution to the development of human rheumatic arthritis. It also discusses some well-known and hypothetic mechanisms responsible for the pathogenesis of Mycoplasma-induced arthritis.

[Elaboration of clinico-laboratory criteria of the Mycoplasma variants of rheumatoid arthritis in children]. / K razrabotke kliniko-laboratornykh kriteriev mikoplazmennykh variantov revmatoidnogo artrita u detei.

To develop clinical and laboratory criteria for the differential diagnosis of Mycoplasma-induced arthritides in 78 children with documented rheumatic arthritis (RA), a comprehensive study involving microbiological, immunological, and clinical tools has been performed. Some specific signs of the clinical course of Mycoplasma-induced RA have been defined. However, a differential diagnosis of Mycoplasma-induced arthritis may be made on the basis of a comprehensive study of a patient.

[The infection of monkeys with Ureaplasma urealyticum serovar VIII]. / Infitsirovanie obez'ian Ureaplasma urealyticum VIII serovara.

The possibility of modeling chronic infection on monkeys by the injection of the culture of U. urealyticum, serotype VIII, was shown. The infection of monkeys with these microorganisms introduced in a single intraperitoneal injection resulted in the generalization of the process, which was manifested by the persistence and reproduction of the infective agent in the organs and blood of the animals for as long as 6 months (the term of observation). Lymphoid hyperplasia in the organs of immunogenesis and transitory immunomorphological reaction in the tissues of some organs of the urogenital system were noted. The localization of infective agents in some endocrine glands was not accompanied by disturbances in their function.

[Mycoplasma and rheumatoid arthritis in children]. / Mikoplazmy i revmatoidnyi artrit u detei.

A microbiological and serologic investigation was carried out in 80 children with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in order to detect Mycoplasma and Ureaplasma as possible causative agents of RA. The antigen of Mycoplasma in question is shown to be detectable in 42.6% of cases more commonly as part of an association of 2 or more species. M. arthritidis and U. urealyticum are the more common findings. Anti-mycoplasma antibodies were detected in 25.7% of the examined children. The role of these Mycoplasma species in RA is discussed, as is the need for etiotropic treatment of mycoplasma rheumatoid arthritis.

[Mycoplasma arthritis in man and mechanisms of its pathogenesis]. / Mikoplazmennye artrity cheloveka i nekotorye mekhanizmy ikh patogeneza.

Possible etiologic contribution of mycoplasma to human rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is supported by their recovery from synovial fluid of RA patients, as well as Mycoplasma antigens and antibodies detection in the bloodstream. The detectability of free antigens of M. arthritidis (Ma) and M. fermentans (Mf) in the sera of patients was 22.4%, and that of antibodies against those, 52.7%. Considerable difference between the detectability of Mycoplasma antigens and antibodies can be attributed to the fact that the bulk of the antigens form part of immune complexes and cannot be detected by serologic tests. Mitogenic effect of arthritogenic Mycoplasma and their ability to produce a cytotoxic effect on various cells, including lymphocytes, appears to be a mechanism of immune process developing in association with human RA. A study of immunobiological properties of individual Ma and Mf cell components has shown that a protein factor translocated into the culture medium is responsible for mitogenic action. Ma cytotoxicity in respect of target cells is related to its cytoplasmatic membrane. Mf produces a factor, acting directly on rat lymphocytes; its synthesis is apparently taking place on the cell membrane.

[Serologic indices of the persistence of L forms of group A streptococci in patients with rheumatism]. / Serologicheskie pokazateli persistentsii L-form streptokokka gruppy A u bol'nykh revmatizmom.

A study of 1343 rheumatic patients has shown that during acute disease high titres of antibodies to streptococcus L forms were detected in 76%, and were declining rapidly with clinical improvement. In protracted rheumatism, high antibody titres were maintained constantly in 70%; those were mostly IgM, incapable of blocking L-form growth. The antigen of streptococcus L form was only detected in 18-25% of the patients, obviously because it was bound to circulating immune complexes in 64%. It is suggested that streptococcal L forms are capable of prolonged persistence in the body, affecting the course of disease in rheumatic patients; possible persistence of L forms as part of immune complexes is of particular importance.

[Ultrastructure of the L forms of Streptococcus group B]. / Ul'trastrukrua L-form streptokokka gruppy B.

The submicroscopic organization of the L-forms of beta-hemolytic streptococci of group B has been studied in the course of their cultivation. The L-forms of group B streptococci differ from those of group A streptococci by a higher growth rate. On the submicroscopic level, the activity of ATP-ase has been revealed on the internal side of the cytoplasmic membrane. Regularities in the localization of intramembranous particles sized 6-18 nm in the hydrophobic area of the membrane have been established by means of freezing-etching. With the adequate methods of fixation, the continuous three-layer structure of the cytoplasmic membrane can be determined in all elements of the L-form population.

[Detection of microbial variants of Salmonella typhi in the bone marrow of typhoid patients and carriers]. / Vyiavlenie mikrobnykh variantov Salmonella typhi v kostnom mozge bol'nykh briushnym tifom i bakterionositelei.

The immunofluorescence test with the use of antisera to S. typhi and its L-forms permits the detection of the infective agent in bone marrow smears. This diagnostic method is particularly important in cases of carrier state in the latent phase and in differential diagnosis. As revealed in this study, the microbial variants of S. typhi, reacting with antiserum to its L-forms, are present in the bone marrow of carriers. They are localized, as a rule, on the membranes of lymphoid and erythroid cells, which probably leads to the formation of rosettes.

[Comparative biological characteristics of the L-form of Streptococcus group A and B]. / Sravnitel'naia biologicheskaia kharakteristika L-form streptokokkov grupp A i B.

The comparative study of the biological and serological properties of the L-forms of streptococci, groups A and B, has been made. Their morphological similarity on the level of light microscopy has been demonstrated. The use of ring precipitation, gel diffusion, passive hemagglutination, aggregate hemagglutination, as well as the immunoferritin technique, has made it possible to establish the presence of specific antigens in the L-forms of streptococci, groups A and B. Serological cross reactions are negligible. The future development of a diagnosticum for the specific indication of these antigens is proposed. The fact of the presence of specific antigens in the L-forms of streptococci in comparison with the initial streptococcal strains has been confirmed.

[Antibiotic resistance of revertant cultures of Streptococcus group A and of unclassified streptococci isolated from the blood of rheumatism patients]. / Ustoichivost' k antibiotikam kul'tur-revertantov streptokokka gruppy A i negruppiruemykh streptokokkov, vydelennykh iz krovi bol'nykh revmatizmom.

Sensitivity of one strain of group A Streptococcus, its L-form and revertant was tested to 7 antibiotics and it was observed that the revertant was highly resistant to beta-lactam antibiotics and lincomycin, tolerant to ristomycin and had a high value of MBcC/MIC for erythromycin and tetracycline. Testing of other analogous revertant strains showed the same results. In streptococcal strains freshly isolated from blood of patients with rheumatism and resistant to some antibiotics there were recorded by electron microscopy heterogeneity of their population and presence in it of a significant number of cells with altered (unevenly thickened) cell walls and cells with microcapsules on the cell wall surface characteristic of the revertants. In vivo occurrence of streptococcal revertants may be the cause of their antibiotic resistance which obviously requires correction of the rational antibiotic therapy schemes.