[Effects of temperature and duration of storage of citrated blood on chemiluminescence of its phagocytes]. / Vliianie temperatury i srokov khraneniia tsitratnoi krovi na khemiliuminestsentsiiu ee fagotsitov.

Relationship between chemiluminescent response of whole citrate capillary blood of normal subjects, patients with osteoarthrosis deformans (n = 21) and with systemic lupus erythematosus (n = 37) and the temperature and duration of storage of blood samples was under study. Luminol-dependent chemiluminescence was induced by barium sulfate microcrystals and recorded as a curve. Chemiluminescence intensity was found to increase if the samples were stored longer than 1 h, this increase being reliably higher in the patients with systemic lupus erythematosus than in normal subjects or patients with osteoarthrosis. Capacity of citrate blood phagocytes to chemiluminescent response is partially preserved after 24 h storage on the cold, but is commonly manifest only after an hour's adaptation to room temperature. The following phases are characteristic of the chemiluminescent response curve in the majority of cases: latent (up to 1.5 = 4 h), an abrupt rise, and slow decrease.

[The mechanism of the action of laser therapy in rheumatoid arthritis]. / K mekhanizmu deistviia lazernoi terapii pri revmatoidnom artrite.

48 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) were exposed to He-Ne laser radiation. Due to the course of the above laser therapy the patients displayed reduced levels of E and F2 alpha prostaglandins, a trend to a decrease of lipid peroxidation products, glycosaminoglycans and collagen-peptidase activity. This evidences for suppression of the inflammation and destruction in the connective tissue. Catalase activity in red cells enhanced. The authors point to high efficacy of low-intensity He-Ne laser in moderate rheumatoid inflammation.

[Free-radical oxidation in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and anemia]. / Sostoianie svobodnoradikal'nogo okisleniia u bol'nykh revmatoidnym artritom s anemiei.

Antioxidant system was evaluated in 70 RA patients. When the latter had anemia, their antioxidant system underwent changes involving primarily levels of SH groups, peroxide hemolysis index and SOD activity. There appeared a correlation between the shifts in the antioxidant system, anemia severity the disease activity and disturbances in iron metabolism.

[The effect of intra-articular emoxipin injections on the course of immune arthritis in rabbits]. / Vliianie vnutrisustavnykh in''ektsii émoksipina na techenie immunnogo artrita u krolikov.

Immune arthritis in sensitized rabbits was induced by intraarticular injection of bovine serum albumin. The development of the arthritis was accompanied by an increase in ESR, a rise of the level of serum CRP, caeruloplasmin and CIC. A chemiluminescent response of the whole blood phagocytes to stimulation by barium sulfate crystals, serum beta-glucuronidase and red cell superoxide dismutase activity enhanced, plasma malone dialdehyde content rose, serum SH groups diminished.

[Morphometric evaluation of the microcirculatory bed of the synovial membrane in rheumatoid arthritis using automatic image analyzer]. / Morfometricheskaia otsenka sosudov mikrotsirkuliatornogo rusla sinovial'noi obolochki pri revmatoidnom artrite s primeneniem avtomaticheskogo analizatora izobrazhenii.

Automatic analysis of the image makes objective assessment of the morphological picture of pathological processes much easier. The authors subjected only vascular changes to such an objective assessment. The picture of rheumatoid synovitis as a whole, i.e. including changes in their layers, nature and extent of infiltration can be subjected to the same analysis. This requires elaboration of more intricate programs or a more complex procedure of the analysis with due regard for all sings reflecting exudative and proliferative processes in all the components of the synovial tissue.

[The semiquantitative characteristics of the ultrastructural changes in the vessels of the microcirculatory bed of the synovial membrane in different clinical variants of rheumatoid arthritis]. / Polukolichestvennaia kharakteristika ul'trastrukturnykh izmenenii sosudov mikrotsirkuliatornogo rusla sinovial'noi obolochki pri razlichnykh klinicheskikh variantakh revmatoidnogo artrita.

Electron microscopy was used to make semiquantitative evaluation of lesions in the microvessels of the synovial membrane in patients with rheumatoid synovitis of different duration, different activity of the disease, joint and systemic form of rheumatoid arthritis, in seronegative and seropositive tests of rheumatoid patients. The synovial biopsy from patients with posttraumatic arthropathy without any clinical and morphological manifestations of synovitis served as control. Frequency of different ultrastructural changes in the vessel wall was statistically evaluated. Significant differences in the submicroscopic picture of microcirculatory lesions in immediate and late rheumatoid synovitis were discovered. Frequency and depth of destructive changes in the vessel wall persisted in the increased activity and appearance of systemic manifestations of the disease.

[Eosinophilic fasciitis (Shulman's syndrome)]. / Eozinofil'nyi fastsiit (sindrom Shul'mana).

The method of optic and electron microscopy was used to examine the skin, muscle and fascia in 8 patients with eosinophilic fasciitis aged from 20 to 57 years with the disease duration from 6 months to 3.5 years. When examining biopsy samples the authors paid special attention to the state of collagenic structure, cellular elements of the skin connective tissue, fascia and intermuscular layers, changes in the cross-striated muscle adjacent to the fascia, composition of cellular infiltrates as well as to the state of vascular microcirculation. It has been shown that with the given disease one can observe exudative-infiltrative processes with alteration of the vascular bed in the fascia and epimysium and the reaction of the microcirculatory bed of the skin and muscle with subsequent outcome into sclerosis at later periods of the disease. But the morphological data allow exclusion of the diffuse nature of microcirculation derangement in eosinophilic fasciitis. Morphogenesis of vascular lesions in this disease differs from such in scleroderma that suggests two different diseases.

[The clinical value of determining beta-glucuronidase activity in the cells and blood serum of patients with systemic scleroderma]. / Klinicheskoe znachenie opredeleniia aktivnosti beta-gliukuronidazy v kletkakh i cyvorotke krovi bol'nykh sistemnoi sklerodermiei.

The spectrophotometric method was used to determine the activity of beta-glucuronidase (BGU) in the cells (neutrophils, mononuclear cells, thrombocytes) in the blood serum of patients with systemic sclerodermia (SSD). The authors revealed a synchronous change in the activity of BGU in all the cells and in the blood serum, and also a decrease in the activity of the enzyme in the concentration of protein in neutrophils, it being very significant in patients with SSD accompanied by trophic changes. There was a direct relationship between the activity of BGU in the blood serum and the level of C-reactive protein and an inverse one between the activity of BGU and the content of circulating immune complexes in the blood. The level of BGU in the blood serum reflects not only the activity of the inflammatory process but also the markedness of trophic changes in patients with SSD.

[The collagenolytic and general proteolytic activity in synovial fluid cells in rheumatoid arthritis]. / Issledovanie kollagenoliticheskoi i obshchei proteoliticheskoi aktivnosti v kletkakh sinoval'noi zhidkosti pri revmatoidnom artrite.

The authors made a comparative study of collagenolytic (CA) and neutral caseinolytic activity (NCA) in the cells of the synovial fluid (CSF) depending on the peculiarities of the course of rheumatoid process and also on the duration of the disease prior to and after treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). It has been shown that proteinase is one of the factors of RA pathogenesis. The level of enzymes directly depended on the activity of synovitis. The data obtained show that with a rapidly progressing RA and also with the III degree of the disease activity, CA in CSF were twice as high as those observed with a slowly progressing RA and also with the I-II degree of RA activity. The treatment conducted promoted a rise in CA, NCA in CSF. The possible mechanism of these processes is being discussed.

[Importance of beta-glucuronidase activity and glycosaminoglycan concentration in synovial fluid in patients with rheumatoid arthritis in estimating local inflammation]. / Znachenie aktivnosti beta-gliucuronidazy i kontsentratsii glikozaminoglikanov v sinovial'noi zhidkosti u bol'nykh revmatoidnym artritom v otsenke mestnoi vospalitel'noi aktivnosti.

In 30 patients with rheumatoid arthritis, the activity of beta-glucuronidase and the content of sulfated and non-sulfated glycosaminoglycans (GAG) were measured in synovial fluid (SF) and in the cells of SF. It has been established that as the local inflammation increases, the activity of the enzyme and the content of sulfated GAG in SF also rise. This is accompanied by simultaneous reduction of beta-glucuronidase activity in the cells and by the drop of the hyaluronic acid content in SF.

[Glycosaminoglycans and beta-glucuronidase in peripheral blood cells and biological fluids of patients with rheumatoid arthritis]. / Glikozaminoglikany i beta-gliukuronidaza kletok perifericheskoi krovi i biologicheskikh zhidkostei pri revmatoidnom artrite.

Content of glycosaminoglycans and beta-glucuronidase activity were measured in leukocytes, blood serum and urine of patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Concentration of glycosaminoglycans was increased in blood serum and urine of the patients. The most distinct increase as compared with healthy persons in content of these substances was found in leukocytes of the patients with joint form of rheumatoid arthritis. Activity of beta-glucuronidase was also elevated in cells of peripheral blood, whereas content of protein was decreased in these cells. The enzymatic activity was reduced in the fraction of polymorphonuclear leukocytes of the patients as shown by estimation of the activity per 10(6) cells after fractionation using the Ficoll-verografin procedure. Deficiency of beta-glucuronidase activity in polymorphonuclear leukocytes appears to be among the factors responsible for excess of glycosaminoglycans in blood serum and urine of the patients as well as for chronic inflammation under conditions of rheumatoid arthritis.

[Clinical value of determining beta-glucuronidase and glycosaminoglycans in blood cells and biological fluids in patients with rheumatoid arthritis]. / Klinicheskoe znachenie opredeleniia beta-gliukuronidazy i glikozaminoglikanov v kletkakh krovi i biologicheskikh zhidkostiakh u bol'nykh revmatoidnym artritom.

Patients with proved rheumatoid arthritis (RA) demonstrated changes in the activity of beta-glucuronidase and the concentration of glycosaminoglycans (GAG) in the blood formed elements and biological fluids showing correlation with peculiarities of the RA course. The content of beta-glucuronidase and GAG in biological fluids well reflected the activity of an inflammatory process. Significant differences in the level of beta-glucuronidase and GAG in blood cells of patients with the articular type of RA and systemic manifestations of disease were revealed.

[Morphofunctional changes in the microcirculatory bed of the synovial membrane in antigen-induced arthritis]. / Morfofunktsional'nye izmeneniia mikrotsirkuliatornogo rusla sinovial'noi obolochki pri antigennom artrite.

Ultrastructural changes of synovial capillary and venule wall have been investigated in rabbits with antigen-induced arthritis, with the permeability of microcirculatory bed determined using 99mTc pertechnetate. The correlation between the incidence of ultrastructural microvascular damages in exudative phase of arthritis and the increased permeability has been established. Ultrastructural changes occurring in proliferative phase of arthritis are considered as adaptive to conditions of increased permeability.

[Clinico-morphological characteristics and working classification of kidney diseases in patients with systemic scleroderma]. / Kliniko-morfologicheskaia kharakteristika i rabochnaia klassifikatsiia porazheniia pochek u bol'nykh sistemnoi sklerodermiei.

Based on a study of 110 patients with systemic scleroderma (SSD) (74 had involved and 36 uninvolved kidneys) the authors provide the clinico-functional and morphological characteristics of renal lesions and the working classification of sclerodermic nephropathy (SN). The two basic variants of SN were recognized: acute and chronic. The latter one was subdivided into clinical, moderate and pronounced SN. A correlation was revealed between the functional (glomerular filtration lowering) and ultrastructural (reticulation of endotheliocytes and thickening of the basal membrane of the glomerular capillaries) signs evidencing derangement of the microcirculatory bed. Morphological examination of the kidneys disclosed alterations that mirror the complex pathogenesis of SSD: derangement of the microcirculatory bed, immunopathological disorders, activation of connective tissue components.