[Comparative analysis of genetic variability of White Sea Cod (Gadus morhua marisalbi) at allozyme and microsatellite markers].

Variability of cod spawning and feeding schools from Kandalaksha Bay of the White Sea, was examined at six allozyme and eight microsatellite loci. The degree of genetic differentiation at allozyme loci constituted 0 = 0.36% [95% bootstrap interval 0.0458; 0.6743]. The differentiation estimates obtained using microsatellite markers were higher, 0 = 1.33% [0.057; 3.11]. It was demonstrated that the level of genetic diversity in the White Seacod was lower than that established for the Atlantic cod from Barents Sea using the same set of al- lozyme and microsatellite markers. The genetic data obtained support the opinion that the White Sea cod is a reproductively independent group formed as a result of the Holocene dispersal of Atlantic cod.

[Analysis of microsatellite loci variations in herring (Clupea pallasii marisalbi) from the White Sea].

The genetic diversity among spawning groups of herring from different parts of the White Sea was assessed using ten microsatellite loci. All loci were polymorphic with the expected heterozygosity estimates varying in the range of 12.7-94.1% (mean was 59.5%). The degree of genetic differentiation displayed by White Sea herring was statistically significant (theta = 2.03%). The level of pairwise genetic differentiation F(ST) was 0-0.085, and it was statistically significant in most of the comparison pairs between the herring samples. A hierarchical analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) revealed the statistically significant differentiation of White Sea herring. 96.59% genetic variation was found within the samples and 3.41% variation was found among the populations. The main component of interpopulation diversity (1.85%) falls at the differences between two ecological forms of herring, spring- and summer-spawning. Within the spring-spawning form, the presence of local stocks in Kandalaksha Gulf, Onega Bay, and Dvina Bay was demonstrated.

[Preliminary data on variation of four microsatellite loci in Pacific herring Clupea pallasii].

Variation of microsatellite loci Cpa 10, Cpa 113, Cpa4, and Cpa7 was for the first time examined in Pacific-type herring Clupea pallasii from the White Sea (CI. pallasii marisalbi), the Kara Sea (CI. pallasii suworowi), the Sea of Okhotsk, and Lake Nerpich'e, Kamchatka Bay, northwestern Pacific (CI. pallasiipallasii). All loci exhibitedhigh genetic diversity. The estimates of expected heterozygosity varied from 41.5 to 95.6% (mean, 82%). The level of pairwise genetic differentiation Fst at all microsatellite loci varied from 0.005 to 0.076 (0.019, on average) and t was statistically significant (P < 0.05) in most of the pairs of herring samples. Estimates of genetic differentiation among the herring of one subspecies were lower than between the groups belonging to different subspecies.

[Pathogenetic mechanisms of the so-called astronauts' anemia]. / Mekhanizmy patogeneza tak nazyvaemoi anemii astronavtov.

The authors analyze the literature data published in the last 20 years on clinical, laboratory, physiological, hematological and biochemical evidence obtained at preflight and postflight examinations of astronauts and experimental animals who spent 5-12 months in space. After space flights the astronauts exhibited a noticeable decrease in red cell mass, in reticulocyte count, hemoglobin and erythropoietin levels (associated with hypochromia and hyposideremia). This condition of erythron in microgravity is termed astronauts' anemia. The authors consider such anemia as an adaptive erythrocytopenic microgravity syndrome with complicated pathogenesis and suggest its model in the form of acquired transitory thalassemia.

[Indicators of iron metabolism in pregnant women and infants]. / Pokazateli metabolizma zheleza u beremennykh zhenshchin i detei rannego vozrasta.

Iron metabolism parameters were studied in pregnant women in time course of trimesters depending on the pregnancy character and in newborns and infants in relation to the antenatal period. The dynamic study of serum and erythrocytic ferritins has confirmed the expediency of iron therapy during pregnancy for prevention of iron deficiency in infants. Differences detected in the rate of using iron reserves by infants of the first year of life depending on the antenatal period character have necessitated an individual approach to preventive iron therapy.

[Transferrin iron-binding capacity in hypersideremia]. / K voprosu ob obshchei zhelezosviazyvaiushchei sposobnosti transferrina pri gipersideremiiakh.

Three methods for evaluation of serum iron-binding capacity have been described: biochemical, immunological based on transferrin assay, and biophysical based on electron-paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy of transferrin. Interrelation has been shown between transferrin and general serum iron-binding capacity. Basing on the data presented it is suggested that in secondary hemochromatosis plasma contains an iron pool that is not specifically bound with transferrin, while in primary hemochromatosis such pool was not detected.

[Erythrocytic ferritin in pregnant women and infants in the first year of life]. / Eritrotsitarnyi ferritin u beremennykh zhenshchin i detei rannego vozrasta.

Erythrocytic ferritin levels were followed up in pregnant women with reference to its course, in newborns, and in infants during the first year of life. It is shown that the level of erythrocytic ferritin remains high enough in women with complicated pregnancy attended by a sharp reduction of iron reserves. No clear dependence of erythrocytic ferritin concentration on the character of the antenatal period course was observed in infants. The highest values of erythrocytic ferritin parameters were recorded by the first month and they decreased constantly by the first year of life.

[Iron metabolism in anemia patients with no deficiency of iron reserves]. / Osobennosti obmena zheleza u bol'nykh s anemiei, protekaiushchei bez defitsita zapasov zheleza.

Iron metabolism was studied in anemia patients with no iron deficiency. The data obtained have suggested that iron transport to blood-synthesizing cells i disturbed in such patients with normal iron reserves. Basing on the study of iron metabolism and red blood parameters in the patients after the treatment by hypoxic hypoxia it is shown that this method combined with iron therapy can be successfully used for the treatment of this form of iron deficiency anemia.

[Antioxidant activity of blood serum amd erythrocytes in patients with refractory anemia]. / Antioksidantnaia aktivnost' syvorotkii éritrotsitov u bol'nykh refrakternymi anemiiami.

Iron metabolism was studied in patients with refractory anemia. It is shown that continuous transfusions of erythrocytes result in a sharp rise of iron reserves that plays an important role in the development of hemosiderosis. To prevent iron oxidative action it is recommended that the patients should be subjected to therapy with chelating agents and antioxidants simultaneously with transfusions of erythrocytes. A relationship has been noted between blood antioxidant capacity decrease and iron-overloading.

[Results of hematological examinations of crew members of the space vehicles EO-2, EO-3 and EO-4]. / Rezul'taty gematologicheskikh issledovanii u chlenov kosmicheskikh ékipazhei EO-2, EO-3 i EO-4.

The authors' opinion that adaptation inhibition of erythron functioning under weightlessness produces an unfavourable effect on the optimal physical state of a cosmonaut and his working capacity in the post-flight period has been confirmed by the analysis of certain hematological parameters studied in cosmonauts. The data obtained have necessitated investigation of threshold values of erythron functioning under weightlessness, and creation of artificial gravitation on board the piloted space ship to normalize erythropoiesis. Investigation of these problems of space hematology would be helpful in validation of the limits of human's long-term stay under weightlessness, and in the pre- and post-flight period management.

[Oxygen-binding properties of blood in hemoglobinosis M Boston detected in the USSR for the first time]. / Kislorodsviazyvaiushchie svoistva krovi pri gemoglobinoze M-Boston, vpervye vyiavlennom v SSSR.

Hemoglobin M-Boston comprising 30% of the total blood Hb was detected in two members of a Russian family. The stages of its identification were described. An analysis was made of probands' whole blood oxy-Hb dissociation curves. At pO2 = 100 mm Hg oxygenation of Hb M-Boston beta-chains was 44% only, while mutant alpha-chains were completely oxidated. Despite a significant decrease in arterial blood oxygen content arteriovenous variation by O2 content at pO2 differential from 100 to 40 mm Hg is within the normal level due to various directions of changes in P50 and Hill's coefficient of probands' whole blood. The authors consider that pronounced cyanosis in Hb M-Boston carriers is not the consequence of tissue hypoxia but is caused by a higher content of nonfunctioning Hb M-Boston that changes the blood color.

[Relation between circulating immune complexes and serum ferritin in hemosiderosis of different etiologies]. / Vzaimosviaz' mezhdu tsirkuliruiushchimi immunnymi kompleksami i ferritinom syvorotki pri gipersiderozakh razlichnoi étiologii.

Parameters of iron metabolism and humoral immunity were studied in patients with chronic diffuse diseases of the liver (cirrhosis, chronic hepatitis), beta-thalassemia major, dyserythropoiesis, hereditary hemochromatosis. High ferritin content has been recorded in the plasma of these patients, that leads to the formation of antibodies to this protein followed by the production of circulating immune complexes inducing metabolic disorders that aggravate the pathologic process. Plasmapheresis and deferoxamine therapy result in a decrease of ferritin and circulating immune complex content in the plasma, that produces a favourable effect on the patients' condition.

[Study of iron metabolism in chronic diffuse diseases of the liver]. / Izuchenie metabolizma zheleza pri khronicheskikh diffuznykh zabolevaniiakh pecheni.

Iron metabolism was studied in patients with chronic diffuse diseases of the liver. A sharp increase of ferritin content at the expense of its release from affected hepatocytes, and formation of antibodies to ferritin of the splenic type have been recorded in patients with cirrhosis of the liver. The observed growth of ferritin content in red blood cells can be explained by functional deficiency of red blood cells and by the presence of hemolytic process (twofold decrease of haptoglobin level). A conclusion has been made that ferritin content in the blood serum does not correlate with the total iron reserves, and serum ferritin level should be considered not as a sign of the pathologic process, but as an index of iron reserves capable of participating in metabolic processes.

[Hereditary cyanosis caused by the presence of abnormal hemoglobin M in the blood: its detection, identification and properties]. / Nasledstvennye ysianozy, obuslovlennye prisutstviem v krovi anomal'nykh Hb gruppy M: vyiavlenie, identifikatsiia, svoistva.

A total of 17 cases of anomalous hemoglobin M (Hb M) were detected among subjects of varying nationalities in different regions of the USSR. The methods used for identification of Hb M Saskatoon, Hb M Boston, Hb M Iwate, Hb M Hyde Park have been described, among them--electron paramagnetic resonance. Spectral characteristics, electrophoretic mobility of these Hb in pH gradient, reaction with cyanides, thermal stability, in vitro reduction with methemoglobin reductase, isolated from donor's red blood cells, have been investigated. The functional parameters (log P50 and n) have been determined for hemolysates containing anomalous hemoglobin, as well as for chromatographically pure fractions of anomalous hemoglobins. The importance of the proper diagnosis of hemoglobinosis M has been stressed.

[The main indicators of the erythrocyte system in infants in the Baikal region]. / Vazhneishie pokazateli éritrotsitarnoi sistemy u detei rannego vozrasta v Zabaikal'e.

A total of 440 clinically normal children aged from 1 month to 1 year, whose parents are indigenes of the Zabaikalye, were investigated to elucidate the influence of the climatic conditions of the Zabaikalye on the erythrocytic system state. It has been found that the total number of red blood cells, the mean volume of cells containing fetal hemoglobin and methemoglobin, and the number of highly-resistant, i.e. young, red cells, are increased in the children of the Zabaikalye, as compared to those living under conditions of a moderate climate. Methemoglobin reductase activity in them is decreased. The data obtained have evidenced that under conditions of chronic hypoxia erythropoiesis in children living in the Zabaikalye is in the state of high tension.

[Biochemical and functional characteristics of erythrocytes in paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria]. / Biokhimicheskie i funktsional'nye osobennosti éritrotsitov pri paroksizmal'noi nochnoi gemoglobinurii.

Hb composition in varying populations of red blood cells as well as the oxygen-transport function of hemolysates and blood were studied in patients with paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinurea (PNH). The dissociation curves obtained for oxyhemoglobin of blood and hemolysates were diphase, that denoted heterogeneity of Hb content and appearance of Hb with high O2 affinity in the blood of PNH patients. Isoelectrofocusing permitted detection of two additional fractions X1 and X2. The immunochemical method was used to show that X1 fraction was semi-Hb, and X2 fraction, by its physicochemical properties, was affined to Hb conformer--Hb precursor during its biosynthesis. The data obtained have shown that in PNH patients a pathologic population of red blood cells with incomplete process of hemoglobin formation appears in the blood flow.

[Iron metabolism in hereditary hemochromatosis]. / Metabolizm zheleza pri nasledstvennom gemokhromatoze.

The characteristic features of iron metabolism in hereditary hemochromatosis are described. The patients showed an increase of serum iron, iron saturation of transferrin as well as serum ferritin and erythrocytes. Results of determination of isoferritins of the splenic and cardiac types revealed a biochemical heterogeneity of hereditary hemochromatosis. Methods of differential diagnosis of hereditary hemochromatosis, secondary hemochromatosis and chronic diseases of the liver are described.