[The characteristics of the clinical course of rheumatic diseases in persons subjected to the effect of ionizing radiation after the accident at the Chernobyl Atomic Electric Power Station]. / Osobennosti klinicheskogo techeniia revmatichyeskikh zabolevanii u lits, podvergshikhsia vliianiiu ioniziruiushchego izlucheniia posle avarii na ChAES.

Results are submitted of clinical, laboratory and immunological studies in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), systemic scleroderma (SSD), with n = 386, 35, 23 respectively, who had been exposed to ionizing radiation from the ChPP reactor accident. In the above patients, serum interferon (SI) levels were found out to be increased while those of natural killer cells (NKs) decreased by comparison with healthy donors; NKs appeared to be significantly lower (P < 0.001) in SLE and SSD patients than they were in RA ones and healthy subjects.

[The level of serum thymic activity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus]. / Uroven' timicheskoi syvorotochnoi aktivnosti u bol'nykh revmatoidnym artritom i sistemnoi krasnoi volchankoi.

Thymic serum activity (TSA) has been studied in 52 healthy subjects, 48 rheumatoid arthritis patients and 17 sufferers with systemic lupus erythematosus aged from 18 to 70. TSA was compared in patients under and over 40 years. In those under 40 TSA appeared significantly inhibited, while in older subjects it did not differ from age-matched control. No correlations were reported between TSA levels and clinical characteristics. Changes in TSA levels may be related both to low content of thymic hormones and formation of inactive complexes from thymic mediators with inhibitors.

[The importance of osteoscintigraphy for the early detection of rheumatic joint lesions]. / Znachenie osteostsintigrafii dlia rannego vyiavleniia revmaticheskikh porazhenii sustavov.

The scintigraphic semeiotics was investigated of involvement of osteoarticular system in rheumatoid polyarthritis in 186 patients (79 of them suffered of rheumatoid arthritis, 62 of systemic lupus erythematosus, 34 of systemic scleroderma, 11 of dermatomyositis). Roentgenological examination was supplemented by consecutive local scintigraphy of axial skeleton and peripheral joint by of gamma rays with labeled 99mTc phosphate complexes. Isoactive zones with subsequent quantitative evaluation of the information were obtained as a result of computerized processing of the scintigraphic images of the joints. The results were compared with those obtained in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. It was established that inspite of the similarity of the scintigraphic manifestations, each of them has its regularities due to differences of the pathomorphological processes in the joints.

[The levels of circulating immune complexes and immunoglobulins in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus and rheumatoid arthritis]. / Urovni tsirkuliruiushchikh immunnykh kompleksov i immunoglobulinov u bol'nykh sistemnoi krasnoi volchankoi i revmatoidnym artritom.

UNLABELLED: The authors studied the levels of large- and medium molecular circulating immune complexes (CIC) and immunoglobulins of main classes (Ig) in 17 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and 47 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). RESULTS: low molecular CIC increased in 35.2% of patients with SLE and in 42.5% with RA; patients with SLE showed a significant reduction of IgA in 80.4%. The IgA/IgM ratio was significantly reduced in SLE due to the above finding. The IgA level remained unchanged in RA.