[Influence of neutrophilokines on population and subpopulation repertoire of lymphocytes and their functional activity during immune response against plague].

Results of experimental study of regulatory effect of nutrophilokines induced by Yersinia pestis EV strain on population and subpopulation repertoire of lymphocytes and their functional activity during immune response against plague infection are presented. It was established that these neutrophilokines stimulate CD4+ and suppress CD8+ lymphocytes. Helper effect of neutrophilokines on functional activity of lymphocytes was more pronounced during secondary than during primary immune response.

[Apoptosis of phagocytes as one of the probable mechanisms of the pathogenetic action of Yersinia pestis "mouse" toxin].

Apoptosis was evaluated by characteristic morphological changes of cells in preparations stained with histological dyes and in live preparations, as well as by DNA degradation, colorimetrically detected with the use of the diphenylamine reagent. "Mouse toxin" (MT) was found to have a pronounced apoptogenic action with respect to the phagocytic cells of mice, but not guinea pigs. Macrophages were affected by this action stronger than neutrophils, and in both cases this effect was dose dependent. As the dose of MT decreased to 0.01 microg/ml, the proportion of cells dying as the result of apoptosis increased, the necrotic type of damage was almost absent. On the contrary, as MT concentration rose to 1.0 microg/ml and over, the proportion of phagocytes dying due to necrosis increased with a decrease in the number of cells in which the process of apoptosis started. The results of the study are indicative of the fact that the mechanisms programming the death of cells under the action of MT on macrophages and neutrophils took part in the process, which, in its turn, determined their role in the pathogenesis of plague.

[Influence of neutrophilokines on the synthesis of lymphokines in the process of the formation of immunity to plague].

The evaluation of the complex of neutrophilokines whose synthesis was induced by Yersinia pestis vaccine strain EV on the production of lymphokines in the process of the formation of primary and secondary immunity to plague is presented. As revealed in this study, neutrophilokines regulate the synthesis of IL-2 by T helpers of type 1, IL-4 and IL-5 by T helpers of type 2, IL-1 by B lymphocytes, as well as the expression of receptors IL-2 by immunocompetent cells. The helper effect of neutrophilokines is more pronounced in the secondary immune response.

[Cholera toxin as Vibrio cholera superantigen]. / Kholernyi toksin--superantigen Vibrio cholerae.

Experimental data confirming our earlier suggestion, that cholerae toxin (CT) possesses superantigen (SA) properties are presented. When used in very small doses, CT has been found to induce polyclonal activation of T lymphocytes, essentially exceeding that observed in classical T mitogens characteristic of SA. CT, in contrast to mitogens and similarly to other SA, is shown to display this activity only in the presence of antigen-presenting cells. Experiments with the use of monoclonal antibodies to the variable region of the beta-chain of the T-cell receptor (V beta TCR) have demonstrated that CT, similarly to other SA, are capable of inducing expression of certain types of V beta TCR and causing polyclonal activation of T lymphocytes carrying these types of V beta TCR. The presence of these properties gives grounds for regarding CT as SA. The SA activity of CT has been found to be linked with its subunit A.

[The cytokine-inducing activity of the Yersinia pestis "murine" toxin]. / Tsitokinindutsiruiushchaia aktivnost' "myshinogo" toksina Yersinia pestis.

In this work the data obtained in the study of cytokinin-inducing activity of Y. pestis "mouse" toxin (MT) are presented. The study revealed that MT induced the synthesis of IL 1, IL 2 and TNF alpha. The most pronounced activity in MT was IL 2 inducing activity having dose-dependent character: the effect increased with the decrease of the dose of the preparation. The maximum level of the synthesis of IL 2 was observed when very low doses of the preparation (0.01 microgram/ml) were used, which was characteristic of superantigens. The presented data suggest that IL 2 plays an essential role in the mechanism of immunopathological reactions stipulated by MT.

[The characterization of Francisella tularensis mutants and subspecies by using monoclonal antibodies]. / Kharakteristika mutantov i podvidov Francisella tularensis s pomoshch'iu monoklonal'nykh antitel.

Monoclonal antibodies to F.tularensis cells, subspecies holarctica, were studied for the capacity of reacting with F.tularensis, subspecies nearctica, and its mutants having lower virulence and altered capacity for inducing protective immunity to tularemia in laboratory animals. Among the antibody-producing hybridoma clones under study, clones F8/67 and C7/65 capable of distinguishing the mutants of F.tularensis, subspecies nearctica, with lower virulence than that of the initial strain were selected. Antibodies of these hybridoma clones did not interact with the antigens of the initial virulent strains of F.tularensis, subspecies nearctica, while giving pronounced reaction with the antigens of its mutants. Close F8/67 produced IgG antibodies and clone C7/65, IgM antibodies. As shown in immunoblotting, antibodies produced by these hybridoma clones bound with proteins of F.tularensis cell membranes.

[The dynamics of antibody formation to a vaccinal strain of Francisella tularensis in different immunization regimens]. / Dinamika obrazovaniia antitel k vaktsinnomu shtammu Francisella tularensis pri razlichnykh skhemakh immunizatsii.

The use of different schemes of albino mice immunization either by living or by killed preparations of the vaccine strain of Francisella tularensis when obtaining monoclonal antibodies to the tularemia microbe made it possible to reveal definite regularities in the dynamics of antibody formation. The highest titres of antibodies in sera of animals-donors of splenocytes were obtained during the daily (for 3 days) intraperitoneal immunization of mice with living vaccine or with its thrice administration to the spleen thrice with the interval of 10 days. Revaccination against a background of high titres of antibodies decreased their quantity in blood serum of mice, while that against a background of low titres increased them.

[The broncho-obstructive syndrome in adolescents as a stage in the development of chronic bronchitis]. / Bronkhoobstruktivnyi sindrom u podrostkov kak étap razvitiia khronicheskogo bronkhita.

As many as 544 adolescents (268 boys and 276 girls) were examined. Using pneumotachometry and spirography, bronchial patency disorders were identified in 19.8 +/- 2.4% of normal adolescents with no factors at risk for chronic nonspecific pulmonary diseases, in 41.2 +/- 4.2% of patients with acute respiratory virus infection (ARVI), in 54.0 +/- 5.3% of tobacco smokers, in 44.7 +/- 8.1% of patients who frequently fall ill with ARVI, acute bronchitis and pneumonia, and in 50.0 +/- 12.5% of patients afflicted with grade II scoliosis or kyphoscoliosis of the thoracic vertebrae. In normal adolescents without risk factors, distal disorders of bronchial patency were encountered in 5.6 +/- 1.4% of cases, in ARVI patients in 7.4 +/- 2.2%, and in tobacco smokers, in 18.4 +/- 4.2% of cases. In a lot of adolescents, the broncho-obstructive disorders were steady in nature, dictating the necessity of carrying out the treatment and health measures. Pneumotachometry may be recommended for detecting bronchial patency disorders during prophylactic examinations of adolescents.

[Standard indicators of pneumotachometry and the Votchal-Tiffeneau index in the evaluation of external respiratory function in adolescents]. / Normativnye pokazateli pnevmotakhometrii i indeksa Votchala-Tiffo v otsenke funktsii vneshnego dykhaniia u podrostkov.

A study was made of the indices of pneumotachometry (PT): PT of exhalation, PT of inhalation and their ratio--in 263 adolescents (125 boys and 138 girls) with normal physical and sexual development. Direct correlation of sex, age and height with PT indices was established. Linear regression equations were made up for the calculation of standard parameters. It was shown that the ratio of PT of exhalation/PT of inhalation less than I in clinically healthy adolescents could not be a sign of disorder of bronchial permeability. The spirographic Votchal Tiffeneau index was-studied in 260 of them (125 boys and 135 girls). The lower permissible normal limit for the Metatest-1 spirograph was 76.5 +/- 0.4%.