[Elevated kynurenine concentration in the blood serum of children with epilepsy and bronchial asthma]. / Povyshenie kontsentratsii kinurenina v syvorotke krovi u detei, bol'nykh épilepsiei i bronkhial'noi astmoi.

A total of 84 children were investigated: 15 with bronchial asthma, 41 with combined seizure and bronchial obstruction syndrome, 14 with epilepsy. The kynurenine blood level was found to correlate with seizures. It was highest in epilepsy (5.27 +/- 0.99 nM/ml) together with the lowest dioxygenase activity (0.53 +/- 0.29 nM/ml) as measured with the tryptophane loading. The data suggest that kynurenine being a major tryptophane metabolite plays a role in pathogenesis of convulsive states.

[One of the methods of treatment of affective disorders in patients with alcoholism]. / Ob odnom iz metodov lecheniia affektivnykh narushenii u bol'nykh alkogolizmom.

It has been demonstrated by a double blind placebo-controlled study that transcranial electric treatment (TET) by means of combination of direct current and pulse current and pulse current at a frequency of 70-80 Hz is an effective method of correcting affective disorders (anxiety, depressions) in patients suffering from alcoholism. The therapeutic effects of TET are coupled with changes in GABA and monoamine metabolism rather than in beta-endorphin as well as with a decrease of the latent period of the occurrence of alpha-rhythm after eyes closing.

[The presence of quinolinic acid in the structures of the rat brain]. / Issledovanie nalichiia khinolinovoi kisloty v strukturakh golovnogo mozga.

The brain tissue extracts from chronically alcoholized (15% ethanol intake for more than 18 months) rats were studied by mass spectrometry. The mass spectra for the striatum of control and alcohol-consuming rats were identical, while those for the hippocampus showed a significant difference: a great increase in the intensity of peaks typical of mass spectra for quinolinic acid.

[Gamma-aminobutyric acid system and bioelectric activity of the brain of rats during alcoholic intoxication]. / Sistema gamma-aminomaslianoi kisloty i bioélektricheskaia aktivnost' golovnogo mozga krys pri alkogol'noi intoksikaktsii.

The changes of the GABA metabolizing enzyme activities in rat brain are connected with the phases of the functional condition of the central nervous system and doses of ethanol. Increase in the dose of ethanol caused the distinct decrease of locomotion degree and vertical component of motor activity. Chronic ethanol consumption caused an increase of the enzyme activities of GABA metabolism without any change of the brain GABA level. The brain glutamine concentration and the GAbA-T activity were increased but there was no change in the brain GABA level of rats after 24-hr ethanol withdrawal. Significant increases in mean energy content of EEG occurred throughout the withdrawal period in both dietary groups of rats receiving ethanol. In 24 hr after withdrawal, prodromal and ictal activity were apparent in the spontaneous EEG records of "ethanol" group.

[Effect of emotional-pain stress on the activity of the gamma-aminobutyric acid system]. / Vliianie émotsional'no-bolevogo stressa na aktivnost' sistemy gamma-aminomaslianoi kisloty.

In experiments on rats the emotional-pain stress is studied for its effect on the activity of the gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) system in the forebrain and stem structures, on GABA catabolism and GABA metabolism-related energy metabolism indices in the hippocamp and frontal cortex neurons. It is shown that the stress effect is accompanied by the GABA level increase and GABA-transaminase inhibition with a simultaneous rise of the succinate dehydrogenase and glutamate dehydrogenase activity. The pain factor is established to be very important for changes in the activity of GABA-transaminase and succinate dehydrogenase. The found shifts in the GABA activity system are significant for neuromediatory and energy adaptation to the stress.

[Decrease in the activity of cerebral gamma-aminobutyric acid metabolism enzymes under the influence of kynurenines possessing convulsive activity]. / Snizhenie aktivnosti fermentov obmena gamma-aminomaslianoi kisloty golovnogo mozga pod vliianiem kinureninov sudorozhnogo deistviia.

Content of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) was unaltered in mouse brain and cerebellum after administration of D,L-kynurenine (50 mcg), quinolinic acid (5 mcg) and nicotinic acid (50 mcg) into brain ventricles. At the same time, after administration of kinurenine, quinolinic acid and nicotinic acid activity of GABA-transaminase in brain was decreased by 39%, 40% and 48, respectively; activity of glutamate decarboxylase was decreased by 27% and 36%, respectively, in this case nicotinic acid affected only slightly. Strong clonic convulsions occurred in 60% of mice after administration of kynurenine and quinolinic acid and only in 7% of mice after treatment with nicotinic acid. Deceleration in the GABA turnover and the subsequent weakening of the brain inhibitory systems were apparently essential in development of convulsions caused by the kynurenines.

[Study of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) concentration in blood plasma of alcoholism patients]. / Issledovanie kontsentratsii gamma-aminomaslianoi kisloty (GAMK) v plazme bol'nykh alkogolizmom.

Concentration of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) was estimated in the plasma of 104 patients with alcoholism during 2 month treatment course in addiction hospital and in 29 healthy volunteers. Highly distinct differences in content of GABA were detected in the plasma of the volunteers and patients with alcoholism, which remained within 60 days of alcohol withdrawal.

[Effect of alcoholic intoxication on the activity of several dehydrogenases and aminotransferases in rat brain tissue]. / Vliianie alkogol'noi intoksikatsii na aktivnost' nekotorykh degidrogenaz i aminotransferaz v tkani golovnogo mozga krys.

An acute intraperitoneal administration of ethanol (4-8 g/kg) produced a fall in the activity of malate-dehydrogenase (MDG), alanine- and aspartate-aminotransferase in homogenates and mitochondria of the cerebellum, large hemispheres and liver of the rats by 25 and 50 per cent, respectively. The activity of succinate-dehydrogenase (SDG) increased by 24 per cent in the large hemispheres and fell by 20 per cent in the liver and in the cerebellum homogenate. The activity of lactate-dehydrogenase (LDG) of the large hemispheres and liver mitochondria decreased by 30 per cent. A chronic (1 1/2-2 month long) ethanol intoxication produced a drop of the LDG and MDG in the mitochondria of the nerve structures and of aminotransferase in the liver. The SDG activity rose in the homogenate of the cerebellum, large hemispheres and of the liver by 80, 50 and 20 percent, respectively. The dehydrogenases and aminotransferases activity in the liver and nerve structures of rats in the state of abstinence was somewhat below the normal, but higher than in animals chronically consuming alcohol.