[Development and assessment of a reagent kit for RNA detection of CrimeanCongo hemorrhagic fever virus with using reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification method.]

This study presents the results of laboratory trials of the reagent kit for the rapid detection of RNA of the Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) using loop-mediated isothermal amplification with reverse transcription (RT-LAMP). The developed RT-LAMP reagent kit was used to detect the CCHFV and showed a sensitivity of 103 GE/ml of viral RNA, which is sufficient for detection of the CCHFV in the early stage of human infections. The kit showed high specificity and no cross-reactivity with viral panel from the State collection of viruses of the FBRI SRC VB «Vector¼ (arboviruses and hemorrhagic fever viruses). Laboratory trials of the RT-LAMP kit are showed a high analytical and diagnostic sensitivity and specificity for RNA detection of the CCHFV and high speed of the analysis (60-70 min with sample preparation) compared to real-time PCR. Approbation of the kit field version has showed the possibility of setting the RT-LAMP reaction and viral RNA detection without the using of analytical equipments.

[The role of birds in the maintenance of tick-borne infections in the Tomsk anthropurgic foci].

The role of birds in the focus of tick-borne infections was studied from 2006 to 2011. The frequency index of ticks carried by ground dwelling birds is about 49.7%. The index of their abundance is 3.8. The larvae of ticks have been found on birds in 43.8% of cases. Nymphs and adult ticks have been found in 39.9 and 16.3%, respectively. It was revealed that Ixodex pavlovskyi was transferred and dominated in the urban microfoci because of its ornithophily. The markers of infectious agents have been recorded in 42 of 60 bird species under study.

[Outbreak of acute enterovirus intestinal infection in Sakhalin region in August 2010].

The investigation of cases of acute intestinal infections in the Sakhalin region of Russia in August, 2010 is described. Epidemiological and molecular biological studies were conducted. After initial PCR screening and determining the nucleotide sequences of the positive samples the following enteroviruses were found: Coxsackie A2 - 42 samples (45%), Coxsackie A4--31 sample (34%), Enterovirus 71--6 samples (6,5%), Coxsackievirus B5--6 samples (6,5%), Coxsackie B3--4 samples (4%) and Coxsackie B1--4 samples (4%). The phylogenetic analysis of sequences showed that the closest analogues for the nucleotide sequences of these genotypes were previously identified in Japan, Korea and China in 2000-2010.

Toward biophysical markers of depression vulnerability.

A major difficulty with treating psychiatric disorders is their heterogeneity: different neural causes can lead to the same phenotype. To address this, we propose describing the underlying pathophysiology in terms of interpretable, biophysical parameters of a neural model derived from the electroencephalogram. We analyzed data from a small patient cohort of patients with depression and controls. Using DCM, we constructed biophysical models that describe neural dynamics in a cortical network activated during a task that is used to assess depression state. We show that biophysical model parameters are biomarkers, that is, variables that allow subtyping of depression at a biological level. They yield a low dimensional, interpretable feature space that allowed description of differences between individual patients with depressive symptoms. They could capture internal heterogeneity/variance of depression state and achieve significantly better classification than commonly used EEG features. Our work is a proof of concept that a combination of biophysical models and machine learning may outperform earlier approaches based on classical statistics and raw brain data.

[Genetic variability of isolates of pandemic influenza A virus H1N1 isolated in Russia in 2009].

Complete nucleotide sequence of the genome segments encoding the surface glycoproteins, hemagglutinin, and neuraminidase of influenza A virus H1N1 derived from the patients with influenza in the context of pandemic (H1N1) 2009 was determined out of 14 isolates of pandemic influenza. The philogenetic analysis of these sequences demonstrated their genetic similarity to the corresponding genes of the pandemic influenza virus A (H1N1) 2009 isolates obtained in other countries; each gene homology was greater than 99%. Neuraminidase mutations causing virus resistance to oseltamivir and other neuraminidase inhibitors, known from the literature, were not detected. The hemagglutinin gene mutation D222G was found in 4 isolates from autopsy material. In the hemagglutinin of pandemic A/Salekhard/01/2009(H1N1) isolate a mutation G155E leading to the increase in viral replication in developing chick embryos was detected. The nature and frequency of nucleotides substitutions within HA and NA genes were determined in the current research.

[Studies of properties of pandemic influenza virus A/H1N1 circulated in Russian Federation in 2009 - 2010].

AIM: Studies of cultural, virologic, antigenic properties of 89 samples of pandemic influenza A(H1N1) 2009 virus isolated in Russian Federation from May 2009 to March 2010. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Properties of isolated samples were compared with those of the reference strain A/ California/04/2009 (H1N1). RESULTS: Studies of biological properties and analysis of genome nucleotide sequences of the isolated samples showed that those strains are closely related to the reference strain. CONCLUSION: Monitoring of genetic, virologic and antigenic properties of pandemic influenza A(H1N1) 2009 virus isolates carried out from May 2009 to March 2010 did not reveal significant changes in the abovementioned properties of the virus or emergence of mutations that can lead to such changes.

[Investigation of therapeutic and protective effect of Reaferon-ES Lipint on mice infected with avian influenza virus (subtype H5N1)].

The efficacy of the therapeutic, prophylactic and urgent prophylactic schemes for the use of Reaferon-ES lipint, a liposomal human recombinant alpha-interferon for oral use, was studied on mice infected with the avian influenza virus. Strain A/Chicken/Kurgan /05/2005 (subtype H5N1) of the avian influenza virus showed high virulence with respect to mice ICR. Theoretically-based calculations allowed to design an optimal therapeutic and prophylactic dose of the drug for the mice (1000 units/animal). It was observed that only after prophylactic use of Reaferon-ES lipint it was effective in protection of the mice infected with 10 LD50 of the avian influenza virus (A/Chicken/Kurgan/05/2005, H5N1). The protection coefficient was 0.35. Under such conditions the drug efficacy was comparable with that of Tamiflu. Therefore, Reaferon-ES lipint could be recommended for prophylaxis of the infection due not only to the season strains of the influenza virus, but also to the strains of the avian influenza virus.