Increased risk of tuberculosis among health care workers in Samara Oblast, Russia: analysis of notification data.

SETTING: Samara Oblast, Russia. OBJECTIVE: To compare the rates of tuberculosis (TB) in health care workers (HCWs) working in TB services, general health services (GHS) and the general population in a region of the Russian Federation. DESIGN: Analysis of notification rates of TB among HCWs, GHS workers and the general population during the 9-year period from 1994 to 2002. RESULTS: During 1994-2002, TB incidence among staff employed at the TB services in Samara Oblast was ten times higher than among the general population, reaching 741.6/100 000 person years at risk. Staff working at in-patient TB facilities were found to be at highest risk, with an incidence rate ratio of 17.7 (95% CI 11.6-27.0) compared to HCWs at the GHS. CONCLUSIONS: HCWs at TB services in the Russian Federation are at substantially increased risk for TB, suggesting significant risks from nosocomial transmission. Control of institutional spread of TB in the Russian Federation is an area that requires urgent attention, especially given the epidemic of human immunodeficiency virus that Russia is currently witnessing.

MMP-28, a new human matrix metalloproteinase with an unusual cysteine-switch sequence is widely expressed in tumors.

We report the discovery, cloning, and characterization of a novel human matrix metalloproteinase (MMP-28) cDNA gene. The deduced 520-amino-acid sequence of MMP-28 includes a signal peptide, a prodomain with an unusual cysteine-switch PRCGVTD motif followed by the furin cleavage RRKKR site, a catalytic domain, a hinge-region and a hemopexin-like domain. On the basis of their structural characteristics, MMP-28 belongs to the MMP-19 subfamily. The genomic MMP-28 gene uniquely mapped to chromosome 17q11.2 includes eight exons and seven introns. The broad range of expression in carcinomas as well as normal adult and fetal tissues suggests an important functional role for MMP-28.

Tuberculosis control in Samara Oblast, Russia: institutional and regulatory environment.

SETTING: Tuberculosis control programme in Samara Oblast, Russia, funded in part by the government of the United Kingdom. OBJECTIVE: To identify and evaluate institutional and regulatory influences as well as incentives and disincentives that might be amenable to change in the promotion of the DOTS strategy. DESIGN: Multidisciplinary situational analysis through in-depth interviews of stakeholders and review of official federal and oblast documents. RESULTS: Interpretation of traditional notification data is complex because classification and reporting systems differ from World Health Organization principles. Regulations governing financing encourage lengthy hospitalisations and interventions, and provide few incentives to shift policy to ambulatory care. CONCLUSION: Accurate comparability of epidemiological trends and programmatic successes requires equivalent classification and reporting systems. If the DOTS strategy is to be sustainable, changes to financing systems will be needed.

[Cloning an extended palindromic sequence of Tetrahymena pyriformis ribosomal DNA]. / Klonirovanie protiazhennoi palindromnoi posledovatel'nosti ribosomnoi DNK Tetrahymena pyriformis.

Simple and effective method for isolation of native copies of ribosomal DNA (rDNA) of T. pyriformis by pulse field gel electrophoresis is suggested. Cloning of long palindrome sequence of rDNA from T. pyriformis in plasmid is described.

[Design of the human GM-CSF gene using the polymerase chain reaction and its expression in Pseudomonas putida cells]. / Konstruirovanie gena GM-CSF cheloveka s pomoshch'iu polimeraznoi tsepnoi reaktsii i ego ékspressiia v keltkakh Pseudomonas putida.

Construction of human GM-CSF gene was conducted by the PCR technique. Four exons of GM-CSF gene were synthesized on the basis of human blood DNA using thermostable Tth DNA polymerase. Synthetic oligonucleotides were used as primers. The oligonucleotides contained sequences complementary to the ends of exons. Joining of exons was conducted by reciprocal complementation of the terminal sequences, followed by filling and amplification of the joined products. In most cases the effective synthesis of exons and joined products was possible only after optimizing the polymerase reaction conditions for each primer pair. Determination of the nucleotide sequence of the synthetic gene showed complete identity with the natural one. The gene was introduced into an expression vector under control of the promoter tandem (tac+lac). Expression of the GM-CSF gene was obtained in Pseudomonas putida cells. The recombinant protein had biological activity.

[Construction of the gene library of symbiotic nitrogen-fixing Rhizobium lupini]. / Poluchenie biblioteki genov simbioticheskoi azotfiksiruiushchei bakterii Rhizobium lupini.

The gene bank of the symbiotic nitrogen-fixing bacterium Rhizobium lupini (effective strain 359a) was constructed on plasmid pAYC31 that was used to transform Escherichia coli C6000. The bank contains 6600 clones. Restriction analysis showed that the size of the mean insertion fragment in the plasmid in 6.5 kb.

[Disordered ion-transport processes in the cardiomyocyte membranes in the immune action on the heart]. / Narushenie ion-transportnykh protsessov v membranakh kardiomiotsitov pri immunnom vozdeistvii na serdtse.

Intracoronary administration of anticardiac cytotoxic serum increased the sarcolemma passive permeability for Ca2+ ions and reduced the activity of Na+-Ca2+ and Na+,K+-ATPase exchange in dogs. Electronic microscopy revealed thinning of glycocalix, destabilizing of the sarcolemma phospholipid bilayer, and development of intracellular oedema. Disturbances of the sarcolemma structure and function seem to be able to cause the development of cardiac insufficiency of immune origin.

[New functional properties of albumin]. / Izuchenie novykh funktsional'nykh svoistv al'bumina.

Effects of albumin on N-demethylation reactions of substrates in rat liver microsomes were studied in vitro. Albumin was found both to accelerate and to inhibit the reaction of demethylation. The interaction between ligand and albumin appears to be responsible for these effects. The role of the effect in the metabolism of either xenobiotics or endogenous substances is discussed.

[Changes in function of sarcoplasmic reticulum and myocardial phospholipid content in immune heart damage]. / Izmeneniia funktsii sarkoplazmaticheskogo retikuluma i soderzhaniia fosfolipidov v miokarde pri immunnom vozdeistvii na serdtse.

The effect of acute cytotoxic reaction in the heart on Ca transport activity in the sarcoplasmic reticulum and the phospholipid content of the myocardium was studied. A single intracoronary injection of anticardiac serum reduced Ca, Mg-ATPase activity and the Ca energy-dependent transport but caused no changes in membrane permeability to Ca. As the result of immune damage the content of phospholipids--cardiolipin and phosphatidylethanolamine--in the myocardium reduced.

[Mechanisms of the protective action of neoton in immune heart diseases]. / Mekhanizmy zashchitnogo deistviia neotona pri immunnom povrezhdenii serdtsa.

An attempt was made to reveal some membrane mechanisms of the protective effect of phosphocreatine (Neoton produced by the Schiappare firm, injected intravenously in a dose of 500 mg/kg) predominantly on the endothelium of the coronary vessels and the cardiomyocytes. Local immune damage to the left-ventricular myocardium was produced by intracoronary injection of anticardiac antibodies. Morphological and biochemical studies showed damage to the membrane of endotheliocytes and cardiomyocytes: reduced activity of Na-Cametabolism and Na-, K-ATPase. The obtained data bore evidence of the protective effect of phosphocreatine in immune damage to the heart, which was realized on the level of the endotheliocyte and cardiomyocyte membranes.