Search

The conducted research allow to conclude that the most developed agricultural area of the Tyumen region with a population comprising of 14,1% of the rural population, is endemic for echinococcosis. The incidence has a pronounced tendencyto increase (Tgrowth=+5.7 percent). Installed a statistically significant difference in the incidence ofechinococ- cosis in two selected areas in endemic zones (7 rural and 3 urban) living in it 60,7% of the population of the Tyumen region; - risk groups in the incidence of echinococcosis are local villagers, containing farm animals and dogs; urban residents who regularly attend the nearby forest to gather berries and wild plants, persons working age, hunters with years of experi- ence; the risk of infection is June - September. The first place among agricultural animals as an intermediate the hosts of Echinococcus is a sheep, the second place - the cattle, the third place - pigs, the prevalence in endemic incidence of echinococcosis people area respectively in 5.6 times, 2.7 times and 3.8 times higher than in non-endemic areas with no registration morbidity people. The obtained results allow to recommend the measures to optimise epidemiological surveil- lance and parasitological monitoring of echinococcosis: a clearer and more coherent relationship and interaction between agencies, medical organizations, Rospotrebnadzor, Rosselkhoznadzor and Management ofhunting economy; the expan- sion of research on contamination ofthe environment by the hexacanth cyst on the territories of settlements and priusadeb- nyh plots (soil, bottom sediments, especially not having drains, water storage tanks); mass serological screening of the population, primarily in rural endemic areas, to determine the immune segment, risk groups among sex, age and profes- sional groups to assess the level of endemic diseases; clarify the ways and factors of transmission in specific conditions, it is important for the organization of effective prevention measures.

The tolerability and efficiency of specific chemotherapy with albendazole were analyzed in 18 patients with cystic echinococcosis at various sites. The most common complication of albendazole treatment was its hepatotoxic effect. Al- bendazole chemotherapy during at least its 3 cycles was observed to be highly effective in preventing recurrent echinococ- cosis in children. If there were small-sized hydatid cysts in the liver and lung, there was a reduction in their number and sizes after 4-5 albendazole treatment cycles.

The problem of echinococcosis has acquired special urgency in Russia in the last 10 years. The dramatically worse epidemiological situation of echinococcosis in the country is suggested by just frequent cases of cystic echinococcosis in the indigenous population of Moscow and its region, including children. Currently, albendazole that is less toxic than mebendazole remains the drug of choice, However, some authors note that E. granulosus larval cysts are moresusceptible to mebendazole than to albendazole. Both drugs mainly show parasitological activity and have no larvicidal effect particularly in larval alveococcosis. Analysis of the results of chemotherapy, with a group of benzimidazole carbamates for echinococcosis in 6 clinical centers from 5 European countries (Italy, Bulgaria, Romania, Greece, and Turkey) over the past 30 years showed that the evaluation of therapeutic effectiveness was overestimated; thus, 40% of all parasitic larval cysts that were considered dead became active again after, 2 years after the treatment. The original oil micronized mebendazole suspension tested by us in albino mice with late-stage larval cystic echinococcosis showed the properties of a highly effective and safe systemic larvicide that caused prompt death in the entire parasite population in the treated animals even in extreme hyperinvasion when the baseline parasite weight was greater than the host's one.

The paper gives the results of treatment with micronized albendazole (Gelmodol-BM, World Medicine, UK) in 87 patients of the Department of Medical Parasitology and Tropical Diseases, Clinical and Diagnostic Center, Clinical Center, I.M.Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University. Thirty-two patients with echinococcosis 8 with alveococcosis (including 4 inoperable patients), 10 with ascariasis, 10 with toxocariasis, 15 with enterobiasis, and 12 people diagnosed with larva migrans were treated in 2013-2014. The drug's routine doses and dosage regimens were used. Albendazole (Gelmodol, World Medicine, UK) showed a high efficacy with good tolerability, which is highly competitive with that of the drugs manufactured by IPCA Laboratories Ltd., India (such as nemozole). Both medicaments above-mentioned may be successfully used in the treatment of many helminthisms.

The therapeutic activity of subcutaneous and intraperitoneal nocodazole injections was studied in albino mice with experimental E. granulosus invasion. The animals were intraperitoneally infected with Echinococcus larval cysts (ELC) from a spontaneously inoculated sheep. Nocodazole aqueous suspension (NAS) was administered at the late stage of invasion in two experiments. In one experiment, the treatment was initiated 7.5 months after inoculation. The animals were given daily subcutaneous injections of gradually increasing daily doses (n = 32) from 5 to 20 mg/kg twice weekly for 4 months (the total active ingredient dose was 400 mg/kg). The mice were dissected 3 months after treatment termination. Their autopsy showed that all ELCs or their vast majority were dead in 17 (70.8%) of 24 NAS-treated mice. Among the completely cured mice, there were animals having dead ELCs amounting to 36.9% of the host's weight. In the other experiment, the mice received intraperitoneal treatment 11.5 months after inoculation. They were given NAS injections (n = 2-8) in the total active ingredient dose of 14-126 mg/kg for 4-32 days. The animals were dissected 12-14 months after inoculation. All the detected ELCs were ascertained to be dead in the mice that had received NAS in an active ingredient dose of 87-126 mg/kg and had been dissected 33-81 days after initiation of treatment. The damaging effect of NAS was accompanied by obvious ELC collapse (the ELC collapse index was 57.5-75.9% for all the cured animals).

The authors attempted to analyze preventive measures against infectious and parasitic diseases, which were used domestically by the Perm Territory population, their conjugacy with the stereotypes of attitude towards domestic animals, as well as behavioral features of compliance andcompetence in the assurance of infection safety. The found gaps in the assurance of personal infection safety (drinking unboiled water, unprotected sex, disregard of helminth prevention in domestic animals, and unwillingness to go in for sports) are coherent with the epidemiological situation in the Perm Territory and to our clinical and laboratory study of the patients of the Perm Territory Children's Clinical Hospital in 2011. Enzyme immunoassay (EIA) was used to examine 10075 patients for helminths and protozoa; parasitic diseases were detected in 2047 (20.3%) persons. The diagnostic titer of antibodies to Toxocara antigens was revealed in 677 (11.8%) children of 5700 patients examined for toxocariasis; that for Opisthorchis antigens was in 595 (37.7%) of 1578 examined for Opisthorchis infestation. The diagnostic titers for echinococcosis was found in 9 (0.75%) of 1198 patients; later on the diagnosis of hydatid disease was verified by epidemiological, clinical, and laboratory studies. Despite the inadequate informative value of EIA for the diagnosis of giardiasis, high antibody titers to Lamblia antigens were detected in 766 (47.9%) of 1599 children.

The paper presents information on the technological methods aimed at improving the diagnosis and prevention of parasitic diseases.

The paper presents data on the prevalence of helminthiasis in Russia on the basis of the State Reports on the sanitary and epidemiological situation in the Russian Federation. It comparatively characterizes morbidity rates in 2010-2012. Morbidity analysis has revealed the main reasons for the prevalence of parasitic diseases and the possible ways of their elimination.

The therapeutic activity of parenteral nocodazole was studied on four larval alveococcosis models: golden hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus), Djungarian hamsters (Phodopus sungorus campbelli Thomas), albino rats (Rattus rattus albus), and cotton rats (Sigmodon hispidus) at the late stage of E. multilocularis invasion. The agent (aqueous suspension) was intraperitoneally, intramuscularly, and subcutaneously injected in daily doses of 0.125-0.5 g/kg as 1-8 injections. Mebendazole was the drug of comparison. In the golden hamsters, one intraperitoneal nocodazole injection in daily doses of 0.25 and 0.5 g/kg caused death of all alveococcosis larvocysts whereas mebendazole 0.5 g/kg proved to be ineffective. In the Djungarian hamsters, one intraperitoneal nocodazole injection in a dose of 0.25 g/kg was fatal to alveococcosis larvocysts in 3 (75%) of the 4 animals. In the albino rats, nocodazole once administered intraperitoneally in a dose of 0.125 g/kg caused no death of all parasitic larvocysts, but inhibited their growth by 94.4%. The found alveococcus larvocysts were dead in all the cotton rats receiving nocodazole intramuscularly and subcutaneously 8 times in daily doses of 0.125 and 0.2 g/kg, respectively. Larvocystic death induced by nocodazole in animals with intensive invasion was accompanied by the high rate of collapse in larvocysts.

The comparative efficacy of albendazole and mebendazole oily suspensions (AOS and MOS) was studied in an experimental model of experimental larval alveococcosis in albino mice. The animals were intragastrically injected with the agents once daily for 40 days on day 35 after intraperitoneal inoculation with E. multilocularis acephalocysts. They were dissected 29 days after treatment termination (103 days following inoculation) and the rate of infestation and viability and the degree of maturity of developed alveococcosis larvocysts (AL) were determined. The AOS and MOS efficiency estimated by the mean mass of AL per animal was 83.3 and 98.1%, respectively; whereas the similar indicator calculated by one largest AL weight per animal found among all the animals in the compared groups was equal to 57.7 and 96.9%, respectively. Under the equal conditions of solubilization in vegetable oil, the biological activity and bioavailability of mebendazole were shown to increase to a much greater extent than those of albendazole. The findings suggest that the use of mebendazole is promising for designing new vegetable oil-based formulations of the agent.

Experiments have established that the first target for echinococcus is the liver and lung and that for pathogenic fungi and protozoa is the heart. Adult patients with hepatic hydatid disease complicated by paecilomycosis have been found to have atypical paecilomycosis-associated myocarditis, the treatment of which was developed by the authors, by using antibiotics, fungicides, and homeopathic remedies.

Fungi of the genus Paecilomyces, a causative agent of the fungal disease paecilomycosis, have been found in the blood of productive animals (sheep, cattle, pigs, goats) that are carriers of Echinococcus larvocysts. In the Republic of Uzbekistan, the echinococcosis affection of sheep, cattle, pigs, and goats continues to remain high. Domestic fowls (chickens, turkeys, and gooses) have been established to be blood carriers of Paecilomyces fungi, which is also true for wild birds, such as my-lady's-belts, quails, chukars, and crows. The degree of fungal affection has been also established for birds.

Experiments were carried out on 35 lambs infected with echinococcus eggs taken from canine donors, 5 lambs with echinococcosis, 5 lambs with echinococcosis + paecilomycosis, 5 lambs with coenurosis, 5 with cysticercosis ovis, 5 with alveococcosis, 5 with paecilomycosis, inoculated by the material taken from patients; and 5 healthy lambs formed a control group. Cystic hydatidosis was found to induce substantial cardiovascular changes.

The authors have detected atypical paecilomycosis-associated myocarditis with impaired amino acid exchange and pain syndrome for the first time. At first, pain occurs in the chest and radiates into the axilla, to the left arm to the finger tips, by paralyzing the arm. In some patients, pain manifests itself in both arms with radiation to the belly, by accompanying by fainting. The skin is wet, cold; the pulse is frequent and of poor volume and difficult-to-count. Heart pain spreads into the armpit and down the arm, by making the fingers numb. Attempts to use current analgesics (movalis, sirdalud, nimesil, morphine) in combination with fungicides (diflucan, mycosist, orungal) have failed to yield positive results. The homeopathic drug Latrodectus mactans, prepared from caracurt venom, in combination with the authors' designed diet and other homeopathic agents have relieved pain syndrome and normalized amino acid exchange, which offered possibilities for successful surgical treatment for echinococcosis with later recovery.

This investigation was undertaken to study the associations of the polymorphic variants of the HLA-DRBI and HLA-DQB1 loci with the development of cystic echinococcosis in children. The material for the investigation was collected from 57 children admitted for surgery to the clinic of the Department of Pediatric Surgery, Orthopedics, and Anesthesiology, Bashkir State Medical University (Ufa). The PROTRANS kit (Germany) was used to isolate DNA samples from peripheral venous blood served as an object of the investigations. HLA specificities were typed by polymerase chain reaction. Molecular genetic studies established the association of DRB1*07, DQB1*0.9, DQB1*02 specificities with the increased risk of cystic echinococcosis in children. The echinococcosis cyst suppuration-complicated course of the disease was found to be more frequently encountered in DQB1*02 and DRB1*03 allele carriers.

Paecilomycosis is a new type of systemic mycosis caused by different species of fungi of the genus Paecilomyces. Paecilomycosis-complicated echinococcosis and asthma run a severe course. A complication of mycosis is accompanied by secondary immunodeficiency. A good result was obtained in the treatment of ill children by using the fungicide diflucan and the immunomodulator polyoxidonium. In the examinees with paecilomycosis-complicated echinococcosis, secondary immunodeficiency was characterized by a statistical significant reduction in the blood levels of the lymphoid cells CD3+, CD4+, CD8+, CD16+, CD21+, by phagocytosis, a decrease in its quantitative parameters, and an increase in the counts of immunoglobulins and circulating immunocomplexes. To normalize the immune status in patients with paecilomycosis-complicated echinococcosis, it is expedient to postsurgicallyuse fungicides, such as nizoral, diflucan, orungal, mycosyst, and the immunomodulators polyoxidonium and irillen.

Twenty-three serum samples from 12 patients with Echinococcus alveolaris collected 1 to 12 years after surgery and 1--13 courses of specific therapy were used to evaluate the diagnostic effectiveness of an enzyme immunoassay (EIA) test system with cystic Echinococcus antigen. The findings enable the EIA test system with cystic Echinococcus antigen to be recommended for the diagnosis of Echinococcosis alveolaris and for the monitoring of its treatment results.

The diagnostic effectiveness of instrumental analysis of the concentration of specific antibodies, which was expressed in antibody units and titers, was compared in the test system of enzyme immunoassay using Echinococcus granulosus on 76 serum samples from patients with echinococcosis. The factors of possible influence on the instrumental readings of enzyme immunoassay are presented. A correlation was found in the specific antibody concentrations expressed in antibody units and titers.

Two hundred and thirty-six echinococcosis patients aged 17 to 70 years were examined for paecilomycosis. Seventy-five subjects of different ages who were considered to be clinically healthy were prepared as a control. Of them who had physiological parameters of blood fungi, 24 subjects, including 9 subjects aged 17 to 23 years and 15 subjects aged 15 to 30 years, were eligible. The other examinees were patients with paecilomycosis of varying stages. Nizoral, fluconazole, diflucan, orungal, mycosyst, and teknazol, which have been tested by the authors, are proposed for use in paecilomycosis-complicated echinococcosis prior to and after surgery. It is advisable to use one fungicide. In this respect, the authors have conducted clinical trials that have yielded positive results.

DNA samples isolated from peripheral venous blood lymphocytes in 73 children with hydatid disease were studied. The polymorphism of exon 7 (A4889G) of the CYP1A1 gene was analyzed by polymerase chain reaction, followed by hydrolysis with restriction endonuclease HincII. The material for E. granulosus genotypes to be studied was obtained from the germinal layer of larvocysts. The fragment of the mitochondrial gene encoding for the first subunit of cytochome-C-oxidase was as a DNA marker. The amplified E. granulosus DNA fragments underwent direct sequencing and a genotype was identified. The findings have led to the conclusion that carriage of polymorphic allele Val of exon 7 (A4889G) of the CYP1A1 gene in those infested with E. granulosus genotype G1 (common, sheep strain) is a risk factor of the development of the clinical form of echinococcosis granulosus.

The Republic of Kyrgyzstan, its northern area in particular, is referred to as one of the Echinococcus alveolaris infection endemic areas where the highest morbidity is registered. The synanthropic foci of Echinococcus alveolaris infection were first found in the At-Bashin District, Naryn Region. Twenty-three tracts in the Kara-Kuzhur ravine and 9 settlements in the Kochkor valley directly adjacent to the ravine were surveyed. Fifteen settlements and 4 tracts in the At-Bashin District, Narynsk Region, were also studied. The zoological studies revealed the natural foci of alveococcosis in the mid-mountainous areas of the Kara-Kuzhur ravine and the Kochkor valley just adjoining to the ravine. Hepatic alveococcal cysts were detected in the house mice caught in the settlements of the At-Bashin District, Naryn Region, which may suggest that in the areas of these settlements there may be synanthropic alveococcus areas where sheep flock and house (watch) dogs may be a final host. The retrospective analysis of morbidity indicated that among echinococcosis patients the proportion of those with alveococcosis increased from year to year (from 0.6% in 2002 to 15.6 within the first 6 months of 2006). A total of 1373 patients (females (57.2%) and males (42.8%)) were operated on at Bishkek surgical hospitals in the period of 2002 to the first half of 2006. Surgical treatment involved a palliative operation in most (55.2%) cases.

The topicality of the problem associated with echinococcosis granulosus in the South Urals is determined by its wide spread and a considerable economic damage made to this region by this invasion. The study was undertaken to reveal the intraspecific affiliation of Echinococcus granulosus that induces hydatid disease in the population of the South Urals. Samples for studies were taken from the fertile larval cysts obtained during intraoperative intervention in patients with hydatid disease. As morphological criteria for differentiation, the authors examined the proboscis uncuses of protoscolexes. For E. granulosus genomic typing, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of DNA synthesis was used, as described by Gasser (1998). As a DNA marker, the authors used a fragment of the mitochondrial gene encoding for the first subunit of cytochome-C-oxidase. The DNA fragments obtained by PCR from 9 isolated underwent the direct enzyme dideoxy-sequencing test (Senger, 1977). As a result, the causative agent of echinococcosis granulosis was first identified in the patient of the South Urals. In children and adults, the clinical form of the disease is caused by E. granulosus with the genotype G - common, that of domestic sheep. Comparative analysis of molecular data revealed the presence of genotype G1 variations circulating in the South Urals homologous to the sequences recorded in the GenBank under numbers U50464 and DQ109036.

Two hundred and twenty-two serum samples from patients infected with Toxocara, 374 from those infected with Echinococcus alveolaris, and 200 from healthy blood donors, which were screened in the enzyme immunoassay system, were used to assess an instrumental method for considering the assay results expressed in antibody units (AU), A direct correlation was found between the values of the intensity of an immune response in the infected, which were expressed in AU and titers routinely used for this purpose. Introducing the optic density index, standardized by the manufacturer of a reference test-positive sample kit, into the formula to calculate AU reduces possible variations in the assay results both between different batches and within one batch of kits.

The infection rates of echinococcosis and cysticercosis in cattle and pigs were studied in the Orenburg Region. Those of echinococcosis remained high (the extensiveness of invasion increased from 6.7 to 23.8%, as shown by the 1996-2001 data) despite a considerable reduction in the animal numbers in the 1990s. The infection rate of cysticercosis in the cattle with cysticercosis was much lower (the extensiveness of invasion increased from 0.12 to 0.27% over this period). The lowest infection rate was established for porcine cysticercosis (the extensiveness of invasion was 0.1%).

The paper presents the results of designing a technology for the manufacture of enzyme immunoassay kits to detect class G antibodies to the Echinococcus granulosus antigen EgF with a molecular weight of 16.7 kDa in sheep. According to the results of field trials on flocks of sheep from various age groups, the diagnostic efficiency of the test system was 78.1% sensitivity and 73.9% specificity. The proposed test system may be used during mass sheep screenings for the epizootic monitoring of the prevalence ofechinococcosis in the Russian Federation, for the serological diagnosis of this disease in the female livestock at the level of a flock.

The recombinant Echinococcus antigens EgF and EgB were prepared and purified by gel filtration and ion-exchange chromatography (800 and 780 mg, respectively being obtained). Four vaccinating complexes, the major component of which were the recombinant antigens EgF and EgB, were developed and tested in an experiment on rabbits. The time course of changes in antibody genesis was studied during a single immunization of the animals with the biological agent EgFB with different adjuvants for 120 days. The adjuvant substances ensuring as components of the biological agent EgFB a long circulation of specific antibodies to the Echinococcus antigens in the blood flow of the immunized animals (complete Freund's adjuvant, multicomponent oil emulsion) are presented.

The paper deals with the design of recombinant vector make-ups, with the expression of Echinococcus hybrid proteins, and with the study of their immunogenic properties. Theoretical rationale is given for the choice of the parasitic gene superexpression system (E. coli cells of SG 13009 strain--recombinant plasmid pQE/EgF). The authors show that the use ofpolymerase chain reaction with oligonucleotide primers homologous to the structures of unique genes coding for Echinococcus antigen is promising for the run of the preparative quantities of fragments of these genes. They consider the basic stages of obtaining hybrid EgF antigen: the isolation of genomic DNA from Echinococcus protoscolexes; the run of preparative quantities of an EgF DNA fragment; the obtaining of vector pQE plasmid DNA; the design of a recombinant make-up; the screening of positive clones; the recombinant plasmid expression of hybrid protein and its purification. The commission tests of EgF antigen in enzyme immunoassay using 93 human serum samples revealed the following: the sensitivity and specificity were 83.8 and 77.4%, respectively. The recombinant protein of EgF was found to exert a significant protective action on the development of E. multilocularis larvocysts in non-inbred albino mice.

The paper describes a case of abnormal development of a parasitic cyst by the type characteristic of alveolar echinococcosis (exogenous blastogenesis) detected in a female patient operated on for echinococcus. The fact that the exogenous blastogenesis has been found allows the mechanism of a postoperative recurrence of human echinococcosis to be explained from basically new standpoints. A parasitological analysis of the punctates of cystic masses and cysts themselves, taken from patients operated on for cystic echinococcosis has revealed one of the signs of malignant exogenous proliferation of elements of a parasytic metacestode, namely, the development of acephalocysts from the germinative cells of the pedicle of protoscoleces. The capacity of cystic echinococcosis metacestodes for exogenous blastogenesis by the type of human alveolar echinococcosis is an early unknown species-specific feature of E. granulosus.

A method to assess the length polymorphism of restriction fragments of polymerase chain reaction (PCR-LPRF) has been developed and used for the genomic typing of E. granulosus. A scheme optimal under our conditions has been chosen for analysis. To test the chosen scheme, 10 E. granulosus samples from our collection made in Russia and Kazakhstan were examined. The material was obtained from 5 sheep, 1 dog, 2 cows, and 1 man. The E. granulosus genotypes detected in Russia and Kazakhstan do not differ from those described earlier.

The efficacy of the original drug fluzamide (a N,S-containing heterocycle derivative) was evaluated by primary screening on a modified model of monoinvasion with the luminal form of Echinococcus multilocularis and on an original model of intestinal mixed invasion of E. multilocularis and Hymenolepsis nana at the immature and mature stages of the parasites in golden hamsters when an experimental host was immunosuppressed with hydrocortisone. The efficacy of fluzamide in an oral dose of 0.3 g/kg against young E. multilocularis and H. nana (the duration of their invasion was 7 days) was 99.8-100%; that against adult cestodes of both species (their maximum age was 28 days) was 100%. The original method of simulation of intestinal cestodiases in laboratory rodents, which is based on the artificial transplantation of cestodes at the prepatent stage of development from the intestine of infected donors to the intestine of healthy recipients through the latter' stomach during drug immunosuppression, showed its high reliability. There is evidence that transplanted immature strobilar cestodes can survive in the stomach, get acclimated, and continue to develop in the recipients' small bowel up to the stage of formation of infective eggs.

The paper presents a sectional case of primary cardiac Echinococcus infection in a patient with fibrocavernous pulmonary tuberculosis. A whitish thin-wall round-oval cyst, 2 cm across, was detected in the thickness of the lateral left ventricular wall at autopsy. The tinctorial properties of the cyst sheath suggested that the parasite might be viable. The internal germinal layer of its sheath showed minor filial vesicles provided with scolexes. An extensive area of tissue detritis was perifocally detectable near the cystic wall, then peripherally there was a fibrous capsule with developed plethoric vessels and polymorphically cellular inflammatory infiltrate with a predominance of lymphocytes, macrophages, eosinophilic leukocytes, and fibroblasts. Parasitic cardiac damage along with tuberculous infection of respiratory organs had played an important role in the decompensation of performance of the hypertrophic heart and referred to the unified category of the second malaise in the mixed underlying disease.

The antimicrobial properties of the drug Cheblin-CK-1 (CCK-1) were determined in mice intraabdominally inoculated with Proteus mirabilis-4691 in a dose of 140-200 million daily cultured microbial bodies. Its comparison agent was ampicillin. CCK-1 was found to act as an antibiotic similar to ampicillin in its effects. The antimicrobial activity of CCK-1 against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli isolated from the contents of echinococcal cysts from patients operated on was also established. Its echinococcidial activity was found in experiments on the cotton rats and piglets inocculated with echinococci. CCK-1 was also tested on volunteers. Before surgery, 186 patients with echinococcosis took the drug and 26 patients with the same disease did not and they served as controls. At first the drug suppressed the growth of parasitic larvocysts with destruction and death of 85-95% of germinal elements of larvocysts and then killed parasites. In patients receiving a complete course of its therapy, protein and amino acid metabolisms restored, followed by immunity recovery.

This study was experimental and clinical. The experiments were made on 80 cotton rats. The clinical study covered 289 patients operated on for echinococcosis. Earlier studies indicated that echinococcosis is accompanied by secondary immunodeficiency and amino acid metabolic disorders. The homeopathic drug Cheblin-CK-1 used normalized amino acid metabolism 40 days after treatment in these patients. The same properties were displayed by homeopathic drugs.

There has been a rise in the detected cases of echinococcosis in Uzbekistan in the past years. Official data show that 1436 cases were recorded in 1998 while 387 were in 1988, i.e. the incidence increased by 3.7 times. By 2000, Echinococcus seropositive persons are expected to make up 167,300 (0.7%) and there will be 12,520 patients.

Twenty six piglets aged 25 days divided into 4 groups (Groups 1 and 4 included 5 piglets and Groups 2 and 3 comprised 8 ones) were selected. The piglets from Groups 1, 2, and 3 were peritoneally inoculated with 5000 protoscolices and acephalocysts from the cyst of human Echinococcus granulosus by the procedure [4]. Group 4 piglets were not inoculated they served as a control group. Prior to infection, the animals were weighed and their blood was analyzed by the conventional procedure. On day 90 following inoculation, the piglets were killed. All the infected piglets developed Echinococci which grew rapidly, some larvocysts measured as high as 34 mm in diameter and contained alive protoscolices. The Echinococcus-infected animals were found to have changes in blood composition, impaired protein-amino acid metabolism, lower living mass as compared to the controls. The inoculation of embryonic elements of echinococcosis from ill humans to pigs is a model of this disease, which is promising for medical studies.

Experiments were made on 26-month-old piglets divided into 4 groups: Groups 1 and 4 included 5 piglets and Groups 2 and 3 comprised 8 animals. The piglets from Groups 1, 2, and 3 were peritoneally inoculated with 5000 protoscolices and acephalocysts of Echinococcus from patients with echinococcosis who had been operated on. On postinoculation day 60, Group 1 piglets were killed to measure the baseline weight of parasitic larvocysts (PL) developed by that time. On postinoculation day 61, Group 3 piglets continuously received feed in combination with CK-1 within 3 weeks. The mean daily doses of the agent were 0.05, 0.10, 0.25 g/kg, respectively. On day 91 following inoculation, all the animals were killed and dissected. The studies were made by using the procedures and formulas [9]. The growth suppression index for PL was 94.50, 92.39, and 96 for Groups 1, 2, and 3, respectively. Significant destruction of embryonic elements was revealed in 75-85% of PL in each treated animals. There was a tendency for blood indices to become normal in the treated animals. The acute toxicity of CK-1 was examined in outbred white mice, albino rats, chickens, piglets. The maximum non-lethal dose of CK-1 was 19 g/kg for white mice. The agent showed a low toxicity.

The paper describes the synthesis of the new agent G-1697 which is 4-[(benzo-2,1,3-thiadiazolyl-4)amino]-5, 6,7,8-tetrahydrobenzothieno [2,3-d] pyrimidine and the results of testing its acute toxicity and antiparasitic activity on a model of Echinococcus multilocularis invasion at the larval stage in cotton rats. The maximum nonlethal dose of G-1697 was 4.0 g/kg for outbred mice of both sexes whose weight was 14-16 g. Adult cotton rats (males) received the agent with their feed in increasing daily doses for 3 weeks continuously on days 8 to 28 after infection. The daily dose of its active ingredient varied from 0.03 to 0.35 g/kg and averaged 0.12 g/kg (the mean total dose per session was 2.47 g/kg). The baseline weight of parasitic larvocysts (PL) per animal averaged 0.28 g at the baseline. In the treated and control rats sacrificed 34 days following infection, the mean mass of PL per animal was 0.95 and 7.51 g, respectively. In the cotton rats treated with G-1697, the suppressed growth index calculated by three parameters (moderate, maximum, and minimum mass of PL in the animals of the comparable groups after treatment with regard to the similar baseline variables) was 90.8, 91.0 and 92.7, respectively, versus the controls. Among all PL found in each animal, its death was approximately 70-90% in the treated rats.