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Aim: Evaluate safety of prophylaxis of viral hemorrhagic fevers by specific heterologous immunoglobulins., Materials and Methods: Clinical-laboratory examination of 24 individuals after intramuscular administration of heterologous Ebola immunoglobulin was carried out. Anaphylactogenicity of the immunoglobulins was studied by WD 42-28-8-89 in guinea pigs compared with commercial preparations., Results: Immediate type reactions were not observed. In individuals with normal anamnesis the number of local reactions was 31%, general in the form of lung serum disease - 13%. In individuals with unfavorable anamnesis against the background of desensitization therapy there were almost no reactions; without it local reactions were present in 50%, mild severity serum lung disease - in 17%, medium - in 33%. Immunoglobulins against especially dangerous viral agents by anaphylactogenic properties did not differ from commercial heterologous preparations., Conclusion: Application of specific immunoglobulins from horse blood sera (the main means of protection from dangerous and especially dangerous exotic viral infections) with compliance by desensitization principles is relatively safe. Safe level of sensitization properties is characterized by anaphylaxis index up to 3.7 for guinea pigs.

Previous studies have shown that signs of drowning in fresh water are of low diagnostic value. Regardless of the mechanism of drowning death, a certain amount of water enters the blood and somehow changes its composition. The objective of this study was to determine water fractions in the blood of drowned subjects. It included 30 cases of drowning deaths. The control group comprised 30 cases of hanging and 7 bodies found in water after the death on land. The water content in the blood was measured in accordance with the universally accepted diagnostic procedure from the difference of freezing temperatures of free and bound water. It was shown that arterial blood and its constituent components as well as whole venous blood and concentrated red cells mass of drowned subjects contained significantly more water than the blood of those who died on land. The rise was in the first place attributable to the selective increase of the free water fraction. Changes of water content in the blood were virtually identical in the drowned subjects who died from asphyxia and from aspiration of water. The data obtained in this study may be used as additional diagnostic signs of drowning death.

A comparative study of the adhesion of epiphytic bacteria and marine free-living, saprophytic, and pathogenic bacteria on seagrass leaves and abiotic surfaces was performed to prove the occurrence of true epiphytes of Zostera marina and to elucidate the bacterium-plant symbiotrophic relationships. It was shown that in the course of adhesion to the seagrass leaves of two taxonomically different bacteria, Cytophaga sp. KMM 3552 and Pseudoalteromonas citrea KMM 461, isolated from the seagrass surface, the number of viable cells increased 3-7-fold after 60 h of incubation, reaching 1.0-2.0 x 10(5) cells/cm2; however, in the case of adhesion of these bacteria to abiotic surfaces, such as glass or metal, virtually no viable cells were observed after 60 h of incubation. Such selectivity of cell adhesion was not observed in the case of three other bacterial species studied, viz., Vibrio alginolyticus KMM 3551, Bacillus subtilis KMM 430, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa KMM 433. The amount of viable cells of V. alginolyticus KMM 3551 adsorbed on glass and metal surfaces increased twofold after 40 h of incubation. The cells of saprophytic B. subtilis KMM 430 and pathogenic P. aeruginosa KMM 433 adsorbed on three studied substrata remained viable for 36 h and died by the 60th hour of incubation.

A comparative study of the lipid composition of 26 strains (including type strains) of marine Gammaproteobacteria belonging to the genera Shewanella, Alteromonas, Pseudoalteromonas, Marinobacterium, Microbulbifer, and Marinobacter was carried out. The bacteria exhibited genus-specific profiles of ubiquinones, phospholipids, and fatty acids, which can serve as reliable chemotaxonomic markers for tentative identification of new isolates. The studied species of the genus Shewanella were distinguished by the presence of two types of isoprenoid quinones, namely, ubiquinones Q-7 and Q-8 and menaquinones MK-7 and MMK-7; five phospholipids typical of this genus, namely, phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), phosphatidylglycerol (PG), diphosphatidylglycerol (DPG), lyso-PE, and acyl-PG; and the fatty acids 15:0, 16:0, 16:1 (n-7), 17:1 (n-8), i-13:0, and i-15:0. The high level of branched fatty acids (38-45%) and the presence of eicosapentaenoic acid (4%) may serve as criteria for the identification of this genus. Unlike Shewanella spp., bacteria of the other genera contained a single type of isoprenoid quinone: Q-8 (Alteromonas, Pseudoalteromonas, Marinobacterium, and Microbulbifer) or Q-9 (Marinobacter). The phospholipid compositions of these bacteria were restricted to three components: two major phospholipids (PE and PG) and a minor phospholipid, bisphosphatidic acid (Alteromonas and Pseudoalteromonas) or DPG (Marinobacterium, Microbulbifer, and Marinobacter). The bacteria exhibited genus-specific profiles of fatty acids.

The influence of laser therapy on the course of Parkinson's disease (PD) was studied in 70 patients. This influence appeared adaptogenic both in the group with elevated and low MAO B and Cu/Zn SOD activity. Laser therapy resulted in reduction of neurological deficit, normalization of the activity of MAO B, Cu/Zn-SOD and immune indices. There was a correlation between humoral immunity and activity of the antioxidant enzymes (SOD, catalase). This justifies pathogenetically the use of laser therapy in PD.

Are cited data about identification regulators of materials non-mediators of the nature executing direct and return (ortho- and retrograde) interplay of motoneurons and myocytes of a skeletal musculation. Neuro- and myotrophogenes are submitted by polypeptide materials dispossessed by specific specificity. The definite functional properties and endocellular processes in muscle cages and motoneurons are adjusted by miscellaneous kinds conforming neuro- and myotrophogenes.

Results of comparative studies of tableted and epicutaneous live smallpox vaccines are presented. In experiments on rabbits by using histological, immunofluorescent, immunological and virological methods, higher safety and efficiency of the tableted vaccine than that of traditional smallpox epicutaneous vaccine were determined. The natural and physiological character of oral immunization was shown. The oral immunization was concluded to be a safe method of inoculation now and perspective for the use of recombinant vaccines based on vaccine virus in the absence of population immunity against smallpox.

Two strains KMM 3296 and KMM 3298, isolated from the surface of brown algae Chorda filum and Fucus evanescens thalli and strain KMM 3297, isolated from celomic fluid of holoturian Apostichopus japonicus, were identified as Pseudoalteromonas citrea on the basis of pheno-, geno- and phylotypic features. The studied bacteria were different from other bacteria of the species as to their ability to destruct sulphated polysaccharides of brown algae, fucoidans.

A promising producer of extracellular amylases, Aspergillus flavipes, was selected from 245 strains of marine fungi. Depending on the conditions of growth, this strain produced diverse amylolytic complexes. When grown on medium containing peptone and yeast extract (pH 7.0), A. flavipes synthesized three forms of amylase, differing in pH optimum (5.5, 6.0, and 7.5). A single form of the enzyme was synthesized either in the absence of peptone from the medium or at the initial pH value of the medium, equal to 8.6. The activity of the isolated amylase forms decreased in the presence of proteolytic enzymes. New, highly stable forms of amylase (with pH optima of 5.5 and 7.5 and maximum activity at 60-80 degrees C) were synthesized in the presence of diisopropyl fluorophosphate, an inhibitor of proteases.

It was found that Pseudoalteromonas citrea strains KMM 3296 and KMM 3298 isolated from the brown algae Fucus evanescens and Chorda filum, respectively, and strain 3297 isolated from the sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus are able to degrade fucoidans. The fucoidanases of these strains efficiently degraded the fucoidan of brown algae at pH 6.5-7.0 and remained active at 40-50 degrees C. The endo-type hydrolysis of fucoidan resulted in the formation of sulfated alpha-L-fucooligosaccharides. The other nine strains of P. citrea studied (including the type strain of this species), which were isolated from other habitats, were not able to degrade fucoidan.

The results of fundamental and applied investigations on the development and trial of the oral administration of smallpox vaccine and live recombinant smallpox-hepatitis vaccine (Revax VT) in tablets are summarized. In comparative experiments on animals (rabbits, monkeys and guinea pigs) and human immunization the oral smallpox vaccine in tablets was shown to ensure equal effectiveness and greater safety in comparison with traditional smallpox vaccine for skin application. The study confirmed the natural and physiological character of oral immunization as a result of direct contact of immunogen with the mucous membrane of the digestive tract--an essential immunocompetent organ of the lymphoid system. The conclusion was made that oral immunization was the safe and most promising method of immunization against smallpox under modern conditions.

The taxonomic position of the marine genera Alteromonas, Pseudoalteromonas, Idiomarina, and Colwellia within the gamma subclass of the class Proteobacteria were specified on the basis of their phenotypic, genotypic, and phylogenetic characteristics. Gram-negative aerobic bacteria of the genera Alteromonas, Pseudoalteromonas, and Idiomarina and facultatively anaerobic bacteria of the genus Colwellia were found to form a phylogenetic cluster with a 16S rRNA sequence homology of 90% or higher. The characteristics of these genera presented in this paper allow their reliable taxonomic identification. Based on the analysis of our experimental data and analyses available in the literature, we propose to combine the genera Alteromonas, Pseudoalteromonas, Idiomarina, and Colwellia into a new family, Alteromonadaceae fam. nov., with the type genus Alteromonas.

The problem of transgenic plants application to production of antigens, antibodies, enzymes, and hormones is discussed. Transgenic plants are a highly effective system for production of bioactive molecules. Prospects for using transgenic plants expressing viral and bacterial antigens for mucosal immunization are discussed.

The study of the phospholipid composition of 14 type strains of marine proteobacteria of the genus Pseudoalteromonas showed that phospholipids are the main polar lipid constituents of membranes in these proteobacteria. The phospholipid patterns of the strains studied were found to be similar and involved five phospholipids typical of gram-negative bacteria, namely, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, bisphosphatidic acid, lysophosphatidylethanolamine, and phosphatidic acid. The major phospholipids were phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylglycerol, which add up to 89-97% of total phospholipids; bisphosphatidic acid was dominant among minor phospholipids. The prevalence of phosphatidylethanolamine (62-77% of total phospholipids) and the absence of diphosphatidylglycerol are the characteristic features of most bacteria of this genus. As in Escherichia coli, the phospholipid composition of the marine proteobacteria depended on the presence of magnesium in the medium.

Twenty-five strains of epiphytic marine bacteria isolated from the brown algae Fucus evanescens and Chorda filum and fifty-three bacteria isolated from the sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus were screened for fucoidanases using fucoidans prepared from the brown algae F. evanescens, Laminaria cichorioides, and L. japonica. Eighteen bacterial epiphytes and thirty-eight bacterial isolates from the sea cucumber were found to contain fucoidanases, which were able to hydrolyze either all of the fucoidans studied or some of them. Bacteria of the genera Cytophaga and Alteromonas/Pseudoalteromonas exhibited the highest fucoidanase activities, which, however, did not exceed the activity of fucoidanases from the already known sources.

A competitive ELISA using the intact toxin as a coating antigen for detecting palytoxin was developed. This immunoassay allows palytoxin (PTX) to be determined in the range of 6-250 ng/ml. In sensitivity, this determination is comparable with RIA but is three times inferior to ELISA using monoclonal antibodies. Inhibition experiments using some toxins of marine invertebrates proved the serological specificity of the palytoxin binding to antibodies. Both the indirect and competitive ELISA were used to find PTX-producing bacteria among 420 isolates of sea bacteria. It was found that gram-negative bacteria Aeromonas sp. and Vibrio sp. associated with toxic samples of the soft coral Palythoa sp. produced compounds antigenically related to PTX.

Residual virulence of three vaccinia strains: Neurovaccine, L-IVP, and its recombinant Revacs-B expressing HBs and preS2 antigens of hepatitis B virus is compared. Insertion of HBs and preS2 antigens of hepatitis B virus in the genome of vaccinia virus strain L-IVP decreases its residual virulence and leads to a benign course of vaccinal reaction involving no deaths of rabbits, cotton rats, or guinea pigs. We may expect that recombinant vaccine Revacs B based on L-IVP strain will cause no postvaccinal complications under conditions of an appreciable decrease in population immunity to vaccinia virus.

Presents the methods of oral and enteral administration of vaccines in tablets. Describes the method of oral administration with a sponge and the technique of administering large and small tablets in the intestinal tract. Describes the specific features of administering tablets to mice, guinea pigs, rabbits, and monkeys.

The authors validate the efficiency of pathogenetic approach to the development of urgent measures for the prevention and therapy of Ebola fever. The virus circulating in the body is to be blocked as soon as possible and the impaired functions and systems repaired. Therapy of Ebola fever should be based on the earliest possible and sufficiently prolonged administration of specific immunoglobulins in combination with pathogenetic drugs.

The epidemic process of cholera in a mental-hospital setting is to a great extent influenced by specific factors. In view of a danger of cholera being brought into a mental in-patient facility the authors insist, based on their own experience, that in summer and autumn seasons in South regions and urban settlements with unstable, in respect of cholera, epidemic situation, not only patients with intestinal disfunction be examined for cholera but all those individuals to be managed at above facility. It is all-important for a mental hospital to have a plan at their disposal of primary antiepidemic measures to be instituted in case dangerous infections will pose too difficult a problem to deal with, with pharmacy being envisaged, provided with all the stores required.

An enzyme immunoassay system has been developed for the detection of Ebola virus antigen. It permits a highly accurate and sensitive rapid detection of the antigen. Optimal dilutions of specific immunoglobulin (1:500, corresponding to protein concentration of 50 micrograms/ml) and conjugate were found. The resolving capacity of the new test system is 1.9 x 10(-7) g protein.

High effectiveness of C.burnetii strain M-44 was confirmed in experimental studies on subcutaneously immunized guinea pigs ¿correction of pig] after their intratracheal infection with the virulent culture of the infective agent. The study revealed that the dose necessary for the enteral immunization of guinea pigs and monkeys was 10(4.8) -- 10(5.0) times less than that needed for the oral immunization of the animals. Live enteral vaccine obtained on the basis of this strain possessed sufficiently pronounced immunogenic and protective properties, protecting 75% of immunized monkeys from subcutaneous infection with C.burnetii virulent culture.

On the basis of their earlier formula for modeling the possible development of the epidemic process of louse-borne exanthematous typhus the authors have calculated the probability of the development of such process for high indices (10 -- 12 % of convalescents with louse contamination rate among them reaching 20 -- 40 %) characterizing this process. The number of sources of this infection (primary patients), as well as the rate of increase and scale of louse contamination of the population, are of prime importance for the prognostication of the development of the epidemic.

Immunoglobulin to Ebola fever has been for the first time prepared from hyperimmune equine blood sera by alcohol fractionation after Cohn. Preclinical study of the physicochemical and immunobiological properties of immunoglobulin showed that it protects up to 100% Papio hamadryas infected intramuscularly at doses of 110 to 29 LD50 Ebola virus. Scheme for the use of Ebola immunoglobulin has been experimentally validated.

Immunization of horses with Ebola virus resulted in production of specific virus-neutralizing antibodies with their maximal level attained on days 28 to 42 postimmunization. Repeated cycles of immunization lead to increase of antibodies titer to 1:4096.

Strain KMM 457 of Bacillus subtilis was isolated from a frozen sample of the soft coral Sarcophyton sp. The samples were collected in 1989 in the South China Sea near the Vietnam Shore during an expedition on the board of R/V "Akademik Oparin". Metabolites of the isolate were investigated and it was found to produce a number of physiologically active compounds. One of them designated as OGA showed fungicidal activity. By the physicochemical properties it was referred to the group of iturins. The comparison with the described antibiotics of the iturin group suggested that it was a new representative of the iturin group.

Studies of the origin of bioactive metabolites of marine actinomycetes are reviewed. Structures and properties of new metabolites from indigenous marine bacteria from Actinomycetales order, such as a benzanthraquinone antibiotic from a strain of the Chainia purpurogena, istamycins, aplasmomycins, altemicidin, new phenazine esters. C13-butanolide, marinone and debromomarinone, palmyromycin, urauchimicins and some others compounds are presented. Prospects of marine biotechnology and microbiology (with considerable emphasis on the development of the basis biology of marine microorganisms in cultures collection) are discussed.

The distribution of the alpha-N-acetylgalactosidases producers among 856 marine bacteria isolated from sea water, sediments and associated with sponges, mollusks, echinoderms inhabited in different area of the Pacific Ocean and 423 Baikalian microorganisms from fresh water and sponges have been studied. About 24% as marine as Baikalian strains produced this enzyme. The most number of alpha-N-Ac-galactosidase producers were found for marine bacteria genera Aeromonas, Alteromonas and Vibrio (71% and by 60%, respectively) and Baikalian microorganisms genera Aeromonas and Bacillus (40% and 31%, respectively). alpha-N-Acetyl-galactosidase was not found for marine arthrobacters, Flexibacter-Cytophaga and baikalian Micrococcus and Rhodococcus. The promising sources of the alpha-N-Ac-galactosidases were found among Alteromonas and Bacillus.

Immunization of horses with Ebola virus resulted in the production of specific virus-neutralizing antibody with maximum titres at 28-42 days. Repeated cycles of immunization led to a rise in antibody titres to 1:4096.

The protective role of virus-neutralizing antibody was demonstrated in Ebola virus-infected animals (Papio hamadryas) used in experiments on the development of passive humoral immunity by using specific immunoglobulin. Two immunizations of the monkeys with purified concentrated Ebola virus antigen with complete Freund adjuvant was shown to confirm intensive immunity to subsequent challenge protecting 80% of the immunized animals. It is concluded that effective preparations may be developed for specific prophylaxis of Ebola fever.

With the use of the unified indirect solid-phase fluorescent enzyme immunoassay the combined evaluation of the antigenic and immunogenic properties of experimental whole-virion inactivated virus vaccines against Venezuelan and eastern equine encephalomyelitides, as well as of dried chemical typhus vaccine, has been made; their safety was determined indirectly by the content of ovalbumin. The protective role of antibodies evaluated by the solid-phase fluorescent enzyme immunoassay in typhus immunity has been shown.

The Lowry method was used to estimated protein levels in the submaxillary salivary glands, oral mucosa and saliva during pilocarpine-induced and uninduced secretion in acute Staphylococcal inflammation of oral soft tissue. It has been shown that protein levels were unchanged in the salivary glands and oral mucosa in unstimulated and stimulated secretion following 2 hours. After 24 hours, they were also unchanged in the salivary glands and oral mucosa in unstimulated secretion, but in stimulated secretion the levels of protein were increased. It is concluded that in pilocarpine-induced secretion, there was increased defense of mucosal soft tissue and salivary gland tissue due to higher protein levels in the interstitial space.

In rats with local chronic carrageenin-induced inflammation of oral soft tissue, the levels of catecholamines and protein were measured in the submaxillary salivary glands, oral mucosa during pilocarpine-induced and background secretions and in saliva during induced secretion. The levels of epinephrine and protein were found to be increased during background secretion in the oral mucosa in chronic inflammation. After stimulation of a secretory cycle in the salivary glands, the contents of epinephrine were increased, but those of protein were decreased. The levels of epinephrine, norepinephrine and proteins were higher in the oral mucosa. It is concluded that chronic oral soft tissue inflammation results in an increase in neurotrophic effects on oral tissues, which contributes to the formation of their protection preventing the generalization of acute inflammation and its transformation to chronic forms.