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Introduction: Hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) holds a leading place among natural focal human diseases in Russian Federation. There is no etiotropic therapy for the disease now. The vaccine prophylaxis is the most effective method to control this infection. The main criteria for inactivated vaccines evaluation are its immunogenicity and specific activity.The study purposes were to develop a sensitive and specific real-time PCR method for viral RNA quantification in the inactivated vaccine and to study the correlation between the viral RNA amount and vaccine immunogenicity., Material and Methods: L-segment fragments of the Puumala, Hantaan, and Sochi vaccine strains were selected as diagnostic targets for oligonucleotides and fluorescent probes. The immunogenicity of experimental vaccines was determined by the induction of neutralizing antibodies in BALB/c mice., Results: A highly specific, sensitive and reproducible real-time PCR method has been developed. The analytical sensitivity was 1.24 ± 1.5 x 102 copies/ml for Puumala virus; 1.16 ± 1.4 * 102 copies/ml for Hantaan; 1.32 ± 1.8 * 102 copies/ ml for Sochi, with a virus content of 1.5 ± 0.5 lg FFU/ml; 1.8 ± 0.5 lg FFU/ml and 2.2 ± 0.5 lg FFU/ml, respectively. The viral RNA amount in experimental vaccine preparations inactivated with β-propiolactone was proportional to the neutralizing antibodies titer observed in mice following the immunization., Discussion: It was found that different virus inactivators differently affects the detected viral RNA amount, but not the vaccine immunogenicity, which indicates the same degree of the immunogenic proteins damage. The direct relationship between the viral RNA copy number and vaccine immunogenicity makes it possible to use this criterion for vaccine dosage preparation., Conclusion: The developed method for viral RNA quantification is a promising tool for the specific activity control of the HFRS vaccine.

Rabies virus is endemic to Russia, among other countries. It is therefore critical to develop a high-quality and high-precision diagnostic procedure for the control and prevention of infection. The main objective of the research presented here was to develop a reliable RT-qPCR assay for rabies diagnostics. For this purpose, a RABV strains from various biological and geographical origins were used. In addition, rabies-positive and rabies-negative samples, as well as nucleic acids from other viruses and DNA extracted from the brain tissues of mice, dogs, cats, bats and humans, were studied using the developed assay. The analytical sensitivity of the assay, as assessed using armored recombinant positive control dilutions, was 10 3 copies/ml, and the sensitivity measured using characterized strains was between 0.1 LD50/ml and 1.0 LD50/ml. A broad range of RNA from RABV strains circulating in different regions of Russia, as well as RNA from RABV-positive primary brain samples from 81 animals and two humans, was detected using the developed assay. No false-positive or false-negative results were obtained. Given that high analytical and diagnostic sensitivities and a high specificity were verified for this assay, it has high potential as a screening test that may be suitable for the epizootiological monitoring of animals and for the fast postmortem diagnosis of rabies., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

This article presents the results of a comprehensive survey of the burden of tick-borne infectious diseases (TBIDs) in the Altai region of Russia. Official data for TBID incidence were analyzed and 201 samples from patients with suspected TBID were studied. Furthermore, questing ticks and ticks recovered from humans were examined to estimate prevalence of TBID-causative agents. The Altai region was determined to have a heightened risk for TBIDs in Russia. The most epidemiologically significant tick-borne illness in this area is spotted fever group rickettsiosis, while nationally in Russia, the leading TBID is Lyme borreliosis. The prevalence of mixed infection was 12.4% among the studied cases. Additionally, the prevalence of poorly studied pathogens - Kemerovo virus (KEMV) and Rickettsia tarasevichiae - in ticks from the Altai region was determined., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.)

Background: Rabies is prevalent in 150 countries and is definitely found in Russian Federation. The average registered incidence of rabies infection among animals in Russia is 3000 cases per year. At least 500,000 cases of animal bites and scratches are registered in the Russia every year, but only 2-4 cases of rabies infection in humans are reported per year. This relatively low incidence of rabies infection among humans is the result of a well-organized program of rabies surveillance and control as well as the readily available vaccination and immunoglobulin therapies. However, physician awareness of rabies infection in patients with acute encephalopathy is low, and some cases of rabies remain undiagnosed., Objectives: A retrospective study of autopsy materials from patients who died of encephalitis of unknown etiology in the Astrakhan region of Russia in 2003., Study Design: A broad-range polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis followed by high throughput sequencing were used for the diagnosis., Results: Two cases of rabies were detected and subsequently confirmed using a fluorescent antibody test, an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and a mouse inoculation test. Two strains of rabies virus were isolated and characterized using virological methods. The entire genome of each strain was sequenced., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

In early February 2014, an outbreak of the Ebola virus disease caused by Zaire ebolavirus (EBOV) occurred in Guinea; cases were also recorded in other West African countries with a combined population of approximately 25 million. A rapid, sensitive and inexpensive method for detecting EBOV is needed to effectively control such outbreak. Here, we report a real-time reverse-transcription PCR assay for Z. ebolavirus detection used by the Specialized Anti-epidemic Team of the Russian Federation during the Ebola virus disease prevention mission in the Republic of Guinea. The analytical sensitivity of the assay is 5 × 10(2) viral particles per ml, and high specificity is demonstrated using representative sampling of viral, bacterial and human nucleic acids. This assay can be applied successfully for detecting the West African strains of Z. ebolavirus as well as on strains isolated in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2014., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

To improve the diagnosis, surveillance, and control for the rabies virus, a kit for hybridization-triggered fluorescence detection of rabies virus DNA by the RT-PCR technique was developed and evaluated. The analytical sensitivity of the kit was 4*10 GE per ml. High specificity of the kit was shown using representative sampling of viral, bacterial, and human nucleic acids.

The study of 146 patents with liver cirrhosis of different classes using clinical, endoscopic, morphological and immunohistochemical methods revealed characteristic colonic changes. The destructive and atrophic changes in colonic mucosa were associated with increased morphometric parameters of serotonin- and chromogranin A-positive epithelyocytes. Capillary dilatation in colonic mucosa developed earlier than rectal varicose veins and may be an earlier sign of portal colonopathy.

Research Objective: to define a role of structural and functional changes of a colon, expression indicators of epithelial cells of mucous coat of colon that produce serotonin and hromogranin-A at in encephalopathy development at liver cirrhoses. We have examined 146 patients with liver cirrhosis of various classes using the clinical, endoscopic, morphologic and immunohistochemical methods. It is established that with increase of a class of a cirrhosis frequency of revealing of a hepatic encephalopathy, structural changes, degree dysbacteriosis of a colon. Progressing of a hepatic encephalopathy at liver cirrhoses associates with development destructive and atrophic changes of a mucous membrane of a colon and a dysbacteriosis. The increase in the morphometric rates of epithelial cells of mucous coat of colon that produce serotonin and hromogranin-A at liver cirrhoses plays a part in development of a manifesting of a hepatic encephalopathy.

We have found out the clinical presentations and peculiarities of endoscopic and morphologic view of pathologies of mucous membrane of gastroduodenal zone caused by liver cirrhosis. We have examined 74 patients with liver cirrhosis of viral and nonviral etiology using the clinical, endoscopic, morphologic and immunohistochemical methods.We have found that during liver cirrhosis morphometric rates of epithelial cells of mucous coat of stomach that produce somatostatin and endothelin-1 decrease and morphometric rates of epithelial cells that produce nitrogen oxide synthase increase. We have also found out that during liver cirrhosis proliferate activity decrease and apoptosis of epithelial cell of mucous coat of stomach increase.

Clinical presentation, endoscopic picture and morphological changes of gastric and duodenal mucosa were evaluated in 75 patients with chronic hepatitis of different (viral and non-viral) etiology. Endoscopic, morphological, and immunohistochemical studies revealed deterioration of morphometric characteristics of somatostatin-immunopositive epitheliocytes in gastric mucosa and their improvement in epitheliocytes producing endothelin-1 and nitric oxide synthase. These changes were associated with decreased proliferative activity and enhanced apoptosis of epitheliocytes in gastric mucosa.

The dynamics of T- and B-immunity state of spleens from rats, exposed to chronic gamma-radiation at a dose rate of 0.129 Gy per day was investigated. It was shown that during 77 days of irradiation (total absorbed dose 10 Gy) the level of T-lymphocyte mitogenic activation experiences wavy inhibition, which correlates with the rate of lymphopenia within the same period of exposure.