Experience in using acupuncture reflexotherapy combined with weight-reducing diet therapy in hypertension

AIM: To study the effectiveness of acupuncture in combination with unload diet against hypertension. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 137 patients with mild hypertension have undergone unload diet therapy or therapeutic fasting in combination with acupuncture. Acupuncture therapy was carried out according to the physiological model. The unload diet therapy was performed according to the method of Iu. S. Nikolaev and consisted of voluntary fasting. RESULTS: The treatment resulted in a decrease of cholesterol levels and blood pressure, positive trend in ECG. For 3 years 20 patients with mild hypertension had normal blood pressure. They kept on diet, had short-term courses of fasting, exercised in free-choice regimen. CONCLUSION: Acupuncture in combination with diet therapy are recommended for treatment of blood hypertension. They can be used alone or in combination with drug therapy.     

Pathogenesis of nervous system lesions in epidemic parotitis in children

The authors studied antibodies to the nervous tissue in the blood (pair serum with an interval of 10 days) and in the CSF in 155 patients with epidemic parotitis and signs of neurotoxicosis, parotit meningitis and meningoencephalitis. Depending upon the intensivity of antibody elaboration 3 groups were distinguished. The first group (40 cases), with a high content of antibodies to the nervous tissue, was characterized by a prevalence of encephalitic forms (in 30 of the 40 cases). In the second group (32 cases) with a less antibody content there was a prevalence of meningitis, while meningoencephalitis was seen only in 3 cases. The third group (83 cases) with a low concentration or absence of antibodies was characterized by a mild course of the disease. This group included as well patients with neurotoxicosis. These data may indicate involvement of allergic mechanisms of a retarded type in the pathogenesis of remote lesions of the nervous system in epidemic parotitis.     

Effect of nonachlazine on the frequency and amplitude of isolated atrium contraction

The effect of nonachlazine, a new antianginal drug, on the rate and the amplitude of contractions of the isolated auricle was studied on guinea pigs and albino rats. Unlike the experiments conducted on intact animals, in the experiments on the isolated auricle nonachlazine proved to decrease the above-mentioned indices. This effect of the drug in the case of the isolated auricle is likely to be due to the ability of nonachlazine to cause a direct effect on the myocardium and the conductive heart system. No specific distinctions in the character of nonachlazine action were revealed.     

Quantitative spectrophotometric determination of nipagin in solutions for injections

Polyploid strains of Candida scottii differ by their susceptibility to the action of nistatin. Haploid strain is most resistant, diploid strain is less resistant than haploid strain, and triploid strain is more susceptible than diploid strain. UV-treatment resulted in mutants which were 1.5--2 times more resistant to the action of nistatin than parent forms. The frequency of nistatin-resistant mutants increases with the ploidity of the cultures and with the doses of UV-irradiation.     

The loss of heterozygosity in retinoblastoma and p53 suppressor genes as a prognostic indicator for head and neck cancer

Inactivation of tumor suppressor genes, including p53 and retinoblastoma (Rb), are commonly found in all cancers, including head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Alterations at either p53 or Rb, however, are only weakly associated with tumor aggressiveness. In many cancers loss of heterozygosity (LOH) at multiple loci is associated with decreased survival. The polymerase chain reaction and highly informative microsatellite markers were used to compare DNA from matched sets of 63 head and neck squamous cell cancers and normal tissue for LOH at the p53 and Rb loci. At p53, 50 were informative, with LOH occurring in 19 (38%). Of the 57 that were informative at Rb, LOH occurred in 21 (37%). Of the 46 that were informative at both p53 and Rb, LOH occurred in 10 (22%) at both loci. When LOH for p53 and Rb individually was compared to stage, differentiation, and survival, there was no correlation. However, the patients with LOH at both loci had a significantly poorer survival (P = .009). This strongly supports the contention that simultaneous alterations of these two tumor suppressor genes favor tumor aggressiveness and can be used as a prognostic indicator.     

Correlation of chloroethylnitrosourea resistance with ERCC-2 expression in human tumor cell lines as determined by quantitative competitive polymerase chain reaction

We have developed a method to quantitate ERCC-2 gene expression in tumor cell lines. A mutant ERCC-2 DNA fragment (1-bp mutation) is used as a competitive DNA template in a coamplification PCR reaction with cDNA obtained by reverse transcribing DNase-free total RNA from six human tumor cell lines. The PCR products are separated on agarose gel by virtue of their differential banding pattern upon restriction enzyme digestion. Densitometric readings of the PCR products from a negative film of the gel are used to establish a linear regression curve, which in turn is used to quantitate ERCC-2 levels. Beta-actin expression is similarly quantitated. Normalized ERCC-2 gene expression (either to beta-actin or to total RNA) correlates with cytotoxicity of 1,3-bis-(2-chloroethyl)-1-nitrosourea or (2-chloroethyl)-3-sarcosinamide-1-nitrosourea, suggesting that ERCC-2 may play an important role in drug resistance in these cell lines. This method is reliable and can be used to quantitate gene expression in clinical tumor specimens.     

1H and 15N resonance assignments and secondary structure of cellular retinoic acid-binding protein with and without bound ligand

Sequence-specific assignments for the 1H and 15N backbone resonances of cellular retinoic acid-binding protein (CRABP), with and without the bound ligand, have been obtained. Most of the side-chain resonances of both apo- and holo-CRABP have also been assigned. The assignments have been obtained using two-dimensional homonuclear and heteronuclear NMR data, and three-dimensional 1H-15N TOCSY-HMQC and NOESY-HMQC experiments. The secondary structure, deduced from nuclear Overhauser effects, amide H/D exchange rates and H alpha chemical shifts, is analogous in both forms of the protein and is completely consistent with a model of CRABP that had been constructed by homology with the crystal structure of myelin P2 protein [Zhang et al. (1992) Protein Struct. Funct. Genet., 13, 87-99]. This model comprises two five-stranded beta-sheets that form a sandwich or beta-clam structure, and a short N-terminal helix-turn-helix motif that closes the binding cavity between the two sheets. Comparison of the data obtained for apo- and holo-CRABP indicates that a region around the C-terminus of the second helix is much more flexible in the apo-protein. Our data provide experimental evidence for the hypothesis that the ligand-binding mechanism of CRABP, and of other homologous proteins that bind hydrophobic ligands in the cytoplasm, involves opening of a portal to allow entry of the ligand into the cavity.     

Simultaneous determination of maltose and glucose using a screen-printed electrode system

A screen-printed sensor system consisting of a glucose oxidase (GOD) electrode and an amyloglucosidase/glucose oxidase (A/G) electrode was constructed to determine maltose and glucose simultaneously in a mixture. Sensor construction was optimised so that it contained 20 units of GOD/40 units of amyloglucosidase and 0.2 mM 1,1'-ferrocenedimethanol. These components were deposited onto a screen-printed carbon electrode and an outer membrane was printed from 3.5% hydroxyethyl cellulose (HEC) solution. The optimum pH was 4.8. The linear range of the system was up to 40 mM glucose or 20 mmol/L maltose with coefficients of variation (CVs) ranging from 3.5% to 5.29%. The results obtained by using the enzyme electrode system agreed well with those obtained by the Fehling titration method. When stored dry, especially at 4 degrees C, the enzyme electrodes showed good stability over four months.