Opportunistic microorganisms in respiratory tract diseases in patients of the Moscow Province region

The respiratory tract microflora in patients with inflammatory processes of the upper and lower respiratory tracts in the Moscow Province region has been studied. Changes in the microflora were found to occur in patients with pyoinflammatory diseases (PID) of the upper and lower respiratory tracts have been found to occur. Gram-positive cocci, mainly staphylococci and streptococci, were shown to play the leading etiological role in the development of PID. As revealed in this study, the microorganisms detected in the inflammations of the upper and lower respiratory tracts are coagulase-negative staphylococci, mainly S. epidermidis, as well as enterococci and streptococci belonging to the group viridans.     

Opportunistic microorganisms: the causative agents of food toxicoinfections and acute intestinal diseases

The analysis of sporadic morbidity due to acute intestinal infections and toxicoinfections caused by potentially pathogenic microorganisms is presented. The hypothesis stating that different pathogenic agents have different levels of pathogenic potential at a given stage of their evolution is proposed. Microorganisms with a low level of pathogenicity potential are characterized by the prevalence of the syndrome of toxicoinfection and by the rarity or absence of the syndrome of an acute intestinal disease. The prevalence of the latter is characteristic of potentially pathogenic microbes with a high level of pathogenicity potential making them similar to complete parasites.     

Comparative population study of the etiological role of causative agents of purulent inflammatory diseases and serum antibodies to antigens of opportunistic microorganisms

The comparative study of the relationship between the levels of serum antibodies to the antigens of opportunistic microorganisms of 5 genera (Pseudomonas, Proteus, Staphylococcus, Klebsiella, Escherichia) and the microbial status was carried out. A total of 854 patients from 10 profile departments of a surgical hospital were examined. Population analysis and statistical methods of processing the results of the examination of 353 practically healthy subjects and 268 blood and plasma donors permitted the norms for the levels of specific antimicrobial antibodies (decreased, normal, elevated levels) were established. The constancy coefficients of Pseudomonas, Staphylococcus, Klebsiella, Escherichia and the number of patients with elevated titers of specific serum antibodies were found to be positively correlated (r = +0.47-0.89, p < 0.01). The data thus obtained made it possible to substantiate the importance of population serological investigations for the evaluation of the epidemiological situation in the surgical hospital.     

Immunostimulant preparation made from the antigens of opportunistic microorganisms in the treatment of inflammatory lung diseases

The results of the trial of an immunostimulating preparation, consisting of Klebsiella pneumoniae, Proteus, Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus antigenic complexes, on 20 patients with acute pulmonary abscess and bronchiectasis are presented. The preparation was introduced subcutaneously in 5 injections. The preparation was found to have low reactogenicity, and in the course of immunotherapy the manifestations of systemic and local reactions became considerably less pronounced. Immunotherapy produced a good curative effect, objectively manifested by a decrease in coughing and in the amount of sputum gradually changing its character. After the fourth and fifth injections the patients no longer ejected purulent sputum. Fluoroscopic examination revealed a considerable decrease in the size of the pathological focus. The preparation stimulated immunological reactions, and immunization resulted in a considerable increase in the titer of antibodies to all components of the combined preparation, as well as in an increase in the number of functionally active T-lymphocytes, in the blood of the patients.     

Taurine and inflammatory diseases

Taurine (2-aminoethanesulfonic acid) is the most abundant free amino acid in humans and plays an important role in several essential biological processes such as bile acid conjugation, maintenance of calcium homeostasis, osmoregulation and membrane stabilization. Moreover, attenuation of apoptosis and its antioxidant activity seem to be crucial for the cytoprotective effects of taurine. Although these properties are not tissue specific, taurine reaches particularly high concentrations in tissues exposed to elevated levels of oxidants (e.g., inflammatory cells). It suggests that taurine may play an important role in inflammation associated with oxidative stress. Indeed, at the site of inflammation, taurine is known to react with and detoxify hypochlorous acid generated by the neutrophil myeloperoxidase (MPO)–halide system. This reaction results in the formation of less toxic taurine chloramine (TauCl). Both haloamines, TauCl and taurine bromamine (TauBr), the product of taurine reaction with hypobromous acid (HOBr), exert antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties. In contrast to a well-documented regulatory role of taurine and taurine haloamines (TauCl, TauBr) in acute inflammation, their role in the pathogenesis of inflammatory diseases is not clear. This review summarizes our current knowledge concerning the role of taurine, TauCl and TauBr in the pathogenesis of inflammatory diseases initiated or propagated by MPO-derived oxidants. The aim of this paper is to show links between inflammation, neutrophils, MPO, oxidative stress and taurine. We will discuss the possible contribution of taurine and taurine haloamines to the pathogenesis of inflammatory diseases, especially in the best studied example of rheumatoid arthritis.     

促炎症消退介质脂氧素与炎症性疾病

脂氧素是炎症过程中产生的具有特征性三羟四烯结构的花生四烯酸衍生物,因具有独特的促炎症消退功效而成为目前炎症研究和新药开发的焦点.越来越多的研究征实,脂氧素代谢及效应的异常与临床多种炎症相关性疾病的发生发展关系密切.目前认为炎症自限机制发生障碍才是炎症失控的根本原因,而"促炎症消退"成为炎症治疗的新策略.     

Adenosine in inflammatory joint diseases

Inflammatory joint diseases are a group of heterogeneous disorders with a variety of different etiologies and disease manifestations. However, there are features that are common to all of them: first, the recruitment of various inflammatory cell types that are attracted to involved tissues over the course of the disease process. Second, the treatments used in many of these diseases are commonly medications that suppress or alter immune function. The demonstration that adenosine has endogenous anti-inflammatory functions and that some of the most commonly used anti-rheumatic medications exert their therapeutic effects through stimulation of adenosine release suggest an important role for purinergic signaling in inflammatory rheumatic disorders.     

Nuclear receptors and inflammatory diseases

It is well known that the steroid hormone glucocorticoid and its nuclear receptor regulate the inflammatory process, a crucial component in the pathophysiological process related to human diseases that include atherosclerosis, obesity and type II diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease, Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis, and liver tumors. Growing evidence demonstrates that orphan and adopted orphan nuclear receptors, such as peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors, liver x receptors, the farnesoid x receptor, NR4As, retinoid x receptors, and the pregnane x receptor, regulate the inflammatory and metabolic profiles in a ligand-dependent or -independent manner in human and animal models. This review summarizes the regulatory roles of these nuclear receptors in the inflammatory process and the underlying mechanisms.