Vitamin E, ubiquinone and ubiquinone-dependent enzymes in experimental myocarditis

It is shown that a day after introduction of adrenaline which evokes experimental focal myocarditis the level of ubiquinone and vitamin E content in the myocardial mitochondria increases by 56.8 and 122%, respectively. Succinate-ubiquinone-reductase activity in mitochondria remains practically unchanged, while NADH-ubiquinone-reductase activity considerably falls. 5 days after the focal myocarditis reproduction the content of ubiquinone and NADH-ubiquinone-reductase activity of mitochondria return to the norm, while the vitamin E amount remains higher than in intact animals. 24h after adrenaline introduction the level of succinate-ubiquinone-reductase activity of blood leucocytes considerably grows. It is not normalized even on the 5th day after adrenaline administration. It is supposed that the level of this activity may be an index showing development of the focal myocarditis.     

The Ergotropic Activity Index as an Integral Indicator of the Suprasegmental Autonomic Activity

Thirty healthy males between 19 and 25 years of age were examined to develop a method for estimating the suprasegmental autonomic activity. Analysis of the data obtained revealed the most informative indices along with a factor that had positive correlations with the ergotropic autonomic activity indices and negative correlations with the trophotropic autonomic activity indices. This factor was termed the ergotropic activity index. The information content of this factor was analyzed in a thermal environment and clinically in 40 patients with autonomic crises. The effectiveness of this method was tested, and the method was judged to be sufficiently adequate for clinical practice. The procedure developed for estimating the suprasegmental autonomic activity was demonstrated to be a highly informative method for revealing the predominance of either ergotropic or trophotropic activity in healthy subjects and patients with autonomic dystonia and for forecasting heat tolerance in humans. This method can be used during physiological and neurophysiological observations and in clinical practice     

Selection of mutants of microorganisms utilizing ethanol

Mutants of the bacteria Acinetobacter calcoaceticus 34 and Acinetobacter sp. 172 as well as of the yeast Candida requinyii 316 resistant to acetaldehyde grow better in a medium with ethanol than their parent cultures. In their specific growth rate and alcohol dehydrogenase activity, 28.7-66.7% of such mutants are superior to any clone isolated in a non-selective medium. A medium containing ethanol and acetaldehyde (0.5 to 1.0% by volume) is proposed to select and isolate highly productive mutants.     

Mechanically activated transformations in the coordination sphere of platinum complexes induced by impact grinding of solid K2PtX6 (X=Cl, Br) and K2PtCl4 salts

Mechanical treatment of solid K₂PtX₆ (X=Cl, Br) salts under air or argon leads to the formation of paramagnetic platinum(III) complexes via homolytic cleavage of Pt---X bonds. Lewis acid sites (LASs) were also detected on the surface of mechanically activated K₂PtCl₆ using a paramagnetic probe. The latter species can be attributed to coordinatively unsaturated platinum(IV) complexes formed as a result of heterolysis of Pt---Cl bonds. Mechanical treatment of solid K₂PtCl₄, on the contrary, does not lead to homolytic Pt---Cl bond cleavage. In this case only heterolysis of the Pt---Cl bond takes place, leading to the formation of coordinatively unsaturated platinum(II) complexes.     

Possible Role of Catalase in Adaptation to Diving of Semi-Aquatic Rodents Ondatra zibethica

Physiological role of catalase in mechanisms of adaptive reactions to hypoxic influences in diving rodents, muskrats Ondatra zibethica, has been investigated. The myocardial tissues were established to be the most resistant to the oxidative stress produced by hypobaric hypoxia-reoxygenation. An intraperitoneal injection of a specific nonreversible catalase inhibitor, 3-amino-1, 2, 4-triazol (3-AT), at a dose of 1 g/kg body weight, on the background of the diving hypoxia-reoxygenation decreased the catalase activity in liver, kidney, heart, and brain tissues, on average, by 83%. No statistically significant changes of this activity were observed in the femoral muscle tissue. In 56.5 min after the injection, the tissue concentrations of 3-AT in liver, kidney, heart, and femoral muscle were approximately similar to amount to about 1 µg/mg wet tissue. The 3-AT concentration in the brain was three times lower than in other tissues; however, this practically did not affect the extent of catalase inhibition. During the diving hypoxia-reoxygenation the reduction of catalase activity under effect of 3-AT was accompanied by an increase of lipid peroxidation (LPO) only in the heart and liver, which indicates an important role of catalase in protection of these tissues from damaging effects of active oxygen forms at resumed external respiration after the long diving.     

Use of starch-containing media for cultivation of Bacillus mesentericus

When cultivating Bacillus mesentericus to produce proteinases it is advisable to use more available and cheap carbon sources--native maize meal or potato starch--instead of maltose; the products of their complete hydrolysis inhibit the biosynthesis of enzymes.