Obtaining antisera to Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Proteus antigens for performing immunoenzyme analyses in clinical practice

The data presented in this work indicate that specific antisera to P. aeruginosa and Proteus antigens can be produced by using extracts from these microorganisms, destroyed by ultrasonic treatment or by multiple freezing and thawing, for the immunization of rabbits. Blood serum samples from patients with purulent septic complications were studied for the presence of P. aeruginosa and Proteus antigens in ELISA with the use of peroxidase-labeled antibodies from antisera to P. aeruginosa and Proteus. This investigation revealed that during the first 3 days from the beginning of the clinical manifestations of the complications P. aeruginosa and Proteus antigens were detected in 86.4% and 83.4% of the patients, respectively. In the subsequent bacteriological study of wound discharge from these patients the corresponding microflora was detected.     

Epidemiological problems of ozena and the means for controlling this infection

Clinical, bacteriological, serological and epidemiological studies of ozena morbidity among the population of Minsk were carried out in 1970-1980. On January 1, 1981, the ozena morbidity rate among the inhabitants of Minsk was 26.72%. Ozena was found to affect mainly children and women. A wide spread of the family foci of this disease (31.68%) was revealed. The results of this study indicate that the source of K. ozaenae is a sick person who begins to excrete the bacteria in the prodromal period of the disease and may continue to excrete them for many years. The transfer of K. ozaenae occurs probably by droplet or contact infection. The droplet infection is less active in the absence of symptoms (coughing, sneezing) facilitating excretion of the infective agent into the air and in cases of the low susceptibility of persons to ozena. The main measures for controlling ozena are the timely detection and sanitation of the sources of ozena, as well as the current disinfection of the infection foci in apartments.     

Dynamics of staphylococcal infection in guinea pigs with delayed hypersensitivity to Staphylococcus aureus surface antigens

The relationship between delayed hypersensitivity (DH) to S. aureus surface antigens and the intensity of the infectious process induced by the sublethal infection of guinea pigs with S. aureus was studied. The protective effect, manifested by a decrease in the staphylococcal contamination of the spleen tissue and by an increase in the level of the activation of lymphocytes, was shown to correlate with DH induced by inactivated staphylococcal cells. In infected guinea pigs having DH to different staphylococcal antigens the disease either took a more severe course (in cases of DH to cell wall or peptidoglycan) than in the animals subjected only to infection, or no aggravation of the disease was observed (in cases of DH to protein A).     

Use of spin-labelled substrate analogs for a comparative study of microsomal cytochrome P-450 and P-448

The previously described, iodine-labeled alkylating stable nitroxyl radicals located at different distances between the N-O. group and the iodine atom were used for a comparative study of the structure of microsomal cytochromes P-450 and P-448 active centers. The radicals were shown to change the optical spectra of Fe3+ located in the active site of the enzyme that are similar to those induced by cytochrome P-450 substrates. Some differences in the type of the radicals binding to control, phenobarbital- and 3-methylcholanthrene-induced microsomes were revealed. The alkylating radical substrate analogs covalently bound to microsomal cytochrome P-450 in the vicinity of the active center, resulting in the inhibition of oxidation of type I and II substrates (e. g., aniline and naphthalene). The value of the spectral binding constant (Ks) for naphthalene in the presence of the radical covalently bound to the cytochrome P-450 active center showed a tendency to increase. Using the ESR technique, the interaction between Fe3+ and the radical localized in the active site of cytochrome P-450 was demonstrated. The contribution of Fe3+ to the relaxation of the radicals covalently bound to cytochrome P-450 was evaluated from the values of the spin label ESR spectra saturation curves at 77K. The distances between the N-O. group of these radicals and Fe3+ in the enzyme active center for the three types of microsomes were determined. The data obtained point to structural peculiarities of the active center of cytochrome P-450, depending on the microsomal type.