The genetic sequelae for plant populations of radioactive environmental pollution in connection with the Chernobyl accident

Populations of Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh., and Pinus sylvestris L., growing within 30 km of Chernobyl and Bryansk region have been analyzed for the frequency of embryonic lethal mutations on Arabidopsis and frequency of chlorophyll mutations and chromosome aberrations by pine. On pine also have been analyzed rate of mutations at enzyme loci in endosperms of seeds. Dose dependence of the value genetic damage on level of radioactive pollution was observed.     

Comparative reactogenicity and immunogenicity of booster doses of diphtheria-tetanus-acellular pertussis-inactivated poliovirus vaccine and diphtheria-tetanus-inactivated poliovirus vaccine in preadolescents

BACKGROUND: The changing epidemiology of pertussis in France has emphasized the need for booster vaccinations in adolescents. Although not previously recommended because of the high reactogenicity of whole cell pertussis in children older than 2 years old, the development of less reactogenic acellular pertussis vaccines means that this recommendation may be reconsidered. OBJECTIVES: Assessment of the reactogenicity and immunogenicity of a diphtheria-tetanus-acellular pertussis-inactivated poliovirus (DTPa-IPV=Group 1) vaccine administered as the fifth dose in preadolescents in comparison with a commercial diphtheria-tetanus-inactivated poliovirus (DT-IPV) (Group 2) vaccine currently recommended for this age group. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An open, randomized study involving 115 healthy subjects ages 10 to 13 years previously vaccinated with 4 doses of diphtheria-tetanus-whole cell pertussis-IPV vaccines. Reactogenicity was assessed for 4 days postvaccination using diary cards. Immunogenicity based on antibody assays in sera taken before and 1 month postvaccination was evaluated for all vaccine antigen components. RESULTS: Both vaccines showed good tolerability, local and general reactogenicity being similar. For local reactions Group 1=88.1% and Group 2=86.8%, and for general reactions Group 1=40.7% and Group 2=47.2%. Headache was the most frequent general symptom with 27.1% for DTPa-IPV and 39.6% for DT-IPV. The incidence of fever was 5.1% with DTPa-IPV and 9.4% for DT-IPV. Good immune responses were obtained against all vaccine components. CONCLUSIONS: The inclusion of acellular pertussis did not significantly increase the reactogenicity of DTPa-IPV in comparison with the currently recommended DT-IPV vaccine when given as a fifth dose in preadolescents. To prevent recent resurgence of pertussis in France, this vaccine should be preferred as the booster dose of DTPa-IPV at 11 to 13 years of age as recently approved by the National Council of Hygiene of France.     

A system of immunoenzyme analysis using biotinylated monoclonal antibodies for typing hantavirus antigens

Enzyme immunoassay with biotin-labeled monoclonal antibodies to Puumala virus was used for typing hantavirus antigens. The system is type-specific, that is, it detects Puumala virus only, which was demonstrated by typing 9 hantavirus antigens in infected Vero E5 cells and by epizootological analysis of an HFRS outbreak in the Yegoryevsk district of the Moscow region in November-December 1995. The suggested system may be used as an element of EIA screening of natural samples in analysis of the screening results.     

Inactivation of alpha-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase during oxidative decarboxylation of alpha-ketoadipic acid

alpha-Ketoglutarate dehydrogenase was inactivated irreversibly and completely during oxidation of alpha-ketoadipic acid. The inactivation was revealed both in the model system with ferricyanide and in the overall reaction catalyzed by the alpha-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase complex. Neither substrate depletion nor product accumulation induced the inactivation. The results obtained were compared with recent data on the enzyme inactivation during oxidation of alpha-ketoglutaric acid. The differences in the inactivation kinetics observed with the two substrates of the enzyme were analyzed. They seem not to reflect the different mechanisms of the inactivation, but, rather, depend on the changes in the rates of the individual stages of the process.     

Biochemical study of lipids in adrenals altered by putrefaction (the forensic medical diagnosis of stress)

Biochemical method of lipid extraction with hexane permits the diagnosis of functional exhaustion of adrenals resultant from prolonged stress using both fresh material and that changed by putrefaction when histologic and histochemical methods of investigation are useless. These data may be used in examinations of putrescent corpses to assess thanatogenesis and establish the cause of death.