The NBT reduction test was used to assess the neutrophilic activities in 49 patients with bronchial asthma. 12 healthy donors were examined for control. The NBT test values were lower in health than in asthma: 8.8 +/- +0.97 vs. 12.8 +/- 0.7%, respectively, p < 0.05. Addition of a specific fungal allergen resulted in a twofold increase of the count of formasan-positive cells. A lower, but still a significant increase of the count of active granulocytes was induced in the asthmatics by home dust allergen (17.7 +/- 0.91%). The results of induced NBT test and of the reaction of antigen-specific injury of the granulocytes were in excellent correlation (r = 0.65, p < 0.05). There was no correlation of this test data with those of indirect Shelley's test or skin tests. This fact indicates the contribution of both the immediate and delayed mechanisms to the pathogenesis of fungal bronchial asthma.

Allergens↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[The inhibition of bile acid synthesis in cultured rabbit hepatocytes by bezafibrate].

Primary culture of rabbit hepatocytes was used for study the influence of hypolipidemic drug bezafibrate on bile acid production. Bezafibrate inhibits bile acid synthesis from endogenous and exogenous (lipoprotein) cholesterol at concentration range 1-10 micrograms/ml. Such inhibitory action of bezafibrate on bile acid synthesis should be kept in mind while applying hypolipidemic treatment.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[The guanine content in specimens of house dust collected in the living quarters of healthy persons and of patients with atopic bronchial asthma].

The content of insoluble guanine fractions originating from micromites in specimens of house dust, collected in the dwellings of 15 healthy persons with no signs of allergy and 64 patients with atopic bronchial asthma (ABA), was studied. The content of these fractions in house dust in the dwellings of ABA patients was significantly higher than that in house dust in the dwellings of healthy persons (0.76 +/- 0.119 in comparison 0.31 +/- 0.040, p < 0.05). A high content of guanine was detected in house dust of the dwellings of 74.1% of ABA patients and 33.3% of healthy persons, which was indicative of the importance of mite contamination in the formation of ABA.

Allergens↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Identification of Staphylococcus aureus by determining nuclease activity and using methods of multivariate statistical analysis].

A new quantitative method for the determination of the DNA-se activity of bacteria, based on the prevention of the clot formation of DNA with rivanol under the action of microbial DNA-ses, has been developed. The sensitivity of this method is 0.005-0.01 units of activity (1-2 ng) of the enzyme in a sample for 1 hour of incubation; the variation coefficient of the method is 8-9%. The use of this method has made it possible to reduce the time of the identification of S.aureus by 2-3 days in comparison with the commonly used methods. As revealed on the model of differentiation between S.aureus and S.epidermidis, the methods of multivariate statistical analysis (dispersion, discriminant, cluster methods) may find wide application for the discrimination of bacteria. They are supposed to be used for the interspecific identification of coagulase-negative staphylococci.

Cluster Analysis↗