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Biomedical subjects

R M Balabanova

Publications and source records attributed to R M Balabanova.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

[A comparative evaluation of combined immunocorrective therapy in rheumatoid arthritis with systemic manifestations (joint Soviet-Polish research)].

Thirty-two patients with rheumatoid arthritis were included in the trial. Each of them was assigned to one of the 4 groups comparable by the main features. Each group entered 8 patients. Group 1 patients underwent hemosorption weekly for 3 weeks. After the second procedure cyclophosphamide was added at a single IV dose 1000 mg. After the third procedure the treatment was continued with methotrexate (7.5 mg, weekly). Group 2 began the treatment with methotrexate (7.5 mg, weekly). Group 3 received cyclophosphamide 200 mg IV twice a week 6 times and then 200 mg weekly orally till a total dose of 2 g. Group 4 received azathioprine in a daily dose 100 mg. The treatment with nonsteroidal antirheumatic drugs and corticosteroids was continued unchanged. After 6 months we did not see significant differences between the 4 groups.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

[Factors that determine the high blood viscosity syndrome in rheumatoid arthritis patients].

High blood viscosity is a syndrome that may be attributed to a group of the most important disorders of microcirculation under different pathological conditions of the body. The given syndrome manifests itself by disorders of red blood cell deformability (RBCD), high plasma and whole blood viscosity. 32 patients with a verified diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) were examined, showing varying activity and systemic manifestations. There was a significant decrease of RBCD from 82.0 + 4.5% in patients with grade I activity to 33.0 + 15.0% in patients with grade III activity (p < 0.01). At the same time plasma viscosity remained practically unchanged. Whole blood viscosity rose with RA activity enhancement: in grade I, it was 1.87 + 0.60 relative units, in grade II, it was 2.80 + 0.80 relative units, in grade III, it constituted 5.30 + 3.70 relative units (p < 0.02). It is assumed that RBCD disturbance is one of the most leading signs in the development of high blood viscosity in RA patients.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

[Immunocorrection in rheumatoid arthritis].

The clinical and immunological parameters were compared over time in 125 patients with rheumatoid arthritis subjected to immunocorrection. As a result of the study the drugs and their combinations used are distributed in the following order as regards their efficacy: combined treatment with prospidin and tactivin; prospidin; immunoglobulin therapy with high doses; combined therapy with thymohexin and immunoglobulin (low doses); thymohexin; prodigiosan; immunoglobulin (low doses). The dynamics of cellular immunity did not always correlate with the clinical efficacy of the immunocorrection. No relationship was discovered between the functional activity of natural killers and peripheral macrophages and the dynamics of the clinico-laboratory characteristics. Stimulation of endogenous and con A-induced suppression provided a therapeutic effect only in cases of the induction of both suppression types whereas the combined use of prospidin and tactivin allowed the reduction of the intensity and rate of side effects and maintained functions of peripheral macrophages. Immunocorrection which enabled the decrease of the level of lymphocytes expressing HLA-DR antigens in blood turned out most effective.

Adjuvants, Immunologic↗
PubMed1991

[The characteristics of the course of inflammatory joint diseases in the inhabitants of an agricultural region].

The course of the main chronic inflammatory diseases of the joints was analyzed with special reference to the rural region of Georgia. 30 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), 13 with ankylosing spondylarthritis, and 6 with reactive arthritis are registered and followed up by the rheumatologist. It is shown that the population of the region in question is characterized by a later onset of RA, a high percentage of the seronegative variety of the disease with involvement of the hand joints, and ankylosing of the carpal joints. The males demonstrate a low activity of the process. Since RA ran a benign course, the patients were only treated with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents. The RA patients preserved work fitness for a long time. Ankylosing spondylarthritis was marked by the primary injury to the spine associated with the development of ankylosis and calcification of the ligamentous apparatus without a well-defined spinal deformity. Large-scale examination of the population of the region has shown the necessity of such measures for they permit identification of new cases of the disease to carry out early adequate treatment and specialized employment of the patients.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

[The renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system and arterial hypertension in patients with rheumatoid arthritis].

Renin-angiotensin-aldosterone++ system was investigated in 60 patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis. Forty-four of them (group 1) had arterial hypertension (144 +/- 4/94 +/- 2 mm Hg), sixteen were free of hypertension (120 +/- 3/80 +/- 1 mm Hg). Twenty-nine control subjects comparable by AH standing and demographic parameters had essential hypertension stage IB-IIA by A. L. Myasnikov classification (141 +/- 3/89 +/- 1 mm Hg). A tendency to renin suppression was dominating in 72% of group 1 patients (plasma renin activity less than 1.0 ng/ml/h). In this group there appeared high concentrations of A II (14.2 +/- 3.1 pg/ml) and plasma aldosterone++ (238 +/- 94 ng/ml). Rheumatoid vasculitis manifested in 86% of patients. Control subjects exhibited plasma renin activity greater than 3.0 ng/ml/hin 48%, average A II concentration was similar to that of group 1 (12.4 +/- 2.7 ng/ml/h, p greater than 0.05), plasma aldosterone++ level was significantly lower (176 +/- 29 ng/ml, p less than 0.05). Correlations were established between A II concentration and ESR (r = 0.39, p less than 0.05), A II and rheumatoid factor titers (r = 0.40, p less than 0.05). These indicate that immunopathological reactions are responsible for shifts in renin-angiotensin-aldosteron system in hypertensive rheumatoid arthritis subjects.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

[Immunogenetic prognosis of the effectiveness of cytostatic therapy of rheumatoid arthritis].

The time course of in vitro cellular immune reactions by using cyclophosphane, prospidin , and methotrexate was examined in 39 patients with rheumatoid arthritis to make predictions of the efficacy of its cytostatic therapy. The agents were evaluated for effects on the expression of Ia-like antigens on the peripheral lymphocytes and synovial fluid of the patients. The optimal doses of the agents for this testing had been chosen in the lymphoid cells from MRL31 lpr mice. The active dosage forms of the cytostatics for the experiment were obtained by administering native agents into the retrobulbar plexus of Balb/c mice, followed by blood isolation of active metabolites . The Ia-like antigen pre-expression index which is the ratio of the proportion of Ia-positive lymphocytes in control cultures to that of the cells in the culture after drug addition was used as a marker of the baseline cellular immunity in the patients. The patients having the index more than 1.5 were considered to be sensitive, those with less than 1.5 were insensitive to the drug. Thus, the Ia-like antigen pre-expression index may be used as a predictor in the assessment of the expediency of prospidine use.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

[Distant radiotherapy in rheumatoid arthritis].

During an open controlled study of 20 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (resistant forms) their lymph nodes were irradiated at a dose of 7.5 Gy. Clinical improvement, including reduced morning rigidity, the number of inflamed joints, and Riccis index, was noted shortly after therapy and 6 mos. after irradiation in 50% of the patients. Immunosuppression and moderate lymphopenia were noted in all of them. Of the side-effects there was nausea that disappeared without additional treatment. A conclusion has been made that irradiation of the lymph nodes at a total dose of 7.5 Gy is equally effective but less toxic than irradiation of 20 Gy.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

[Clinico-immunological characteristics of patients with rheumatoid arthritis and symptoms of cutaneous vasculitis (cooperative Soviet-Polish study)].

The paper presents the results of a comparative study performed in the USSR and Poland of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients with extra-articular manifestations of the disease (with skin vasculitis and free of it). The comparison included clinical, biochemical and immunological parameters. The results confirm the role of immune complexes in the onset of vascular affections in RA. High incidence of sensitive polyneuropathy in patients with skin vasculitis allows one to define it as a sign of systemic vasculitis. Rheumatoid nodes occur with similar frequency in both groups. It is shown that the problem of vascular pathology in RA remains complex and that further studies are needed to specify mechanisms of vasculopathy development in RA.

Antigen-Antibody Complex↗
PubMed1989

[Circulation of intestinal infection in the families of patients with rheumatic diseases and the state of humoral immunity to enterobacterial antigens].

ELISA quantitation of antibodies to Klebsiella pneumonia, Proteus mirabilis, and Yersinia enterocolitica was conducted in 75 ankylosing spondylitis (AS), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) probands and in 262 of their first-degree relatives. The control group comprised 28 healthy donors. Sixteen (64 per cent) AS probands (12 with B27+) and 26 (30.2 per cent) their relatives (14 with B27+) were found to have high titres of antibodies to Klebsiella pneumonia. In 18 (60 per cent) active RA probands and 27 (23.7 per cent) relatives, antibodies to Proteus mirabilis were found. The obtained results suggest the presence of genetic determinants of the increased immune response to various infectious agents, at least in the AS cases. The possibility of Enterobacteriaceae acting as polyclonal stimulators is not excluded.

Antibodies, Bacterial↗
PubMed1989

[Interferon in rheumatoid arthritis].

The paper is concerned with the role played by interferon (IF) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The content of IF was measured in the patients' blood serum and the possibility of the use of the preparations of exogenous interferon for the treatment of RA patients was demonstrated. Assay of serum IF in RA patients showed that its content did not exceed normal. The results of the treatment with IF preparations has demonstrated their beneficial effect on certain parameters. Further study of the role played by IF in the management of rheumatic diseases is required in order to develop the drug doses and schedules for the treatment.

Arthritis, Rheumatoid↗
PubMed1989

[Radioisotope synovectomy in multi-modality treatment of rheumatoid arthritis].

The colloid solution of radioactive gold 198 was administered to 91 knee joints of 50 patients with rheumatoid arthritis in a dose of 5-7 mCu. The patients were examined before and 6-12 months after radionuclide synovectomy. The treatment turned out effective in 35% of the cases, while in 19% of the cases, the effect was assessed as beneficial, and in 16% as satisfactory. The treatment efficacy decreased with age and disease standing. Three groups of the joints were distinguished in relation to the absorbed dose of ionizing radiation. In group I, this parameter constituted less than 80 Gy, in group II, from 80 to 100 Gy, and in group III, over 100 Gy. The efficacy of the different absorbed doses was assessed by the double blind method. In group I, the increase of the absorbed dose to over 100 Gy maintained 25%, and in group III, in 72% of the cases. Therefore, the increase of the absorbed dose to over 100 Gy maintained a significant (p less than 0.01) rise of the treatment efficacy.

Adult↗