Aim of research. To study the microbial landscape of intact fetal membranes in full-term pregnancy.

Materials and methods. In 19 pregnant women (mean age — 31.0 ± 5.3 years, mean gestational age — 39.3 ± 0.65 weeks) with intact fetal membranes, the fetal membrane tissue was collected during elective cesarean section to detect by polymerase chain reaction the following microorganisms: Lactobacillus spp., Enterobacteriaceae, Streptococcus spp., Staphylococcus spp., Gardnerella vaginalis/Prevotella bivia/Porphyromonas spp., Eubacterium spp., Sneathia spp./Leptotrihia spp./ Fusobacterium spp., Megasphaera spp./Veillonella spp./ Dialister spp., Lachnobacterium spp./Clostridium spp., Mobiluncus spp./Corynebacterium spp., Peptostreptococcus spp., Atopobium vaginae, Mycoplasma hominis, Ureaplasma (urealyticum + parvum), Candida spp., Mycoplasma genitalium.

Results. Sterile membranes were found in 5 pregnant women (26.3%), in the remaining cases, the total bacterial load (TBL) was 10⁴⁵ (10³⁵-10⁵⁸) genome equivalents (GE) per sample. Representatives of the Enterobacteriaceae family prevailed — 10⁴⁵ GE per sample on average, only in one case Candida spp. were detected. In 42.1% of cases, when determining TBL, specific types of microorganisms were not identified.

Conclusion. On the fetal membranes in full-term pregnancy, the average TBL corresponding to 10⁴⁵ (103510^{5 8}) GE per sample, in which Enterobacteriaceae prevail in the amount of 10^{4 5} GE per sample on average, is acceptable.

Aim. To determine the content of mercury in protamine sulfate samples with different sample preparation. To study the effect of interfering ions on the content of mercury impurity in protamine sulfate by stripping voltammetry (SV).

Materials and methods. We used a solution for injection of protamine sulfate, batches 515091, 514062, 514111; for sample preparation — various options for dilution and precipitation. Dilution was carried out with bidistilled water, and the precipitation of proteins — with sodium tungstate in 2 options. Mercury impurities were determined by the SV method.

Results. The mercury content in protamine sulfate samples was 0.000417 ± 0.00140 and 0.000420 ± 0.00152 mg/l when diluted with water 1 : 2 and 1 : 1 respectively and 0.000462 ± 0.00131 and 0.000459 ± 0.00121 when precipitated with tungstate in options 1 and 2 respectively. With the addition of an interfering ion, for example, Cu²⁺, the content of mercury in the medicinal product was 0.000606 ± 0.00015, 0.000452 ± 0.00013 and 0.0004212 ± 0.00011 mg/l for protamine sulfate batches 514062, 515091 and 514111 respectively, which does not exceed the values determined by the product specification. The addition of Pb²⁺, Fe²⁺, Zn²⁺, Cu²⁺, and Cd²⁺ ions also had no effect on the determination of the mercury content in protamine sulfate samples.

Conclusion. To determine the mercury impurity in the protamine sulfate, special sample preparation is not required. Ions of Cu²⁺, Pb²⁺, Fe²⁺, Cd²⁺, Zn²⁺ do not affect the result of determining the mercury content in protamine sulfate samples by the SV method, which indicates a high selectivity of the method used.

Heparin is an anticoagulant widely used in clinical practice. In addition to anticoagulant activity, heparin has a cytostatic, bacteriostatic, antilipemic, radioprotective effect, and exhibits antiallergic and hypotensive action. Heparin modulates cardiotropic, neurotropic, antihypoxic, anti-ischemic properties of regulatory peptides and pharmacological agents used in pain relief and anesthesia. At the same time, there is very little information about the antinociceptive effect of heparin.

The aim of this work is to study the effect of heparin in combination with the opioid agonist fentanyl on mu-opioid receptors at the spinal and supraspinal levels. In experiments on laboratory rats, it was established that heparin, when preadministered and combined with fentanyl, increases the latency in the tail flick test and the paw licking test. Naloxone, an opioid receptor antagonist, reduces antinociceptive efficacy of the studied compounds. Protamine sulfate also reduces the level of heparin sensitization of opioid receptors.

Thus, the obtained data allow us to speak about the sensitizing effect of heparin on initiated by an agonist mu-opioid receptors at the spinal and supraspinal levels.

To identify the main 50-year trends in evolution of working conditions at dust-hazardous enterprises in Western Siberia, the sanitary and hygienic characteristics of working conditions of staff with suspected occupational diseases, issued by the regional offices of The Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Wellbeing (Rospotrebnadzor) to 447 patients with pneumoconiosis diagnosed from 1960 to 2010 were analyzed, as well as a retrospective analysis of the dynamics of changes in working conditions according to the research reports of the Novosibirsk Research Institute of Hygiene for the period 1930-1960 was made. In the 1950s the most harmful silicotic working conditions were observed in sandblasters exposed to newly formed modifications of silica in concentrations of 20-340 mg/m³. Since the 1970s, industrial enterprises in Novosibirsk and the Novosibirsk Region have experienced a significant decrease in dustiness levels (by tens and hundreds of times) — up to 4-40 mg/m³. In the last decade of the XX century, at a number of enterprises, the volume of production and the overall working time, during which there was direct contact with industrial aerosols, decreased, and the proportion of 3.4 class working conditions over the last decade decreased by 2.49 times (p ≤ 0.001). There was a change in working conditions for the production of refractory materials and ceramic products. Electric welders with all types of manual welding were exposed to a combined effect of hazardous occupational factors without significant changes in the levels of industrial aerosols in the workplace.

The homeostatic immunological dialogue between the host and its microbiota is critical to maintaining health. The weakening of the organism occurring with age, its greater dependence on the external life conditions, make old age the period of the greatest morbidity. In the context of a progressive increase in life expectancy, more and more attention is being paid to the possibility of influencing human health through personalized nutritional and therapeutic strategies aimed at modifying the intestinal microbiota, which include the use of pro- and prebiotics.

The aim of this work is to study the effect of the VedaBiotic preparation, which is an original complex of probiotics (freeze-dried biomass of live active bifidobacteria, lactobacilli, Streptococcus thermophilus), prebiotics (microcrystalline cellulose, lactulose) and vitamin C, on the cellular immune response and functional activity of immunocytes in age-dependent mammals (male mice at the age of 10 months). It was found that in age-dependent mammals, a course administration of the drug leads to the stimulation of the proliferative activity of immunocytes and the cellular immune response, also including the case of the induced immunosuppression (when the delayed-type hypersensitivity reaction increased to the level observed in intact animals of similar age). The VedaBiotic also has a modulating effect on the cytokines production, causing a decrease in the pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-β and IFN-y, and an increase in the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10.

Thus, the VedaBiotic preparation has a favorable immunomodulatory effect and can be used as a nutritional supplement — as a source of probiotic microorganisms — to reduce the negative side effects of cytostatic treatment, as well as by elderly persons to improve the quality of life and to prevent the development of age-associated pathology.

In connection with the wide field of application of bendazole hydrochloride in medicine and its use as a part of combined drugs, an assessment of the effectiveness of the novel dosage forms and the determination of pharmacokinetic parameters are required. For this purpose, it is necessary to obtain data on the concentration of the studied drug in biological fluids. The aim of this research is to develop a voltammetric method for the bendazole hydrochloride quantification. In the course of the study, the optimal electrolysis conditions were established: potential was -1.8 V, time 15 s, and potential sweep rate 50 mV/s. The optimum pH value for electrolysis of bendazole hydrochloride is 6-7. The proposed method is validated by tests: specificity and linearity, detection limit; the range of the procedure and its analytical precision were determined. Thus, the developed method can be used for the quantification of bendazole hydrochloride in pharmaceutical substances.

For the first time, experimental studies of the influence of sanitary cleansing on the surface of pharmaceutical rubber (butyl- and halobutyl-based) stoppers were carried out by measuring the contact angle.

It was found that the sanitary cleansing of stoppers, carried out before the closure of sterile dosage forms of medicinal products (MP), including pre-sterilization cleaning of the stoppers (2-fold boiling for 30 min in 1% solution of trisodium phosphate or sodium hydroxide and a single boiling in 0.1% solution of hydrochloric acid for 30 min) and subsequent sterilization in an autoclave at t = 130°C, pressure p = 0.2 MPa for 60 min acts destructively on their surface and is accompanied by a decrease of the contact angle (an increase in the hydrophilicity of the stoppers’ surface), which leads to significant leaching of the components of rubber stoppers and their contamination of drug solutions.

Determination of the contact angle allows by reproducible instrumental method to identify and quantify the destruction processes of the surface of rubber stoppers used for closing of sterile solutions of MP. This indicator can be used to assess the influence of pharmaceutical and technological factors (sanitary cleansing, sterilization, contact with drug solutions, etc.) on the rubber stoppers surface, to control the corrosive resistance of closures and to predict the amount of impurities in sterile solutions of MP.

The results of a comparative study of methods for the quantitative determination of the active pharmaceutical substance (APS) bismuth subsalicylate by UV-spectrophotometry and stripping voltammetry (SV) are presented. Partial validation of the compared methods was carried out according to the following characteristics: linearity, detection limit, limit of quantification, accuracy. In the course of linearity assessment, the values of the correlation coefficient of the methods were established — 0.9987 for UV-spectrophotometry and 0.9982 for SV. The detection limit and the limit of quantification for UV-spectrophotometry were 2.35 and 7.12 Bg/ml respectively, for SV — 1.16 and 3.52 Bg respectively. The accuracy was determined by the constant term of the linearity equation, which was 3.34% of the interval’s middle value when analyzed by UV-spectrophotometry and 1.93% by SV.

Thus, both methods can be used for the quantitative determination of the APS of bismuth subsalicylate; however, due to the fact that the content of bismuth is mainly determined in this case, the SV method is more preferable since it allows analyzing this particular part of the molecule.

Aim. Assessment of the use of antimicrobial drugs (AD) in the pulmonary department of a multifield hospital (MH), the Republic of Tajikistan.

Materials and methods. A retrospective analysis of medical prescriptions of patients who were treated in the pulmonary department of the Sughd Regional Clinical Hospital (city of Khojend, the Republic of Tajikistan) in 2011-2018 was carried out. The use of AD was evaluated in total, by groups in accordance with the WHO ATC/DDD index: penicillins, cephalosporins, aminoglycosides, fluoroquinolones, tetracyclines, and other antibiotics, as well as separately by international nonproprietary names of drugs. The measurable unit was the number of grams of an active substance, followed by the calculation of the indicators DDD/100 bed-days and percentage of total DDD.

Results. Significant changes in the structure of AD used for the initial antibacterial therapy of respiratory tract infections during the study period were revealed. There is a marked tendency to reduce the use of AD of the penicillin family and macrolides, with the transition to monotherapy with cephalosporins of the 3rd generation (ceftriaxone) and partially with fluoroquinolones.

Conclusion. Monitoring the use of AD in hospital departments on basis of the ATC/DDD methodology allows to make strategic decisions regarding the tactics of antibacterial therapy, determine the orientation of administrative measures and improve the range of antibacterial agents with the introduction of the modern effective drugs into practice in the future.

The paper presents the review on current ideas about the etiology and pathogenesis of HIV infection. It highlights the issues of the immune response in this disease, as well as the problems of HIV resistance to modern drugs.