A monolayer of dissociated glial cells of human olfactory epithelium was cultured in Petri dishes and 12-well plates using a polylysine-laminin substrate. Primary cultures were subcultured after 10-15 days. The cell cultures were analyzed by phase contrast microscopy at all stages of culturing. A cytological study involved histological methods (trypan blue staining) and immunocytochemical visualization of GFAP, nestin, and low-affinity nerve growth factor receptors. At the final stage of culturing (5 passages) the monolayer cultures included 2 types of cells: GFAP- and p75-positive glial cells and nestin-positive fibroblasts.

The content of catecholamines and their metabolites in the brain and the relationship between cerebral catecholamine levels and their urinary excretion were studied in rats with 6-OHDA-induced hemiparkinsonism. 6-OHDA reduced brain concentrations of dopamine, DOPAC, and homovanilic acid and urinary excretion of dopamine, dioxyphenilalanine, and DOPAC by more than 90%. A positive correlation was found between the concentrations of these metabolites in the urine and striatum. Measurement of urinary catecholamines and their metabolites is a perspective test for evaluating the status of the dopaminergic nigrosostriate system of the brain in experimental parkinsonism.

Enzyme immunoassay of the serum neurospecific antigens (gliofibrillar acid protein and neurospecific enolase) was used for evaluation of the resistance of the blood-brain barrier in Wistar rats with perinatal hypoxia and ischemia of the CNS. Perinatal hypoxia and ischemia of the CNS was modeled by two methods: ligation of the common carotid artery in 7-day-old rats followed by 3.5-h hypoxic hypoxia or 15-min anoxic exposure of fetuses isolated via hysterectomy on day 21 of gestation. Enzyme immunoassay of serum gliofibrillar acid protein and neurospecific enolase in control an experimental rat pups was carried out once a week during 3 months. In controls serum levels of gliofibrillar acid protein and neurospecific enolase virtually did not change during postnatal development, while in animals with cerebral hypoxia and ischemia induced in fetuses by both methods serum concentration of neurospecific enolase sharply increased 1 week after the injury and increased on weeks 6 and 10. The content of gliofibrillar acid protein was maximum on week 1 and later considerably varied, the peaks of its concentrations observed on weeks 3 and 8 preceded the increase in neurospecific enolase activity in peripheral blood.

Methods of GFAP purification and obtaining of hybridoma cells producing monoclonal anti-GFAP antibodies and properties of GFAP preparation were described. The immunobloting data on specificity of obtained monoclonal antibodies are presented. A new method of GFAP immunoenzyme assay based on GFAP preparation and anti-GFAP antibodies was elaborated. Standardization of the immunoenzyme system was shown in tests for specificity, accuracy, and reproducibility.

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