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Introduction. According to the XIV Edition of the Russian Federation State Pharmacopoeia, the quality control of the «Veratrum Lobelianum rhizome and roots» herbal substance is carried out through the determination of the alkaloid sum by means of the titration-based method. There are no selective and sensitive instrumental methods for the quantitative analysis of veratrum aqua active ingredients either. Veratrum aqua is produced from the mentioned above herbal substance. Therefore, the study of veratrum aqua alkaloid composition is relevant, as well as the development of a modern analytical method for individual alkaloid determination that can be implemented in veratrum aqua standardization.Aim. To develop an approach to the quantitative analysis in Veratrum Aqua standardization.Materials and methods. Two analytical methods were developed: one for the veratrum alkaloid determination in veratrum aqua samples by means of high performance liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass-spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS), another – for jervine, the main veratrum aqua alkaloid, quantitation by means of HPLC with diode-array detector (HPLC-DAD).Results and discussion. Three main alkaloids, namely jervine, protoveratrine A and protoveratrine B, were identified in veratrum aqua. Jervine was found to be the most abundant one, hence it was chosen for the further development of a more affordable HPLC-DAD method. This method was validated for specificity, linearity, accuracy and precision. Jervine concentrations were measured in seven veratrum aqua samples produced by different manufacturers.Conclusion. The highest jervine concentration among the examined samples was found to be 170 µg/ml, the lowest – 136 µg/ml. It is proposed to implement the following quantitative content parameter in veratrum aqua standardization: «Quantitative test. Jervine content should be not lessthan 136 µg/ml». This parameter is to be determined by HPLC-DAD.

This study was aimed to evaluate the dynamics of inhaled tobramycin concentration in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and blood in victims with nosocomial pneumonia.Materials and Methods. The study is presented as a series of clinical observations: 5 patients with severe concomitant craniocerebral injury were included, who were treated in the general resuscitation unit (men 4 (87.5%), women 1 (12.5%); age 36Ѓ}12 years; Injury Severity Score (ISS) 40.9Ѓ}8.3; acute blood loss volume 2356Ѓ}997 ml; mean bed-days 12.50 days; mortality 16.7%). Statistical analysis of data obtained was carried out using Statistica 10.0 software. Difference was considered significant at p<0.05.Results. The dynamics of tobramycin concentrations was as follows: 1 hr. blood/BAL 0.96Ѓ}0.44 μg/ml / 49.6 μg/ml; 3 hrs. blood/BAL 0.98Ѓ}0.82 μg/ml / 15.5 μg/ml; 5 hrs. blood/BAL 0.79Ѓ}0.83 μg/ml / 3.5 μg/ml. Conclusion.The results obtained confirm significant local concentrations of tobramycin in sputum and low in blood, which corresponds to the results of pharmacokinetic studies and clinical studies of inhaled tobramycin efficacy. At present, gathering of material for the study continues.

Objective of the study is to investigate natural focality of Ixodidae tick borreliosis, granulocytic anaplasmosis, monocytic ehrlichiosis in humans in the Republic of Tatarstan. Materials and methods. Utilized were the data from tick studies conducted between 2010-2015. Applying immune-enzymatic analysis, investigated were the blood sera from residents (donors) of Kazan and municipal districts of the Republic of Tatarstan for the presence of specific antibodies to borreliosis, ehrlichiosis, and anaplasmosis pathogens. Results and conclusions. For the first time ever, the data on spontaneous carriage of Ehrlichiosis pathogens in Ixodidae ticks have been obtained. The information received is an indicative of the active circulation of Borrelia, Ehrlichia and Anaplasma in the territory of the region and of necessity to expand the research on the "novel" for the Republic nosological forms of natural-focal infections.

Methadone is a potent synthetic opioid used in several countries both for substitution therapy in people with opioid dependence and to prevent HIV infection spreading. In Russia methadone trafficking is prohibited. Despite the current ban, cases of hospitalization with methadone poisoning are regularly recorded in an intensive care units and toxicological departments of emergency hospitals (TD EH). Frequently polydrug consumption detected in a laboratory study. People who use psychoactive substances (PS) are vulnerable to HIV-infection as well as hard-to-reach group for HIV testing. Often HIV-infection and drug abuse pathology are revealed only when drug users hospitalized to an emergency hospital after overdose with one or several PS. During the period 2015–2018 to the toxicological department of Sklifosovsky Research Institute for Emergency Medicine hospitalized 732 patients with acute methadone poisoning. In 76,8–83,9% of cases, methadone was detected in combination with other PS, predominantly with opiates/opioids, psychostimulants, psychodysleptics, as well as pharmaceutical medicaments. In addition to methadone, we recorded the presence of ethanol in biological samples (blood and urine) in a concentration from 0,3 to 3,6‰ in 19,2–33,3% of cases. The prevalence of HIV infection in patients with acute methadone poisoning ranged from 15,7 to 31,8%, increasing by 1,5 times during the analyzed period. The reasons for the increase of prevalence HIV infection in hospitalized patients could be linked to a change in the structure of the taken PS and virus transmission pathways. Patients of TD EH are a high-risk group for the spread of HIV and can be considered as a focus group reflecting general trends in the consumption of drugs in Moscow.