No 4 (2005)

Zn occupies a special position among microelements due to its important role and multidirectional participation in various biochemical and physiological processes in mammalia. Although the mechanisms ofZn exchange and its effects are not quite clear yet, the cited literature and the results of studies presented in the article evidence the supreme role ofZn in healthy and pathologically changed mineralized tissues. The work demonstrates a clear difference between metabolism of Zn and that ofAg, Al, Bi, Co, Cr, Fe, Mo, and Si in the mandibular bone in cases of periodontitis, underlied by predominant redistribution of protein-bound Zn. The lowered content of the other 8 microelements is mostly caused by local resorption and osteosclerotic changes in the mandibular bone.

The article is dedicated to correlations between local oral cavity immunity and microbiocenosis, studied on 21 astronauts who had performed eight 130- to 195-day orbital flights on International Space Station. After the end of a flight, most of them displayed increase of secretory immunoglobulin content in oral cavity liquid, which is evidence of high antigen burden during spaceflights. Changes in microbiocenosis included increase of the number of paradontopathologic microorganisms (it may happen as soon as during the flight), retention of yeast-like fungi dissemination, and absence of some "stabilizing" strains that had been found in the subjects before the flights

Treatment of psychiatric patients with neuroleptics often results in such a neurological disorder as oral hyperkinesis. The method described and used by the authors allows early revealing and quantitative evaluation of this adverse effect of the drugs. The study demonstrates a direct correlation between the length of therapy with neuroleptics and the increase of muscle tone.