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Epibatidine, the natural alkaloid isolated from the skin of the Ecuadorian rainforest poison-dart frog, Epipedobates tricolor and some of its synthetically prepared analogs are strong selective agonists of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. All of these substances have an analgesic effect and could be used in medical practice. This is very promising for medicine in the fight against pain as well as against dementia, because nicotinic agonists have been found to improve the performance of a variety of memory tasks in rodents and they are probably beneficial in Alzheimer’s disease treatment.

This article summarizes the results obtained by monitoring ochratoxin A in the blood serum of blood donors in 1994, 1995 and 1997 and the results of the IGA MZ Č NK/4576-2 grant project „Study of Ochratoxin A Accumulation in Patients with Chronic Renal Insufliciency“.
It has been shown that, unlike in the control group of blood dnonors, the retention of mycotoxin ochratoxin A is significant in patients with stabilized chronic renal insufficiency on the grounds of chronic renal lesíon and in those in the terminal stage of chronic renal insufficiency who are regularly treated by dialysis. It has also been found that a standard dialysis does not lead to the decrease of ochratoxin A serum levels.

The 1st Conference of the Society Of Military Physicians was held on the occasion of the 75^th anniversary of the establishment of the Czechoslovak military medical educational System and the 50th anniversary of the foundation of the Purkyně Military Medical Academy in Hradec Králové. The aim of this conference was to present to the military medical public and other people interested the principles of carrying out medical care in field conditions according to NATO standards. The main specialists of the Czech Army Medical Service presented their contributions from the fields of military medical service organization and management, surgery, orthopaedics and traumatology, opthalmology, stomatology, anaesthesiology, internal medicine and haematology, otorhinolaryngology, neurology, dermatovenereology, communicable diseases, psychiatry, toxicology, radiobiology, military hygiene, epidemiology, medical evacuation, radiodiagnostics, clinical biochemistry, the transfusion service, physiatry, balneology and physiotherapy, military pharmacy and aeromedicine. Contributions concerning the BATLS/BARTS courses and compressive dressing were also presented. A number of the Slovak Army Medical Service specialists also participated in this conference.

Botulinum toxin A (BTX) is the most toxic compound known to man. An overview of its proved, presumed or prepared deployment as a biowarfare agent is presented. In case of BTX it can be shown just how difficult it is to distinguish its research, production and storage for purely medical purposes from its abuse for waging biological warfare or for bioterrorism. An additional protocol to the Biological Weapons Convention of 1972 created during the long-term negotiations should make this possible.

The study states the possibilities of testing of regression dependence mutual relations. It it possible to test by these methods whether two aproximatelly parallel dependences are equal or unequal in any point, in any interval or the whole extent of measurement. It holds true for the evaluation of regression dependences that the testing of unequality has a few times higher information validity than the testing of equality.

7-methoxytacrine (MEOTA) is a reversible inhibitor of acetylcholinesterase and it belongs to a group of drugs, which are known as activators of cognitive functions and could be useful in the therapy of some neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease. The lower toxicity is its advantage in comparison with tacrine. L-carnitine (CRT) was used to increase penetration of MEOTA through the blood brain barrier in rat. ³H-MEOTA was administered intravenously (5 mg/kg), orally (5 and 0.5 mg/kg) or intramuscularly (100 mg/kg) to rats in order to evaluate its pharmacokinetic properties. The intramuscular administration was chosen for the biodistribution study, where MEOTA was administered in two groups of rats: one group was administered only with MEOTA and the second group was administered CRT (300 mg/kg) orally for 3 consecutive days before MEOTA. Levels of MEOTA Were assessed in blood and in the brain tissue samples. In the next experimental step it was evaluated inhibition of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity in separate brain areas following administration of MEOTA in interaction with CRT. The results showed that MEOTA crossed blood brain barrier and its levels in the brain were weakly increased after CRT repeated administration. On the other hand the repeated administration of CRT enhanced significantly the inhibiting effect of 7-MEOTA on the brain AChE activity. A comparison of the brain tissue levels of MEOTA under the influence of CRT with the inhibiting eflect on the AChE activity in the brain showed that the higher inhibiting effect of MEOTA on AChE activity with CRT is not caused by a global increasing of its concentration in the brain tissue, but it is probably due to an interaction of MEOTA and CRT on active centre of the corresponding enzyme.

The article summarizes the syntheses of organophosphate inhabited cholinesterase reactivators published from 1980 to I992. Synthetic procedures used and the evaluation of antidotic effectiveness are mentioned for individual types of reactivators. It follows from the specification of prepared coumpounds that the main attention was paid to reactivators derived from pyridine carbaldoxime and imidazole carbaldoxime.

A blood transfusion must be considered a risk operation. The extent of the risk can be minimalized but it is not possible to eliminate it absolutely. This is due to the specificity of the blood product. These products are biological products which when maintaining their treatment effect cannot be modified by the production processes in such a way that the known risks are completely eliminated. From the long-term legal point of view the most serious are post-transfusion infections, mainly of viral origin. The worst acute post-transfusion reaction is a haemolytic reaction. Pyretic reaction, allergic reaction, post-transfusion purpura, GvHD reaction, circulation reactions, haemosiderosis, haemochromatosis and complications during massive transfusion are described from other post-transfusion reactions and complications.

Field Surgery is one of the oldest branches of medicine. The development of field surgery was influenced not only by the progress of medicine, but also by military tactics and by new weapons.
There is a more than 200-year old tradition in the training and education of military medical personnel in our country. This is comparable with other leading European countries. Our tradition is closely connected with Austrian history because the Czechs lived until 1918 under the Habsburg Monarchy.
In 1779 Emperor Joseph II charged his adviser and personal physician Giovanni Alessandro Brambilla (1728-1800) with over- Seeing the whole military medical Service....

During the 1990s depleted uranium began to be used in military industry for the production of armoured shields and ammunition prepared for the destruction of tanks and armoured vehicles. The use of ammunition containing depleted uranium in military conflicts brings with it the danger of exposing participants in military conflicts to uranium. Inhalation exposures are considered to be the most dangerous. Depleted uranium is harmful especially from the point of view of its chemical toxicity. Basic knowledge about the toxikinetics and toxidynamics of uranium with a stress on its possible acute toxic effects on various organ systems is described in this article. The most important hazard of exposure to uranium is its nephrotoxicity; nevertheless, its reproduction toxicity, genotoxicity and teratogenicity are not negligible either.

Toxins, chemical substances produced by practically all forms of life, represent a chemically broad group of compounds. Many of them are very toxic for humans and represent a serious jeopardy because they may be misused through chemical warfare or terrorist attacks. This danger has been increasing recently because toxins are more and more available due to modern synthetic methods and the application of genetic engineering.

Karel Pejml (January 26, 1892 - March 2, 1965) was the first Czech historian of military pharmacy. In his studies he covered the development of military pharmacy from the Roman period to 1930. He focused mainly on the period of the inception of field military apothecaries during the reign of Rudolph II and on the period of the development of military pharmacy during the reign of Maria Theresa and Joseph II. As one, of the first historians he deals with the inception of institutional military pharmacy in 1794 and its development under the Austro-Hungarian Empire. After the establishment of the independent Czechoslovak Republic in 1918 his studies in military pharmacy history played an irreplaceable role.

Disinfection involves a whole range of measures for achieving the destruction of microorganisms by means of physical, chemical or combined procedures. lts aim is to interrupt the route of spread from a source to a susceptible individual. Disinfection is conducted as a part of the epidemic regimen in every health service establishment, including a military one. Methods and disinfectants of various chemical compositions, concentrations and exposures are assigned for that purpose. We need to differentiate between disinfection in military medical establishments and disinfection measures carried out in the field. While the same criteria for selection and the use of disinfectants apply in military medical establishments as in civilian practice, the situation is different in field conditions....

The article analyses epidemic of diarrhoeal disease in the Czech Army 6^th Field Hospital personnel during their stay in Turkey. This epidemic was caused by the unusual conditionally pathogenic agent Providencia alcalifaciens. The inception of the epidemic was influenced by the breaking of hygienic and antiepidemic standards and the way of life infield conditions.

Apoptosis, contrary to necrosis, is a specific phenomenon at the end of a cell-life. This paper presents current knowledge about apoptosis development and mechanisms, a new categorisation of apoptosis by time and by type of its development mechanisms. Next, two points of no return for the apoptotic process as well as the possibilities of detection in experimental work are described. Finally, possibilities for the use of apoptosis in clinical practice are mentioned.

The stressogenic effect of highly toxic organophosphate sarin following single or repeated inhalation exposure to low doses of sarin by monitoring the corticosterone level in plasma, the tyrosine aminotransferase activity in liver as well as the level of catecholamines and their metabolites in the brain was studied in rats.
While the statistically significant increase in the level of some stress markers at three and twelve months following the inhalation exposure not only to symptomatic but also to asymptomatic doses of sarin was observed in comparison with the control values, no changes in stress markers at six months following the inhalation exposure were demonstrated in sarin exposed rats in comparison with the control values.
Therefore, our results confirm the possibility of long-term stressogenic effects of sarin following low-level exposure in rats, although these effects were not observed at all time intervals studied.

We monitored the number of neutrophil granulocytes and the thickness of alveolar Septa in (057Bl/6xDBA/2)F1 mice 168 days after γ- irradiation in the area of the Iungs with a dose of 16 Gy (LD₅) and 180 days after irradiation with a dose of 18 Gy (LD₅₀). The laboratory animals were administered Pentoxifyline (3,5 and 35 mg/kg), Dexamethasone (1 and 10 mg/kg) and a combination of Pentoxifyline (35 mg/kg) and Dexamethasone (10 mg/kg) twice a week. In the animals examined 168 days after irradiation with a dose of 16 Gy, a significant decrease in the number of neutrophil granulocytes and a decrease in the thickness of alveolar septa were found in all the treated animals. The largest effect was seen in a combination of PTX and DXM. In the individuals examined 180 days after irradiation with a dose of 18 Gy, a similar trend was found. The largest effect was seen in DXM (10 mg/kg) and in a combination of DXM and PTX....

The 5th Meeting of the Committee of Chief of the Military Medical Services (COMEDS) Working Group on Military Preventive Medicine (WP-MPM) was held on 1-4 November 1999. The United States hosted the meeting at Bethesda, Maryland. Colonel Terry M. Rauch, Commander, U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine - Europe was the Chairman for the WP-MPM. The Commander, USACHPPM—Europe, assumed duties as the U.S. representative and chairman in 1998.
The Working Group consists of 19 North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) military preventive medicine officers representing their respective Surgeons General in the development/discussion of NATO policy and issues relating to military preventive medicine. The WG-MPM is one of 11 COMEDS medical working groups.....

Infectious diseases traverse the usual boundaries established by medical specialists. All organ systems may be involved, and all physicians caring for patients may have to deal with infected patients.
Infectious diseases remain leading cause of morbidity and mortality throughout the world primarily because known measures of control and therapy are not applied. In technically advanced countries, the pestilences of antiquity no longer occur. Yet, even in these areas infectious diseases remain important contributors to illness and death....

In spite of sporadic occurrence of Invasive Meningococcal Diseases (IMD), epidemics with high death rates and Seque/ae are nothing exceptional. N. Meningitidis B was replaced by a new clone of N. meningitidis C: 2a: P1.2 (P1.5). Recruits of military troops deployed in the O/omouc district have occurred among the first afflicted. The clinical outlook resulted even in few deaths. Mass immunization of all the recruits demonstrated increasing immunization coverage reaching up to 98 % in 1998. Vaccine against A+C (Pasteur Merieux) has been used. The mass immunization of all the recruits was followed by a substantial decrease of IMD incidence, which has a/most disappeared Since that time.....