Perfluoroorganic compounds - 19.5 g; 4 g proxanol; 0.6 g sodium chloride; 0.039 g potassium chloride; 0.019 g magnesium chloride; 0.065 g sodium bicarbonate; 0.02 g sodium hydrogen phosphate and 0.2 g glucose.
Release form
Emulsion for infusion in 100 ml bottles; 50 ml; 200 ml and 400 ml.
pharmachologic effect
Gas transport, plasma replacement agent.
Pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics
Pharmacodynamics
The drug Perftoran is an oxygen-carrying blood substitute based on perfluoroorganic compounds. This is an emulsion with plasma-substituting, gas transport, detoxification, anti-shock, and cardioprotective effects.
The gas transport function is associated with its ability to transport oxygen and carbon dioxide. The large gas exchange surface causes a pronounced increase in the diffusion of oxygen, which supplies ischemic tissues. Blocks calcium channels. Proxanol , included in the composition as a stabilizer, improves rheological properties, microcirculation on the periphery, which is due to a decrease in viscosity and aggregation.
Pharmacokinetics
Chemically inert and not metabolized in the body. Accumulates in the reticuloendothelial system, bone marrow and liver. It is excreted in 20-24 months through the skin and lungs.
Indications for use
The scope of application of Perftoran is quite wide:
- hypovolemia and (injuries, blood loss, shock , intoxication);
- violation of microcirculation, gas exchange and tissue metabolism;
- cerebrovascular accident;
- in heart-lung machines (during heart surgery);
- environment for storing and transporting donor organs;
- washing the abdominal cavity and purulent wounds.
Contraindications
- increased sensitivity;
- hemophilia ;
- allergic diseases.
Side effects
- allergic reactions;
- temperature increase;
- decline ;
- difficulty breathing;
- chest pain.
Perftoran, instructions for use (Method and dosage)
Before transfusion, a visual inspection of the drug is carried out; it is considered suitable if there are no cracks, the seal and label are preserved. A biological test must be carried out: 5 drops are slowly administered and the patient’s condition is observed, after which 30 drops are administered and observed for 3 minutes. If there is no reaction, administration continues.
For acute blood loss, 5-30 ml per kg of weight is administered intravenously. If microcirculation is impaired - 5-8 ml per kg of weight. Repeat treatment three times at the same dose with an interval of 2-3 days. To protect donor organs, 20 ml per kg of body weight is given intravenously to the donor and recipient before surgery.
Overdose
There are no known cases of overdose.
Interaction
Do not administer in the same system or use in a heart-lung machine together with dextrans .
Terms of sale
Over the counter.
Storage conditions
Store frozen (from −4 to −180 C). When thawed, it can be stored at a temperature of 40 C for up to 2 weeks.
Best before date
Analogues
Level 4 ATX code matches:There are no structural analogues. Preparations based on perftoranov - Fluozol-Yes , Perfucol .
Reviews of Perftoran
The history of the creation of the drug, sometimes called “blue blood,” dates back to 1984, and in 1996 the emulsion was approved for medical use.
The structural features of the molecules explain the properties of perfluorocarbon compounds and their ability to attach and transfer large volumes of gases, which are then freely released. Therefore, the drug mainly affects the gas transport function of the blood.
Experience of using it to replenish blood loss shows that it also normalizes hemodynamic parameters, improves heart function, microcirculation and rheological properties, and reduces tissue loss. For massive blood loss, less than 1000 ml is administered. Using it reduces consumption by 2 times donated blood. Perftoran is more often used for emergency indications in acute blood loss with symptoms hemorrhagic shock . Neutral with respect to the coagulation system and hematopoiesis .
The severity of adverse reactions decreases as the size of the emulsion particles decreases. Of all perfluorocarbon emulsions ( Fluozol-Yes , Perfucol , F43 , F44E , F46 , F66E ) Perftoran emulsion has the best size ratios.
Despite all its positive qualities, this is not blood, but an artificial emulsion that performs the function of gas exchange. To this day, there are discussions about the effectiveness and harm of this drug. Doctors prefer to use donor blood (although supplies in all regions have noticeably decreased), since this drug still causes adverse reactions. The negative quality is that the molecules perfluorocarbons accumulate in the liver ( macrophages capture their particles), and the drug itself is removed from the body for a very long time, causing storage diseases. This is why Perftoran is banned in the USA, or rather not itself, but drugs based on perfluorocarbons .
Today, the drug is produced in limited quantities (complex production, high costs) and is most often used topically in cosmetology, dermatology, gynecology, in preparing sperm for insemination (3 parts emulsion + 1 part sperm, this increases sperm motility and increases the likelihood of fertilization) . Most often there are reviews about its use in these areas of medicine.
- « ... I bought the drug before insemination. This was the third and successful».
- « ... I had procedures performed by a cosmetologist using perftoran. I liked it - after the third procedure my complexion noticeably improved and my skin became moisturized».
- « ... I used it for mesotherapy - I’m happy with the result».
- « ... For severe eczema in general treatment lotions with this drug were prescribed. Indeed, the process has moved forward - wounds have begun to heal».
Perftoran price, where to buy
You can buy Perftoran in some pharmacies. Perftoran in Moscow (emulsion 200 ml) can be purchased for 10,939 – 11,050 rubles.
When talking about oxygen cosmetics, we usually talk about them as drugs with perfluorocarbons, which were developed “by Soviet scientists” during the “secret development of blood substitutes.”
But what is behind these intriguing phrases? Let's try to figure it out.
Mice and rats
The history of oxygen cosmetics began almost half a century ago. True, then no one suspected that a simple working experiment would serve millions of women well.
Legend has it that one fine day in 1966, a laboratory mouse fell into a jar of perfluorocarbon emulsion. She fell, choked, but... did not die, but continued to breathe. The mouse, of course, was taken out, and she walked away as if nothing had happened.
And scientists wondered - what are the mechanisms of the miracle? However, most likely, everything was not entirely like that - mice don’t just fall into jars of PFCs.
In the early 60s, the American scientist Henry Sloiviter came up with the idea that a perfluorocarbon emulsion saturated with oxygen could be a breathing medium for living beings.
And then they decided to test this idea. In 1966, the mouse was specially placed in an aquarium with an emulsion. However, exactly how the rodent got into the “jar” is unimportant. The main thing is that the animal, which has become famous, allowed suspicions to grow into confidence: based on perfluorocarbons - fully fluorinated organic compounds (PFOS) - it is possible to create emulsions that can replace air for living beings and perform the functions of blood, carrying oxygen throughout the body!
And in 1968, Robert Geyer completely replaced the blood of an experimental rat with a perfluorocarbon emulsion - and the animal remained alive.
Jehovah witnesses. America competes with Japan
Immediately after all serious magazines published the portrait of the unlucky rodent, scientists got to work. More than 40 different companies began to develop this problem. Special laboratories were organized in the USA, Sweden, Germany, England, Japan and China.
The Japanese were the first to achieve success. In 1974, they released a drug that received a name that in Russian sounds extremely life-affirming - “Fluosol-DA”. In 1979, it was approved for administration to people. They say that the first volunteers who decided to feel what it’s like to have artificial blood flowing in your veins were 50 members of the Jehovah’s Witnesses sect. Transfusion of donor blood is prohibited by their religion. The tests were successful, and in 1982 the drug went on general sale.
Alas, as soon as Fluosol-DA crossed the borders of Japan and entered the American market, a real scandal erupted around it. The reason was the unexpectedly high reactogenicity of the drug - 35% of cases. And this despite the fact that the Japanese said only 2-5%! And the Americans accused Japanese developers of deliberately falsifying research data in order to conceal the true properties of the medicine.
True, when the passions have subsided, calm scientific analysis proved that people of the Mongoloid race simply have a completely different sensitivity immune system to drugs like PFOS emulsions. But when this became clear, Fluosol-DA was already banned, the Japanese company collapsed, and its owner died.
The USSR joins the race
The Soviet Union entered the game a little later. Work began in Leningrad, at the Research Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion (LNIIGPK) in the early 70s. And soon, due to its strategic importance, the topic was taken under the control of the main Moscow institution - the Central Order of Lenin Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion (TsOLIPK).
Looking ahead, let’s say that in the end, a team of two institutes created the drug “Perfucol”, which, according to its direct developers, was created based on the Japanese “Fluosol-DA”.
And maybe everything would have gone calmly and smoothly, but in 1979 the Moscow-Leningrad alliance had a serious rival - the Institute of Biophysics of the USSR Academy of Sciences in Pushchino.
Everything happened with the light hand of the young and incredibly energetic doctor of medical sciences Felix Fedorovich Beloyartsev. Beloyartsev was exclusively talented person- a doctor by training, a famous anesthesiologist, who already became a doctor of medicine at the age of 34, he abandoned a brilliant medical career for a scientific one, but succeeded here too.
Beloyartsev F.F. Returning from a trip to the USA, where he learned about work on the creation of blood substitutes, Beloyartsev convinced the leadership of the Academy of Sciences to take up this topic.
Until this moment, the Academy was interested in PFOS only from the point of view of “pure science.” But when it came to blood substitutes themselves, things took a completely different turn.
It was in full swing cold war, oversaturated nuclear weapons, the two superpowers were preparing for any scenario in which the confrontation could develop, including the worst. In any war, including a nuclear one, the life of the surviving population and military directly depends on blood supplies, and there is not enough donor blood even in peacetime.
In general, successful tests of PFCs meant millions of lives saved... and at least a State Prize. Serious competition began between the Ministry of Health scientists and scientists from the Academy of Sciences.
How "blue blood" was created
In the laboratory headed by Beloyartsev, work moved by leaps and bounds.
Simon Shnol in his book “Heroes and Villains of Russian Science” recalls that “Beloyartsev rushed in his Zhiguli from Moscow to Pushchino and back, sometimes twice a day. It was necessary to obtain the starting components for preparing emulsions. And he said: “Guys, we are doing a great job! All the rest does not matter".
As a result, despite the fact that his competitors started work 2 years earlier, they released two blood substitutes at the same time. Already in 1984, the Pharmaceutical Committee of the USSR Ministry of Health issued permission to conduct clinical trials of “Perfukol” and “Perftoran” (this is the name given to the “academic” blood substitute).
“Bypassed” the Beloyartsevs and the Americans and the Japanese. Both of them, when creating emulsions, tried to ensure the fastest possible removal of the drug from the body and for this they made an emulsion from large drops. The larger the emulsion droplets, the more easily they stick together, forming micelles that are absorbed by phagocytes - cellular “cleaners”. This is true, but blockage of small vessels is inevitable. And experimental animals in American and Japanese laboratories began to die.
Beloyartsev came up with the idea of making an emulsion with small particles. And it became a real revolution!
The thing is, all kinds functional disorders in medicine are ultimately associated with circulatory disorders. Capillaries shrink, blood flow deteriorates, and oxygen supply to cells decreases. And in oxygen-free conditions, glycolysis begins to predominate - the breakdown of glucose into lactic acid. The environment becomes acidified - the capillaries shrink even more, even less oxygen enters... And so on until the organs and tissues are completely destroyed.
And small particles of perfluoroemulsion can penetrate through a compressed capillary. They carry less oxygen than blood, but even a small stream of oxygen can reverse the process - the capillaries expand slightly, the flow of oxygen increases, the capillaries expand even more - the blood supply is restored.
It was also found that Perftoran is ideal for accelerating the healing of wounds and trophic disorders.
Victory! But…
It seemed that the favorite of fortune, Felix Beloyartsev, remained on the horse this time too! Even though the two drugs were released at the same time, in 1985 the trials of Perfucol (the Ministry of Health’s blood substitute) had to be interrupted early due to the severe reactions it caused, and the emulsion was sent for revision. But “Perftoran” was nominated for the USSR State Prize.
But this victory brought a lot of troubles to the developers. Suddenly, inspections by the Prosecutor General's Office and the KGB began. “Responsible comrades” were not attracted to the drug by its unique properties. Beloyartsev’s team was accused of violating regulations, falsifying materials on testing Perftoran, and he himself was accused of... stealing government-issued alcohol.
What was the reason that people engaged in research of national importance suddenly became the object of some kind of ridiculous persecution? Today it is already very difficult to understand this. But the most plausible version is that of Simon Shmol, who directly observed the development of events.
He assigns the main role in the tragic turn of this story to the then vice-president of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Yu. A. Ovchinnikov. According to this version, the powerful vice president, who made a dizzying scientific career not only thanks to his talents, but also in many ways by moving “along the party line,” turned out to have “nothing to do with” such brilliant research. The President of the Academy of Sciences appointed young Heinrich Ivanitsky, not him, as the head of all work!
There was another circumstance. Ovchinnikov at that time was already sick with leukemia and was treated by the country's chief hematologist, whose drug turned out to be much worse and did not survive clinical trials. According to Simon Schmol, the doctor could well have used the trusting relationship with his powerful patient to settle scores with his younger and more successful competitor.
In general, the leadership of the Ministry of Health also supported the proceedings. Perhaps also because none of the employees of his institutions, who had been actively involved in the creation of perfluorocarbon emulsions for 15 years, were included in the list of applicants for state awards.
A Sound of Thunder
The persecution of Felix Beloyartsev ended tragically. He was constantly interrogated. One day, investigators came to his dacha to find supplies of stolen alcohol there. Nothing was found. And in the morning the watchman found Felix Fedorovich dead.
After some time, a letter was sent to Ivanitsky’s deputy in the Administrative Operations Department: “Dear Boris Fedorovich! I can no longer live in an atmosphere of slander and betrayal by some employees. Take care of Nina and Arkasha. Let G.R. will help Arkady in life. If possible, then give all my Pushchino things and furniture to Nina. This is my will. Your F.F.”
Beloyartsev's death came as a shock. Simon Schmol, who has already been mentioned several times, writes: “Really, why couldn’t he stand it? I think F.F. was unseasoned. His life was too happy and lucky. He was disgusted by the habits of the KGB and the prosecutor's office. He was terrified of the possibility of arrest and the inability to clear his name.”
Next, cones fell on the director of the Institute of Biophysics of the USSR Academy of Sciences G.R. Ivanitsky. He was removed from his post as director of the institute, and then expelled from the CPSU.
This topic was actively discussed in the Soviet press of that time. The newspaper “Soviet Russia”, the magazines “Ogonyok” and “Kommunist”, “Literary Gazette” - all the prominent publications of that time participated in the discussion about PFU. As a result, both academic and Ministry of Health research fell under the wheel. All developments from TsOLIPKA were transferred to the All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Blood Substitutes and Hormonal Drugs Technologies.
Phoenix
It would seem that this amazing story, where courage and envy, science and politics were intertwined into a single knot, has come to an end. Moreover, the end of the 80s was also the end of the USSR.
But the creators of “blue blood” were reborn from the ashes.
In 1991, in Pushchino, largely through the efforts of G.R., who was restored to his position. Ivanitsky created the Perftoran company. In 1996, “blue blood” was finally officially registered and put on sale in 1997.
TsOLIPK employees also did not forget about emulsions. While the Pushchinites were reviving their drug, they came up with the idea of using “ blue blood"in cosmetics - this is how the Nizar company appeared.
And although almost the same emulsions are used in cosmetics as in blood substitutes, there was no talk of competition. We studied in Pushchina medicines, in Moscow cosmetics.
In 1998, Faberlic bought all rights to produce cosmetics with PFCs from Nizar. Today, Faberlic owns all rights to the cutaneous use of PFCs (Aquaftem) in Russia and the former CIS countries. The patenting process has begun in the USA, Canada, Latin America, Europe (including the Baltic countries) and Asia.
In 1998, the group of scientists who developed Perftoran was awarded the Prize of the Government of the Russian Federation in the field of science and technology “For high results in the development and application of new agents in medicine and healthcare.”
Based on materials from the magazine “News in the World of Cosmetics”
September 2004
Perftoran– a light blue drug used to replace blood plasma. The discovery of the “blue blood” formula is directly related to the name of the young talented scientist, Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor Felix Beloyartsev. The fate of this drug has tragic story, about which there are conflicting opinions, and there are no documented facts, because all the documentation is securely locked in the archives, where to get into, real possibility No. Each of the direct participants in the latest tragedy of Soviet science has their own versions. This story will tell you all about it.
Newspapers called perftoran “blue blood”, and this drug became more familiar with this name. This blood plasma substitute belongs to the group of perfluorocarbons, where instead of hydrogen atoms there are fluorine particles. Substances of this group have the ability, like red blood particles, to transport oxygen.
The first information about the possibility of using perfluorocarbons as a substitute for blood plasma appeared in the mid-70s of the last century, after an experiment carried out by Leland Clark with an experimental mouse. The mouse was dipped into a glass container with perfluoroemulsion. The animal did not drown, and continued to breathe for some time, as if being in the air. The death of the animal was due to fatigue respiratory muscles, since the resistance turned out to be much higher than when breathing air, but the mouse did not suffocate.
Two years later, Robert Geyer conducts an experiment with a rat, which instead of blood is injected into the venous and arterial network, which does not have a single red blood cell, with perfluoroemulsion, and the animal survives, although not for a long time, because in addition to oxygen, the blood also carries other substances that the rat lacked.
Thus, the idea arose of creating a drug that could replace blood and transport oxygen to organs and tissues. In principle, no one expected that the new substance would fully perform all the numerous functions of the blood. It was assumed that it was possible to replace blood plasma with perfluoroemulsion for a short period of time in emergency cases, when during surgical intervention There was no needed donor blood. Or when, as a result of the injury, the supply of oxygen to the tissues is limited, the composition can be administered intravenously. The product can also be used to store donor organs.
I saw a colossal future for the new drug. Scientists from around the world simultaneously began to develop a miracle cure. In the Soviet Union, Leningrad and Moscow scientists from the Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion were the first to undertake research work. A little later, the Institute of Biophysics of the USSR Academy of Sciences, in Pushchino, headed by Heinrich Ivanitsky, took up this task. Felix Beloyartsev, who was the head of the laboratory of medical biophysics, was entrusted with direct supervision of research work.
Experiments conducted by scientists from the United States of America, representatives of Japanese science and a number of other countries did not have positive results. After administration of the drug, the experimental animals experienced blockage of the veins and liver cirrhosis developed. For this reason, research work abroad was stopped. The experiments of scientists at the Institute of Hematology also turned out to be ineffective. But in Pushchino they coped with the task.
Preliminary tests have shown excellent results. The drug worked without causing significant negative effects, and for a short time was excreted from the body. More than one thousand experiments were carried out on animals before, at the end of February 1984, the USSR Pharmacological Committee agreed to carry out the first stage of clinical trials of perftoran as an oxygen carrier, and a year later the second. The product was found suitable for use.
Everyone was waiting for the announcement of an unconditional sensational discovery, and scientists were among the candidates for the State Prize.
And it was then that something incomprehensible began to happen. For unclear reasons, Academician Yu.A. Ovchinnikov, being vice-president of the USSR Academy of Sciences, ordered to cancel international conference doctors on perftoran, which was supposed to take place in Pushchino. Instead, a local symposium was held, where doctors who used perftoran in practice unanimously confirmed the unsurpassed results obtained from using the drug to treat patients. The information presented at the symposium was published in the press and became available to the entire scientific community. A deep impression was left by the report of the military surgeon-anaesthesiologist, Colonel V.V. Moroz, who, using perftoran, brought back the lives of more than one hundred Soviet military personnel during military operations in Afghanistan. Enormous results have been described by other doctors during cardiac operations when there is no blood in the ventricles and complex head injuries.
At the same time, dirty rumors began to emerge from somewhere, spread by the press and picked up by irresponsible talkers, that scientists were experimenting on children with mental disabilities, located in orphanages, and in Afghanistan hundreds of our wounded soldiers died from perftoran. Gossip did not spare F.F. Beloyartsev himself. He was accused of extorting money from employees for banquets, stealing alcohol and narcotic drugs, for further sale.
Later it became known that the source of all these monstrous rumors was the country's State Security Committee. It was necessary to prepare the appropriate ground in order to then prohibit the continuation of tests of perftoran, and begin a real persecution of everyone related to research work. Not only KGB officers had a hand. The prosecutor's office of Serpukhov and the OBKhSS got involved. There were endless conversations with the laboratory staff about everything related to documentation on testing, the use of alcohol, and the experiment logs were studied, which were then confiscated and disappeared into the archival walls of the State Security Committee. Investigators tried to lead to clean water and Beloyartsev. They were interested in what kind of relationships there were in the team, how Beloyartsev cut bonuses for employees, if extortion could be accepted as an offer to voluntarily contribute part of the bonuses to the research fund, since the funds issued were sorely lacking.
Everything that happened was very reminiscent of the work of the Authorities of those immemorial times, when bare accusations were brought forward that were not legally justified and not documented.
G. Ivanitsky was not spared either, who was criticized at all party meetings and the correctness of his work principles as the head of the institute was questioned.
This whole epic ended very tragically. Felix Beloyartsev could no longer live among slander, deception and betrayal, and at the very end of 1985 he committed suicide, leaving a suicide note asking Ivanitsky to take care of his relatives.
At the same time, Ivanitsky continued to be terrorized, deprived of his position and expelled from the party. If perestroika had not come, it is quite possible that he would have had to say goodbye to science forever. But the time has come when direct discussions have become acceptable. G.R. Ivanitsky, despite everything, gathered his strength and, five years later, continued his research. In 1997, the production of perftoran was officially permitted. The following year, a team of scientists led by Genrikh Ivanitsky became a laureate of the Russian Federation Prize in the field of science and technology for the development and practical use of perftoran. Among the names of scientists was F.F. Beloyartsev. posthumously. A few years later, the same team was awarded the First National Prize for their contribution to the development of medicine. the best doctors Russia "Calling". F.F. Beloyartsev is also among the laureates.
In 2003, at a congress of scientists from around the world involved in the development of blood substitute drugs, dozens of reports were heard emphasizing the unique abilities of perftoran.
On the basis of the Institute of Biophysics, the Perftoran joint-stock company was founded, which included the Alliance company, for a long time specializing in the development of artificial blood and a number of representatives of American science. Scientists from the USA recognized the highest quality of Russian perftoran in comparison with existing similar drugs produced in Sweden and Japan, which was confirmed as a result of the examination. Today, the blood plasma substitute perftoran is freely sold in pharmacies.
One thing remains unclear: who and why needed to organize a monstrous persecution of the scientists-developers of such a unique and necessary drug.
According to one version, the director of the Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion, Yu.A. Ovchinnikov, is accused, who could not come to terms with the fact that success was achieved in Pushchino, and not at his institute. However, it looks at least stupid for a talented representative of science, who made a huge contribution to its development, to suddenly begin to literally destroy competitors, which was generally not practiced among scientists in those days. Why was it necessary to involve the KGB and law enforcement agencies if it was in his power to simply close the project as irrelevant, for example.
According to another version, it is assumed that this could not have happened without the initiative of KGB employee S.B. Gyulazizov, who has medical specialty and the degree of a scientist, but at one time he received a refusal from G.R. Ivanitsky to hire him to work at the Institute as a deputy head. However, the mentioned Gyulazizov occupied too insignificant a post in the KGB to stage such a performance.
At the same time, Gyulazizov, in spite of everything, is trying to defend his point of view that perftoran is harmful and dangerous to health. So it was only thanks to the vigilance of the KGB officers that people were saved from the deception and harm brought by Ivanitsky and Beloyartsev. And Beloyartsev was hunted down at the instigation of Ivanitsky, who became afraid of the consequences of the deception, and he decided to shift all the blame onto his colleague. This is probably why in his suicide note F.F. Beloyartsev relies on the support of his family from the Ivanitskys.
It's a thankless task to dig through dirty laundry. Those who are interested can find and re-read many different materials, ranging from official publications of scientific works of scientists to the own conclusions of ordinary people.
But, nevertheless, in Astrakhan, where student F.F. Beloyartsev once rented an apartment, a memorial plaque was installed in memory of the Russian scientist and recognition of his merits in the development of science.
Early 1980s. Soviet science is making a breakthrough. Professor Felix Beloyartsev announces the creation of an emulsion capable of performing the functions of blood - carrying oxygen throughout the body.
Have scientists really managed to recreate human blood? Nevertheless, the facts speak for themselves. Beloyartsev’s drug, perftoran, saves lives. However, unexpectedly, “blue blood” – as journalists dubbed the drug – is banned.
So what secrets does “blue blood” hide and why was the world’s first artificial substitute for human blood banned in the USSR? Read about this in the channel's documentary investigation.
In the midst of destruction
December 17, 1985. The frozen dacha of pharmacologist Felix Beloyartsev. Investigators are hastily turning things over and tapping on the walls. Sitting in the middle of the destruction, Beloyartsev calmly waits for this farce to end. Having found nothing, the prosecutor's office workers leave.
The professor is left alone. In the morning they will find him in the noose. The reason for the suicide of the 44-year-old scientist remains a mystery to this day. Almost all 20 volumes of the investigation are either securely hidden in the archives or destroyed.
“These personal cases (we say in quotation marks - “case”) - they are still classified. Both the suicide case and the investigative case of Beloyartsev - they are closed, so everything I say is, as scientists say , interpolation,” explains historian Alexey Penzensky.
The search at Beloyartsev’s dacha is a consequence of a denunciation. One of his colleagues shared valuable information with the authorities: supposedly the professor was doing repairs at his dacha, and was paying the workers with alcohol from the laboratory. This accusation is insulting and ridiculous. For those who remember the 80s, it is clear that alcohol is just a reason to start checking. It gets stolen everywhere.
Alexey Penzensky, historian: “This is alcohol that was stolen and stored in a safe. If there was no safe in the laboratory, there was a case when the director of a chemical laboratory told me that after or during repairs the bottle becomes empty. They come. What is it? Builders drink ".
However, Beloyartsev is facing another charge. Rumors are spreading around the city that the laboratory management is extortionately taking salaries from employees. Of course, revelries and banquets are organized with the stolen money.
“One of the unfortunate violations of the rules that the unfortunate Beloyartsev committed was the fight for funds. This is known in Soviet science. This was the main prize. It was a carrot for which laboratories, research teams, entire institutes, academies of sciences ran for these carrots .
Funds. Funds. What did our hero do? He agreed and ordered the employees to donate part of the bonus (some percentage) to the fund for their development. Project Development Fund, as they would say now,” says Alexey Penzensky.
Beloyartsev is fanatically devoted to his work. He constantly orders unique devices, paying for them with money from bonuses. All this is done with the sole purpose of creating a drug that will change history.
Blood substitute
Late 70s. The threat of AIDS looms over the world. Cases of diseases resulting from blood transfusions have become more frequent. Scientists from different countries are struggling with its artificial substitute. But only Beloyartsev succeeds. In just three years, his laboratory in Pushchino, near Moscow, begins to produce an emulsion capable of saturating the body with oxygen. The drug is called "Perftoran".
“An emulsion that could transport gases - oxygen and carbon dioxide. Why? Because this is generally the only liquid that has such a high capacity for these two gases. These properties were discovered a long time ago, back in the 40s of the last century ", explains biologist Elena Tereshina.
The press widely covers this discovery and calls perftoran “blue blood.” In 1985, Beloyartsev’s drug was nominated for a State Prize, so the persecution and suicide of its creator comes as a shock to many.
“The man was simply driven to suicide. And the man fell into these gears of this machine. He grappled with Goliath. And in this fight Beloyartsev had no chance. Moreover, Ivanitsky was almost pulled into these gears - his right hand, his , as I understand it, the closest confidant. And a neighbor. We lived together in Pushchina, in the same city. He was, however, only brought to a heart attack," says historian Alexei Penzensky.
This is especially incomprehensible to Anya Grishina’s parents. A five-year-old baby, having once escaped from her nanny, jumps out onto the roadway. It would not have been difficult to save the child if the doctors had not mixed up the donor blood. A strong reaction begins in the girl’s body. Fighting for Anya’s life is becoming more and more difficult. Remains last hope– Beloyartsev’s artificial blood. But the drug has not yet been tested.
“Perftoran - it has already been fully tested on animals, the documents were sent to the pharmaceutical committee for permission to clinical trials, but permission has not yet been received. And Mikhelson, who was in charge of this department at the clinic, - he called Beloyartsev, and Beloyartsev at his own peril and risk I brought two bottles of perftoran,” says biophysicist and colleague of Felix Beloyartsev Genrikh Ivanitsky.
The girl remains alive. And perftoran demonstrates its undeniable advantage - it suits everyone without exception, while ordinary blood has an amazing property: when transfused, it accepts only its own group, and fights with someone else’s. Nevertheless, it is precisely this ability of the blood to stand guard over the body that helps it fight infection.
“Our blood is a unique liquid in its protective properties. It’s simply impossible to think of anything else, how much time do leukocytes have time to adapt to that pathogenic microflora, which appears as they begin to work quickly. And there are only individual cases when a leukocyte approaches and does not recognize this microflora. I see: a rod-shaped bacterium is swaying, for example, a leukocyte approaches, stands, thinks and moves away,” explains hematologist Olga Shishova.
Running through the veins
For centuries, the red substance flowing in the veins has been a mystery to mankind. To compensate for its deficiency, blood was even transfused from animals. Needless to say, many such experiments ended in death.
Today, thanks to a microscope, this mysterious substance is revealing some of its secrets. One of them is the amazing ability of blood cells (erythrocytes) to stick together under stress, forming columns of coins.
"A unique phenomenon about the gluing of red blood cells. Any of our tension creates a spasm in the body. As they say: everything inside has become cold. What is a spasm? This means that the peripheral capillaries have narrowed and all the blood has ended up in a small space. And that means cold hands, cold feet , a headache, vision has deteriorated, internal organs are not supplied with blood at a sufficient speed and red blood cells stick together, becoming “coin columns.” And their ability to deliver oxygen is impaired,” says Olga Shishova.
When red blood cells are stuck together, the blood becomes thick and has difficulty passing through the smallest capillaries. And in such a situation, the artificial substitute again proves its superiority over nature. Perftoran breaks up the “coin columns” of red blood cells, improving blood circulation.
“This is a very big problem, how to destroy this stasis, how to destroy these “coin columns”. And it turned out that perftoran has the property of destroying this. They say that... The mechanism is not exactly known, but they say that there are two components at work: this "The fluorocarbons themselves and the surfactant on which this perfluoran is made. The surfactant destroys the columns, and the fluorocarbons transfer gases," says Elena Tereshina.
And yet, the main advantage of perftoran is that it does not come into conflict with the patient’s blood. Why? Everything is very simple. Particles of “blue blood” are so small that immune cells simply do not notice them.
“If foreign proteins enter the body, the blood begins to pull them out, the person’s temperature rises. Well, the flu, for example, or any infection that enters the body. And perfluorocarbons - if they are broken down very finely, they are not recognized by the formed elements that provide blood protection,” says Heinrich Iwanitsky.
Check by Afghanistan
The first successful use of perftoran should bring glory to its creators. But instead, rumors are spreading throughout Pushchin that Beloyartsev is testing the drug on children and mentally retarded patients in boarding schools. And that the testing grounds for the experiments were hospitals overflowing with wounded from Afghanistan. What's really going on?
"There was a war in Afghanistan, and in difficult clinical settings There was not enough donor blood, and therefore one of the heads of the department (Viktor Vasilyevich Moroz) - he did it at his own peril and risk, however, with the permission of his superiors, there is still discipline in the army. He took bottles of this perftoran with him to Afghanistan,” explains Genrikh Ivanitsky.
"Blue blood" is being transfused to several hundred wounded in Afghanistan. Once again, the use of perftoran gives great hope. Finally, on February 26, 1984, the USSR Pharmaceutical Committee gave permission for clinical trials of the drug. But soon after this, a criminal case was opened against Beloyartsev. The tests stop. At the same time, the events taking place around the “blue blood” are shrouded in secrecy. Why was perftoran banned?
"The Brezhnev Soviet Union was a confederation of clans. No one there was interested in how talented you were. One thing was important: how strong your cover was. And whether you had someone in Central Committee, and even better, you have a personal patron in the Politburo. And those who managed to reach the top and establish a good relationship, they flourished,” says Alexey Penzensky.
Beloyartsev does not have such cover, so several denunciations to the KGB trigger a chain of tragic events. But who decided to settle scores with the scientist? Surprisingly, there would be a lot of people willing. The professor is perceived as a tough leader. But who else would force their subordinates to give up part of their bonus to purchase laboratory equipment? Maybe that’s what they remembered him for.
“Now they shrug their shoulders: “Well, just think, 20 percent of the bonus.” They don’t understand. In the 80s, the prize was sacred. It’s there, I don’t know what exactly he had, they, in his team, what kind of bonuses there were, how often they were paid, and, again, they don’t name the amount, but it was sacred. And to encroach on a bonus like that was a gross violation of the rules,” Penzensky claims.
The machinations of competitors
But there is another version: in parallel with Beloyartsev, they are trying to create artificial blood at the Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion. True, to no avail. And then the employees of this establishment write a denunciation against the competitor.
However, the case is unlikely to be motivated by ordinary envy. Late 70s Soviet intelligence manages to obtain samples of artificial blood that the Japanese are developing. The drug is called "Fluasol". The Institute of Hematology receives from the Ministry of Defense the task of bringing it to fruition, and in the shortest possible time.
Elena Tereshina worked at the Institute of Hematology at that time. Today for the first time she speaks about the background of the conflict.
“Well, if my personal opinion is, I don’t think that the KGB played a role here. Why? Because, in principle, who brought this bottle of Fluasol? They were intelligence officers who found out that there was such a direction, they "They quickly brought this bottle. The Ministry of Defense was working. It was such a state order. What did Beloyartsev do that the KGB would pay attention to - I think there was nothing like that," says Elena Tereshina.
What happens? The Institute of Hematology is conducting secret development for the military department. Suddenly Beloyartsev appears, who creates artificial blood, spending about three years and mere pennies on it. The managers of the secret development must have gone through some very unpleasant moments, making excuses to the customer for their own failure.
“Because they began to put pressure on them: “Why did you spend so much money and do nothing?” Yuri Anatolyevich Ovchinnikov (then he was vice president) - in fact, at first he had a very positive attitude towards this work. And even we had friendly relations, and everything was fine. But when these conflicts began, he says: “You know what, give up this job altogether. Why the hell is it needed, because there will be so many troubles later,” says Genrikh Ivanitsky.
But Beloyartsev’s competitors risk not only their reputation. We are probably talking about millions of investments, which stop with the advent of perftoran. It is not surprising that a denunciation of the scientist soon falls on the desk of a KGB investigator.
And while the professors are being harassed by humiliating inspections, all research on perftoran has been suspended. Beloyartsev is acutely worried about the fact that he cannot defend his name. After another search, he takes his own life, leaving a suicide note: “I can no longer live in the atmosphere of this slander and betrayal of some employees.”
“He defended his doctoral dissertation at the age of 33, which is an extremely rare case for medicine. Therefore, he was spoiled by fate, and this, apparently, was the first time in his life stressful situation. This is the first point. The second point was that there was a terrible resentment, because it would seem that everything was the other way around: people in short term They did an excellent job, but instead they not only stopped the work, but also labeled him a swindler and so on.
And the third point - this was to some extent connected with specific circumstances, that he was alone at the dacha. Because if someone were nearby, he would have discharged himself simply by talking, perhaps,” says Henryk Ivanitsky.
Main enemy
But that's not all. Influential hematologist Andrei Vorobyov is an opponent of artificial blood. What is the reason for his hatred of perftoran? There is no answer to this question. One thing is clear: this man did everything to ensure that the “blue blood” never entered production.
“Hematology Research Center, VGNC - he became its director. He was an opponent of this direction in general, a very tough opponent. In general, when he had an inaugural speech, when he became the director of this institute, he said: why all these infusion drugs? “You can also pour in sea water - they won’t die,” says Elena Tereshina.
The official was not mistaken in this. Sea water really wouldn't hurt anyone. After all, human blood is surprisingly similar in composition to this brackish liquid.
“The composition of blood is almost completely identical to the composition of sea water, except for the salt content. This question remains a big mystery today. None of the specialists can intelligibly answer this question - why our blood coincides with sea water. Moreover, we all know from our experience that we can stay in sea water, while the skin is not deformed or damaged in any way. But if we are in a long time fresh water, salts are washed out, and the skin begins to wrinkle, and we feel uncomfortable,” says orientalist Pyotr Oleksenko.
This paradox must be explained by the fact that life originated in the ocean. But is that the only thing? Thanks to the study of the mysterious properties of blood, scientists make amazing discoveries. One of them belongs to professor of genetics Oleg Manoilov.
In the 20s of the last century, he collected in his laboratory the blood of representatives of almost all races and nationalities living on Earth. Manoilov forces all blood samples to react with special solution, the composition of which is known only to him. And he gets amazing results: the blood of people of some nations changes its color to blue when reacting. The remaining samples remain unchanged. But what conclusions follow from this?
“That is, depending, perhaps, on the race or ethnic type, the blood changed its color. But later it was concluded, or, most likely, a hypothesis was put forward by genetic scientists that the races of people did not descend from one ancestor, but there was a different source, and that different races, accordingly, have different blood,” says Peter Oleksenko.
Gift of ancestors
It is possible that once upon a time there lived on Earth creatures in whose veins there was a substance that was not red, but a completely different color - blue blood. This expression originated in medieval Spain to refer to aristocrats. Their pale skin showed bluish veins, which distinguished them from the dark-skinned commoners. However, soon, according to some scientists, this expression will have to be taken literally.
Petr Oleksenko is an expert on ancient Eastern civilizations. He believes that the ancestors modern civilization They really were blue-blooded, and in the most literal sense.
“Today we know that the phenomenon of blue blood is not just words, so-called blue blood, but, apparently, in fact, in the history of mankind, blue blood once existed in the process of human evolution. Today we know that our red blood is primarily red because respiratory pigments are based on hemoglobin, and hemoglobin is based on iron ions,” says Oleksenko.
Blood that contains copper ions is blue or Blue colour. Based on the metal vanadium, it will be yellow or brown. But why is perftoran called “blue blood”? Indeed, contrary to the erroneous belief, it is white in color and looks like milk. It turns out that the whole point is that the veins of the person to whom this emulsion was transfused acquire a bluish tint.
"When you pour the white emulsion into the veins, it shines through the veins on the arm blue. Our veins are so blue. Blue - because there is red blood. And if you pour in a white emulsion, they will be a pale blue color. That’s why it got its name – “blue blood,” explains Elena Tereshina.
So, work on perftoran was stopped due to persecution of Professor Beloyartsev. But is this the reason for the ban? Several documents from the criminal case, which miraculously leaked to the press, provide unexpected details: when trials of the drug on patients at the Vishnevsky Hospital began in 1984, for some reason no one recorded their results. But what do the testers want to hide?
Vladimir Komarov is an immunologist who participated in medical programs KGB and FSB. In his opinion, perftoran was banned due to its significant shortcomings.
“It had a large molecular weight, it did not penetrate into the tissues themselves, and it seemed to be in a vessel. But intimately, with the tissue of the affected organ, it did not reach there. It could not transmit oxygen deeply. And such a problem arose possible situation when there is a lot of oxygen in the blood itself, but there is none in the tissue. Moreover, I again emphasize that molecular oxygen is a chemically inert molecule. It is not able to be absorbed by this tissue,” says Vladimir Komarov.
The materials of the criminal case also noted that perftoran was administered to 700 sick and wounded people in Afghanistan. And this was before the drug was officially approved. Investigators learned that more than a third of them died. Have scientists rushed to declare that perftoran is harmless?
“Perftoran is approximately the same as a Teflon frying pan or saucepan. These fluorates themselves affect blood viscosity and can affect changes in metabolism in a pathological way, because this again foreign element. And I heard that on reproductive functions in women, this drug can also have a negative effect,” says Vladimir Komarov.
Doctors' mistake or total failure?
During the investigation, KGB officers learn about the death of the experimental dog Lada. The scientists were extremely proud that during the experiment, 70 percent of her blood was replaced with perftoran. The autopsy results are horrifying: the four-legged animal has the last stage of liver cirrhosis. Was the professor really in a hurry to receive the notorious State Prize? And yet, it was never possible to prove that “blue blood” destroys the liver.
“Fluorine compounds are completely harmless, they are metabolically inactive and physiologically inactive in the sense that they do not cause any harm to the body. The only thing they were negative quality- this is that they accumulated in the liver. Liver macrophages captured these particles, and compounds were selected that would be quickly removed from the liver,” says Elena Tereshina.
The unfortunate dog was probably infused with an experimental sample of perftoran. And the wounded in Afghanistan die because their wounds are incompatible with life. And yet, “blue blood” is able to compete, and quite successfully, with ordinary humans.
So why was perftoran banned in the Soviet Union? Many are still convinced that the case against their boss was fabricated. And not just anywhere, but in the KGB itself. The professor, due to his duty, is forced to receive foreign delegations, so he is approached with an urgent request - to transmit reports on meetings with foreign colleagues to the authorities.
Historian Alexey Penzensky conducted his own investigation and discovered an interesting fact in Beloyartsev’s biography, which is almost never talked about.
“He had to receive foreigners, travel abroad, carefully monitor who communicates with foreign delegates here, so that foreigners are not shown people, so that they do not even know about their existence, those who are conducting secret developments. Be present at all meetings. A lot what. Well, of course, to write. Not exactly denunciations. What does denunciation mean? Denunciations are written by amateurs. And these were called a report, he is a full-time employee of the authorities. The institute’s department for work with foreigners. In any institute,” says Alexey Penzensky.
Beloyartsev's independent character rebels against such a need. The professor resolutely rejects the KGB's proposal. And what followed the refusal in such a case is not at all difficult to guess.
“If he opposed the appointment from above, as, for example, Beloyartsev opposed the appointment of deputy director for work with foreigners. Naturally, what a position it was! It was a KGB job through and through. He opposed. The appointment, as far as I understand, took place. But “tick” he received it in his personal file,” explains Alexey Penzensky.
KGB pressure
That's when the problems with the KGB begin: interrogations of Beloyartsev's subordinates, searches of his house, absurd accusations. The tragic ending at the scientist’s dacha puts an end to this story. But driving to suicide is not too cruel revenge on an intractable scientist?
Not to mention sabotage on a national scale. Did the security officers really decide to take such a step? The reality turned out to be sadder and more terrible: the scientist came under attack because of his closest associate.
Heinrich Ivanitsky is one of the creators of perftoran and right hand Felix Beloyartsev. Today, for the first time, he explains the reason for the scandal with the KGB. Who would have thought that the notorious housing issue intervened in the matter.
“I was the director of the center, and when each house was delivered, we had to allocate a certain percentage to military personnel who had been demobilized. Then the builders were given a certain percentage, the rest went researchers, and sometimes (very rarely) they gave a certain number of apartments to employees who are in law enforcement agencies,” says Ivanitsky.
The era of socialism. Apartments are not sold, but distributed. Ivanitsky combines work on perftoran with the position of director of the Pushchino Scientific Center. And in this capacity, he has the right to distribute apartments in new buildings to his employees. Following unwritten laws, from time to time he donates housing to KGB officers. But one day a scandal breaks out around such an apartment.
“Then an employee who worked here, in the State Security, in the center itself (one of the employees), told me that they come there, organize drinking parties, bring some women. We went, opened this room, found that there was a whole table there filled with bottles and so on. I said that we are taking this apartment, because with the shortage of apartments that exist, in general, we need such an apartment more than you do. Then they told me: “You're crazy! How did you immediately…” But nevertheless, I took such a step,” recalls Heinrich Ivanitsky.
Then the organs fall on both creators of the “blue blood”. Moreover, Beloyartsev, as the project manager, suffers much more. After his death, attacks against Ivanitsky continue.
Meanwhile, work on perftoran is temporarily prohibited until the investigation is completed. According to this version, it turns out that a drug with an impeccable reputation simply became a hostage to the conflict. But then, where do the rumors come from that perftoran can cause cancer?
“I think that as a foreign element, everything foreign can cause and enhance cancer formation, let’s say. That is, here it is clear that if we worsen the metabolism, then we first of all worsen the oxygen supply. And cancer likes to live where there is no oxygen,” - says Vladimir Komarov.
In some animals that received blue blood injections, suspicious nodules were found on the images. The drug is sent for research to Kyiv. Scientists are studying the effects of perftoran on rats. However, it cannot be proven that it causes cancer. On the contrary, animals that have received artificial blood transfusions live longer than their relatives.
“Parts of the mice were infused with perftoran. And they wanted to see if this part would develop all sorts of tumors. But the outcome was completely the opposite, that the control then died after a certain period of time, and these all live and live. And they cannot send a conclusion , because... Then in the end I called there and said: “Guys, why are you holding up there?” And they said: “We can’t do anything. They live with us,” says Heinrich Ivanitsky.
But, apparently, investigators are still eager to prove that perftoran is unusually dangerous. Then they resort to forgery. It's 1986. On everyone's lips Chernobyl disaster. The KGB officers decide to transfuse artificial blood to the liquidators of the accident, and attribute all the consequences of radiation to the effect of the drug. However, everything turns out exactly the opposite: those who were infused with the drug recover faster than others.
“They wanted to prove that he was bad, let’s say, they sent him to Kiev, and there were people there... Chernobyl just happened. And in 1998 I met a man who was a liquidator, and a friend from the KGB told him: “We’ll give him to you.” applicable." And so, as he says, by chance or not, out of the entire brigade in 1998, he was the only one alive," says businessman Sergei Pushkin.
However, despite all the positive qualities, perftoran cannot be called blood. This is an artificial emulsion capable of performing a single function - gas exchange. It is impossible to create an analogue of real blood.
“What controls this system? You can’t say that the brain controls it. What are the control parameters? Therefore, I believe that blood is the most mysterious organ. Tissue. Or organ. You don’t know what to call it anymore. Both tissue and organ, because that it has its own functions, it’s not just some set of cells,” explains Elena Tereshina.
Spiritual substance
People have long believed that blood is a spiritual substance. Surprisingly, today scientists confirm this guess. Even when separated from a person, blood recognizes its owner. The red blood cells seem to be attracted to him, wanting to reunite with him. Under a microscope, scientists observe how the properties of blood change during prayer.
Olga Shishova, hematologist: “Amazing. I sometimes do this: I take a drop of blood, look at it and, if I see a lot of problems, I tell the patient: “Now pray.” Now meditate. Now calm your brain. And after a while I will take your blood." And it turns out that, firstly, we see what dramatic changes when a person comes into concentration, when he begins to understand himself a little in this world.
Maybe that’s why the “blue bloods” went through such a difficult path. Its creators challenged nature and were as if punished by higher powers for this. Early 90s begins recent history In Russia, the ban on perftoran is being lifted.
Nevertheless, the fate of the “blue blood” will continue to be difficult. State funding will cease, scientific laboratories will survive as best they can. "Blue Bloods" will be bought by a private company.
Sergei Pushkin opened his own production of perftoran in the early 90s. However, the income from the “blue blood” turned out to be less than could be expected. This is all due to the distrust of doctors who cannot forget Beloyartsev’s disagreement with the authorities.
"It was 1997. That is, the drug was already registered, registration certificate was obtained, but there was no license for release. This was precisely the difficulty, because all the doctors remembered her. And the drug had to prove that it really works, that there are no dangers of using perftoran, at least about which were written then, in the 80s,” says Sergei Pushkin.
Today, perftoran is produced in limited quantities. Donated blood is still transfused in hospitals. And “blue blood” is used in small doses in cosmetics. Why did perftoran suffer such a sad fate? The reason is simple: complex emulsion production, packaging under sterile conditions - all this is expensive.
“Its life as a blood substitute is gradually beginning to fade away. But the difference here is that for blood substitution you need a lot of perftoran, but as a therapeutic drug you need very little, because when blood substitution occurs, you need to pour 20 milliliters per kilogram of weight in case of blood loss , but here two to three milliliters per kilogram of weight is enough to restore various functions. But a lot of things were also revealed there related to the treatment of burn injuries and so on. So his fate is twofold,” – Henryk Ivanitsky.
Today we have learned how to treat donor blood so that it does not come into conflict with the victim’s blood. Still, perftoran lost the fight. What nature created once again turned out to be more perfect than all human attempts to recreate something similar in the laboratory.
And they know that its main ingredient is "blue blood" or perftoran– an aqueous emulsion capable of transporting oxygen into the deep layers of the skin. About the difficult fate of “blue blood” and its creators – brilliant Russian scientists and we'll talk In this article.
The history of oxygen cosmetics began almost half a century ago. At that time, Faberlic was not yet involved in the project. True, then no one suspected that an unusual working experiment would serve millions of women well... Legend has it that one fine day in 1966, a certain laboratory mouse fell into a jar of perfluorocarbon emulsion. She fell, choked, but... did not die, but continued to breathe. The mouse, of course, was taken out, and she walked away as if nothing had happened. And scientists wondered what the mechanisms of the miracle were.
However, most likely, everything was not entirely like that - mice don’t just fall into jars of PFCs. Already in the early 60s, the American scientist Henry Sloviter came up with the idea that a perfluorocarbon emulsion saturated with oxygen could be a breathing medium for living beings. And then they decided to test this idea. In 1966, the mouse was specially placed in an aquarium with an emulsion. However, exactly how the rodent got into the “jar” is unimportant. The main thing is that the animal, which has become famous, allowed “suspicions” to develop into confidence: based on perfluorocarbons - fully fluorinated organic compounds (PFOS), it is possible to create emulsions that can replace air for living beings and perform the functions of blood, carrying oxygen throughout the body!
In 1968, this was proven - Robert Geyer completely replaced the blood of an experimental rat with a perfluorocarbon emulsion, and the animal remained alive. Immediately after all the serious magazines published the portrait of the mouse, scientists got to work. Special laboratories were organized in the USA, Sweden, Germany, England, Japan and China.
The Japanese were the first to achieve success. In 1974, they released a drug that received a name that in Russian sounds extremely life-affirming - “Fluozol-DA”. In 1979, it was approved for administration to people. They say that the first volunteers who decided to feel what it was like to have artificial blood flowing in your veins were 50 members of the Jehovah's Witnesses sect. Transfusion of donor blood is prohibited by their religion. The tests were successful, and in 1982 the drug went on general sale.
But as soon as Fluozol-DA crossed the borders of Japan and entered the American market, a real scandal erupted around it. The reason was the unexpectedly high reactogenicity of the drug - 35% of cases. And this despite the fact that the Japanese stated - only 2-5%! The Americans accused Japanese developers of deliberately falsifying research data in order to conceal the true properties of the medicine. True, when passions subsided, a calm scientific analysis proved that people of the Mongoloid race simply have a completely different sensitivity of the immune system to drugs like PFOS emulsions. But when this became clear, Fluozol-DA was already banned, the Japanese company collapsed, and its owner died.
The Soviet Union entered the game a little later. Work began in Leningrad, at the Research Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion (LNIIGPK) in the early 70s. And soon, due to its strategic importance, the topic was taken under the control of the main Moscow institution - the Central Order of Lenin Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion (TsOLIPK). Looking ahead, let’s say that as a result, the team of two institutes released the drug Perfucol. According to its direct developers, the Japanese “Fluozol-DA” was taken as a basis.
And maybe everything would have gone calmly and smoothly, but in 1979 the Moscow-Leningrad alliance had a serious rival - the Institute of Biological Physics of the USSR Academy of Sciences in Pushchino. Everything happened with the light hand of the young and incredibly energetic doctor of medical sciences Felix Fedorovich Beloyartsev.
Beloyartsev was an exceptionally talented person - a doctor by training, a famous anesthesiologist, who at the age of 34 became a Doctor of Medical Sciences; he abandoned a brilliant medical career for a scientific one, but succeeded here too. Returning from a trip to the USA, where he learned about work on the creation of blood substitutes, Beloyartsev convinced the leadership of the Academy of Sciences to take up this topic. Until this moment, the Academy was interested in PFOS only from the point of view of “pure science.” But when it came to blood substitutes themselves, things took a completely different turn.
The Cold War was in full swing, and the superpowers, oversaturated with nuclear weapons, were preparing for any scenario in which the confrontation would develop, including the worst. In any war, including a nuclear one, the life of the surviving population and military directly depends on blood supplies, and there is not enough donor blood even in peacetime. In general, successful tests of PFCs meant millions of lives saved... and at least a State Prize.
Serious competition began between the Ministry of Health scientists and scientists from the Academy of Sciences. At the Academy of Sciences, in the laboratory headed by Beloyartsev, work moved by leaps and bounds. Simon Shnol in his book “Heroes and Villains of Russian Science” recalls that “Beloyartsev rushed in his Zhiguli from Moscow to Pushchino and back, sometimes twice a day. It was necessary to obtain the starting components for preparing emulsions. And he said: “Guys, we are doing a great job! Nothing else matters."
As a result, despite the fact that his competitors started work two years earlier, they released two blood substitutes at the same time. Already in 1984, the Pharmaceutical Committee of the USSR Ministry of Health issued permission to conduct clinical trials of Perfukol and Perftoran (this is the name given to the “academic” blood substitute). Later perftoran Because of its bluish color, doctors began to call it “ blue blood”.
“Bypassed” the Beloyartsevs and the Americans and the Japanese. According to the same Simon Shnol, both of them, when creating emulsions, tried to ensure the fastest possible removal of the drug from the body and for this they made an emulsion from large drops. The larger the emulsion droplets, the more easily they stick together, forming micelles that are absorbed by phagocytes - cellular “cleaners”. This is true, but blockage of small vessels is inevitable. And experimental animals in American and Japanese laboratories began to die. Beloyartsev came up with the idea of making an emulsion with small particles. And it became a real revolution!
The fact is that all types of functional disorders in medicine are ultimately associated with circulatory disorders. Capillaries shrink, blood flow deteriorates, and oxygen supply to cells decreases. In an oxygen-free environment, glycolysis begins to predominate - the breakdown of glucose into lactic acid. The environment becomes acidified - the capillaries shrink even more, even less oxygen enters, and so on until the organs and tissues are completely destroyed. And small particles of perfluoroemulsion can penetrate through a compressed capillary. They carry less oxygen than blood, but even a small stream of oxygen can reverse the process - the capillaries expand slightly, the flow of oxygen increases, the capillaries expand even more - the blood supply is restored.
It seemed that Fortune’s favorite Felix Beloyartsev remained on the horse this time too! Even though the two drugs were released at the same time, in 1985, trials of Perfucol (“the Ministry of Health” blood substitute) had to be interrupted early due to the severe reactions it caused. The emulsion was sent for revision, but Perftoran was nominated for the USSR State Prize. But this victory brought a lot of trouble to the developers.
Suddenly, inspections by the Prosecutor General's Office and the KGB began. “Responsible comrades” were not attracted to the drug by its unique properties. Beloyartsev’s team was accused of violating regulations, falsifying materials on testing Perftoran, and he himself was accused of... stealing government-issued alcohol. What was the reason that people engaged in research of national importance suddenly became the object of some kind of ridiculous persecution? Today it is already very difficult to understand this.
The persecution of Felix Beloyartsev ended tragically. He was constantly interrogated. One day, investigators came to his dacha to find supplies of stolen alcohol there. They found nothing and left. And in the morning the watchman found Felix Fedorovich dead. Beloyartsev's death came as a shock to everyone. Simon Shnol, who has already been mentioned several times, writes: “But really, why couldn’t he stand it? I think F.F. was unseasoned. His life was too happy and lucky. He was disgusted by the habits of the KGB and the prosecutor's office. He was horrified by the possibility of arrest and the inability to defend his name”...
Next, cones fell on the director of the Institute of Biophysics of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Genrikh Ivanitsky. A “discussion” broke out in the then Soviet press. The newspaper “Soviet Russia”, “Literary Gazette”, the magazines “Ogonyok” and “Communist” - all the prominent publications of that time discussed the situation with PFU. As a result, both academic and Ministry of Health research fell under the wheel. From TsO-LIPKA all developments were transferred to the All-Russian Research Institute of Blood Substitutes and Hormonal Drugs Technologies.
It would seem that this amazing story, where courage and envy, science and politics are intertwined into a single knot, has come to an end. Moreover, the end of the 80s was also the end of the USSR. But the creators of “blue blood” were reborn from the ashes.
In 1991, in Pushchino, largely through the efforts of Ivanitsky, who was reinstated in his position, the Perftoran company was created. In 1996, “blue blood” was finally officially registered and put on sale in 1997. TsOLIPK employees also did not forget about emulsions. While the Pushchinsky residents were reviving their drug, they (TsOLIPK scientists) came up with the idea of using “blue blood” in cosmetics - this is how the Nizar company appeared. And although almost the same emulsions are used in cosmetics as in blood substitutes, there was no talk of competition. In Pushchina they dealt with medical preparations, in Moscow - with cosmetics.
In 1998, Faberlic bought all rights to produce cosmetics with PFCs from Nizar. Today, Faberlic owns all rights to the cutaneous use of PFCs (Aquaftem) in Russia and the former CIS countries; the patenting process has begun in the USA, Canada, Latin America, Europe (including the Baltic countries) and Asia.
If you want to register with Faberlic as a privileged buyer and purchase all products with a 20% discount, this can be done.
The article used materials from the magazine “News in the World of Cosmetics” No. 9, 2004, the book by Simon Shnol “Heroes and Villains of Russian Science” and the magazine “Faberlic Country”.
