Cell and Organism Technologies for Assessment of the SARS-CoV-2 Infectivity in Fluid Environment.

Under conditions of COVID-19 pandemic, considerable amounts of SARS-CoV-2 contained in household, municipal, and medical wastewaters inevitably reach natural water bodies. Possible preservation of virus infectivity in liquid environment is of a paramount epidemiological importance. Experiments demonstrated that SARS-CoV-2 is resistant to multiple freezing/thawing cycles and retains its infectivity in tap and river water for up to 2 days at 20°C and 7 days at 4°C. In natural milk, its viability is preserved in a refrigerator for 6 days. The exposure of aquarium fish to the virus-containing water fails to cause any infection.

Low incidence of human coronavirus among hospitalized children in Novosibirsk city, Russia during pre-pandemic period (2013-2020).

We investigated the incidence of 15 respiratory viruses among 2991 children with acute respiratory infections in Novosibirsk city, Russia, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic (2013-2020). Viral infections were detected in 72.5% cases. The incidence of human coronavirus was 2% (Alphacoronaviruses, 63%; Betacoronaviruses, 37%).

Development of a Purified Viral Preparation for Studies of COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) Biology.

Different methods for producing bulk quantities of concentrated and purified SARS-CoV-2 for the use as antigens and for the research into COVID-19 biology were tested.

[Endometrial morphological characteristics in patients with hysteromyoma and chronic endometritis in infertility]. / Morfologicheskaia kharakteristika éndometriia u patsientok s miomoi matki i khronicheskim éndometritom pri besplodii.

OBJECTIVE: To characterize endometrial structural and functional state and receptivity in women with hysteromyoma (HM) and chronic endometritis (CE) in infertile couples. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 130 patients who had HM and/or CE in an infertile couple were examined. Group 1 included 64 women with HM and CE; Group 2 consisted of 24 patients with HM; group 3 comprised 42 patients with EC. A control group included endometrial biopsy specimens from 20 healthy women planning a pregnancy. RESULTS: Patients with HM and CE were found to develop endometrial dysfunction. Its structural signs were damage to the endometrial surface epithelium; intense stromal fibrosis with the high expression of type III and IV collagens; dysregulated processes of high angiogenesis; impaired maturation of pinopodia by the implantation window; high estrogen receptor (ER) expression in the nuclei of endometrial glandular and stromal cells; low progesterone receptor (PR) expression; and impaired secretory endometrial transformation. CONCLUSION: HM concurrent with CE is responsible for endometrial dysfunction. Its structural manifestations are mainly associated with CE.

[Preventability of perinatal losses by the example of the large industrial cities Chelyabinsk and Novosibirsk]. / Predotvratimost' perinatal'nykh poter' v Cheliabinske i Novosibirske.

Perinatal mortality rate is an indicator that characterizes the quality of medical care, as well as the social and economic situation in the region. OBJECTIVE: to audit perinatal losses in large regional centers of the Russian Federation with a population of over 1 million inhabitants, such as Chelyabinsk and Novosibirsk. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A comprehensive postmortem examination of 309 cases of perinatal losses in 2016 was made, which was supplemented with an assessment of preventability according to the Scandinavian-Baltic classification. RESULTS: The rate of preventable deaths in Chelyabinsk and Novosibirsk amounted to 91 and 81.5% of cases, respectively; the deaths were due to stillbirths at more than 28 weeks' gestation and to dead newborns in almost half of cases. The proportion of intranatal deaths was shown to increase in Chelyabinsk; the number of neonatal deaths at more than 33 weeks' gestation rose in Novosibirsk. CONCLUSION: Supplementing the traditional clinical and postmortem analysis with an assessment of the preventability of perinatal loss makes it possible to ensure a unified approach to evaluating these conditions and the comparability of autopsy results in different subjects of the Russian Federation and to determine regional reserves for reducing perinatal mortality rates.

[Morphofunctional characteristics of impaired endometrial receptivity in chronic endometritis].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate endometrial receptivity in women with chronic endometritis (CE), by studying the nature of secretory transformations, the number of mature pinopodia in the surface epithelium, the expression of steroid hormone receptors and leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF). SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Endometrium morphology was analyzed in 76 patients with CE (a study group) and 20 gynecologically healthy women (a control group) who sought family planning advice and examined using the uniform scheme. Morphological examination of the endometrium obtained by Pipelle biopsy on days 7-8 after ovulation involved histological and immunohistochemical studies: the number of mature pinopidia and the expression of estrogen and progesterone receptors (ER and PR) were determined, by estimating the PR/ER ratio and the marker of LIF receptivity in the endometrial epithelium and stroma. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: In the women with CE, the level of surface epitheliocytes with pinopodia was significantly lower than that in the comparison group (mean 37.5 +/- 2.1; p < 0.01). There was an increase in ER expression in the integumentary and glandular epithelium (mean 102.5 +/- 6.8 scores; p < 0.01) and stromal cells (110.2 +/- 8.3 scores; p > 0.05). In the control group, the intensity of PR expression was, on the contrary, significantly lower in both the integumentary epithelium and glandulocytes (mean 104.7 +/- 5.5 scores; p < 0.01) and stromal cells (178.5 +/- 11.3 scores; p < 0.01). In the study group, the PR/ER ratio was less than 2 in all cases: the mean PR/ER ratio was 1.1 +/- 0.09 for surface epitheliocytes and glandulocytes and 1.6 +/- 0.1 for stromal cells. In CE, the intensity of LIF expression was dramatically reduced and equal to 0.95 +/- 1.3 scores (p < 0.01). The found regularities suggest that CE is accompanied by an almost 4-fold decrease in LIF expression, which is evidence for significantly suppressed endometrial receptivity and may be regarded as a prognostic marker of failed implantation. CONCLUSION: The patients with CE were found to have an endometrial receptivity disorder involving the damaged surface epithelium of the uterine mucosa, pinopodia immaturity by the implantation window, decreased LIF expression, and ER hyperexpression. This may give rise to reproductive dysfunction in women with CE.

[Giant chorioangioma of the placenta].

The paper describes a case of giant (123 x 109 x 70-mm) placental chorioangioma that is a capillary hemangioma in structure, which led to significantly impaired placental-fetal blood flow to give rise to non-immune hydrops and right heart failure in the fetus at 33 weeks' gestation; obvious polyhydramnios developed. This served as an indication for preterm one-stage cesarean delivery. A premature live girl was born with a weight of 2430 g, a height of 44 cm, Apgar score 6-7. Dynamic echographic monitoring makes it possible to record increased placental tumor sizes and fetal abnormalities and to make a timely decision on delivery, which promotes perinatal death prevention. At 11-month follow-up, the child's physical and mental developments were for age.

[Uterine mucosal morphofunctional characteristics in women with early miscarriages of infectious genesis].

Eighty-two reproductive-aged patients who had early miscarriages of infectious genesis were examined. Group I comprised 56 women who had a history of one spontaneous miscarriage; Group 2 included 26 patients with a history of 2 spontaneous miscarriages or more. The examination used a set of diagnostic tools for the identification of genital infections and histological, histochemical, and statistical studies. Group 2 patients were ascertained to have more frequently infectious inflammatory genital diseases. In the women of both groups, chronic endometritis of mainly Ureaplasma, Mycoplasma, and viral etiologies was recorded in 100% of cases while that of mixed etiology was observed in 57%. Moreover, the signs of endometrial stromal fibrosis and atrophy, receptor apparatus lesion, and suppressed tissue protective immune reactions were significantly more evident in Group 2 patients.

[The characteristics of the epithelium and endometrial extracellular matrix in miscarriage during early pregnancy associated with chronic endometritis].

In miscarriage associated with chronic endometritis, the uterine mucosa was found to have a lower expression of TGFR-beta, gelatinases and a higher exposure of TIMP-1 and EGFR, which confirms a pathogenetic association between the imbalance of growth factors, endoproteases and their inhibitors and points to the active involvement of these cytokines and endopeptidases in the inflammatory, reparative processes and remodeling of tissues. The imbalance of growth factors, proteases, and antiproteases is likely to be a cause of uterine mucosal remodeling with progressive collagenogenesis and atrophy of the glandular apparatus along with pathogen persistence, which may be one of the factors predisposing to miscarriage. This makes it necessary to eliminate the causative agent of the endometrial infectious-inflammatory process in the earliest periods of the onset of disease and permits the drawing up of approaches to targeted drug therapy for some pathogenetic links of disease.

[Immunopathological responses in women with chronic inflammatory diseases of the uterus and appendages and their therapeutic correction]. / Immunopatologicheskie reaktsii pri khronicheskikh vospalitel'nykh zabolevaniiakh matki i pridatkov i vozmozhnosti ikh terapevticheskoi korrektsii.

A total of 145 women with chronic inflammatory diseases of uterus and appendages (IDUA) were examined. Bacterioscopy of smears and culture of vaginal, cervical canal and uterine cavity contents were performed in all patients. Direct immunofluorescence and PCR were used for detection of chlamydiae in scrapes and smears and in biopsy specimens taken from endometrium. The number of T lymphocytes and their subpopulations, B lymphocytes as well as the level of plasmatic cells synthesizing IgA, IgM and IgG and secretory IgA (sIgA), immune complexes and C3 component of the complement were determined in biopsy specimens of the endometrium. Pathomorphological examination revealed structural changes characteristic of the immunocomplex disease (secondary deficiency of sIgA, pronounced suppression of IgA production by plasmocytes along with an essential increase in the number of IgG synthesizing cells and immune complexes fixed to the venule endothelium) were detected. Lectin-histochemical study revealed considerable changes in secretory activity of endometrial epitheliocytes manifested by severe suppression of bactericidal activity of the uterine mucus. The detected disturbances of local protective reactions in the endometrium of women IDUA gave grounds for including immunomodulators into the traditional treatment scheme. The latter made it possible to increase essentially the therapeutic effect.

[The characteristics of local immunity in Chlamydia-associated chronic inflammatory diseases of the organs of the lesser pelvis in women]. / Osobennosti mestnogo immuniteta pri assotsiirovannykh s khlamidiiami khronicheskikh vospalitel'nykh zabolevaniiakh organov malogo taza zhenshchin.

Local immune reactions in 107 women with Chlamydia-associated chronic endometritis and salpingo-oophoritis were studied on endometrial biopsy specimens. Of these women, group 1 consisted 45 patients with Chlamydia-associated chronic endometritis and salpingo-oophoritis and group 2 consisted of 62 such patients having, in addition, bacterial vaginosis and candidiasis. Among associated bacteria, epidermal staphylococci, Escherichia coli and their combinations prevailed. Pathomorphologically, in the biopsy specimens taken from the patients of group 1 a decrease in the activity of mononuclear phagocytes, secondary SIgA deficiency with the level of IgA-producing plasmocytes relatively unchanged, the moderate intensity of the synthesis of IgG and a shift in the ratio of T-helpers/T-suppressors towards the latter were observed. In the biopsy specimens of the uterine mucosa obtained from group 2 a decrease in the phagocytic activity of neutrophil granulocytes and macrophages, the pronounced suppression of IgA production by IgA plasmocytes with a sharp decrease in the amount of SIgA and an essential increase in the number of IgG-producing cells were noted. Disturbances of local immunity, observed in the presence of associated Chlamydia infection, gives grounds for the inclusion of immunomodulating preparations into the complex of therapeutic measures.

[Diagnostic and prognostic possibilities of using the indicators of blood serum middle molecule and medium-molecular peptide levels in inflammatory diseases of the small-pelvic organs]. / Diagnosticheskie i prognosticheskie vozmozhnosti ispol'zovaniia poka- zatelei molekul srednei massy i srednemolekuliarnykh peptidov krovi pri vospalitel'nykh zabolevanniakh organov malogo taza u zhenshchin.

Analysis of the diagnostic and prognostic potentialities of measurements of blood serum medium molecules and medium-molecular peptides in women with inflammatory diseases of the small pelvis organs has been carried out, involving 60 patients and 10 healthy women. Medium molecule levels were estimated with the use of Gabrielyan and Lipatova's method, the level of medium-molecular peptides by the biuret method. The results recommend these measurements to be included in the complex of clinical laboratory investigations carried out in patients with pelvic inflammations for the early detection of purulent ++tubo-ovarian inflammations, endogenous intoxication, and a more rational treatment.