The Level of Markers Stimulating Growth Factor 2 (ST2), N-Terminal Prohormone of Brain Natriuretic Peptide (NT-proBNP), and D-Dimer in Healthy Volunteer Testers in 21-Day Head-Down -6° Tilt Bed Rest as a Model of Hypodynamia.

The paper presents an analysis of the proteomic composition in relation to both the risk of thrombosis and changes in the state of cardiomyocytes associated with the risk of cardiac fibrosis and heart failure. We examined 12 practically healthy male volunteers exposed to head-down -6° tilt bed rest (HDBR) for 21 days. The revealed decrease in the level of stimulating growth factor 2 (ST2) on days 10 and 21 relative to the initial values (background; 5 days before HDBR) indicated a decrease in the myocardial load and cardiomyocyte extensibility. The level of N-terminal prohormone of brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) increased on day 2, decreased on days 10 and 21 of HDBR relative to the background levels, and returned to baseline values after the recovery period (5 days after HDBR). The revealed changes in the level of NT-proBNP reflected the increase in circulating blood volume corresponding to HDBR duration and the role of the gravity component in increasing the functional load on the myocardium. Unchanged blood level of D-dimer at all points of the study indicates that there is no risk of thrombosis under the conditions of this study.

Mitochondria-Targeted Plastoquinone Antioxidant SkQR1 Has Positive Effect on Memory of Rats.

A single intraperitoneal injection to rats of the mitochondria-targeted plastoquinone antioxidant SkQR1 at dose 1 µmol/kg significantly improved reproduction by the rats of the passive avoidance conditional reflex. In vitro experiments on hippocampal slices showed that a single intraperitoneal injection of SkQR1 24 h before the preparation of the slice significantly increases the synaptic transmission efficiency of the pyramidal neurons of the CA1 field. The findings indicate that SkQR1 has a positive effect on memory processes.

[Submerged cultivation and chemical composition of Hericium erinaceus mycelium].

Submerged cultivation of Hericium erinaceus in various media was studied. The yield of the biomass was shown to depend mainly on the carbon source, whereas the content of water soluble polysaccharides depended mainly on the nitrogen source. The optimal medium composition provided the biomass yield of 21-23 g/l in 7 days. The biomass was characterized by the content of total protein, lipids and carbohydrates. In addition, the amino acid composition of the biomass was determined and shown to meet all the requirements of FAO/WHO concerning the amounts of essential amino acids (with exception of tryptophane). Oleinic and linoleic acids were identified as the main components of the fatty acids. Two water soluble polysaccharide fractions differing in solubility in aqueous ethanol were isolated and shown to contain rhamnose, fucose, xylose, glucose and galactose in different proportions. Vitamins B1, B2, B6, PP and E, ergosterol and coenzyme Q were also detected in the biomass of H. erinaceus.

Relationship of collagen as the component of the extracellular matrix with the mechanisms of autonomic regulation of the cardiovascular system under simulated conditions of long-term isolation.

The study of proteins - potential markers, associated signal transduction pathways, and their targets - provides a new understanding of the fundamental mechanisms occurring at the level of regulatory processes in the cardiovascular system (CVS), especially in space flight, as well as in model experiments that reproduce its individual effects on the human body. The article presents the results of studies in an experiment with 120-day isolation within the framework of the SIRIUS project in which 6 volunteers aged 28 to 44 years (three men and three women) participated. SIRIUS (Scientific International Research in Unique Terrestrial Station) is the international research project, which studies the issues of biomedical and psychological support of long-term manned space flights. The possible involvement of collagen different types, an extracellular matrix protein, in the mechanisms of autonomic regulation of the CVS was studied. Using chromatic mass spectrometry in urine samples and analysis of heart rate variability, we have established that the extracellular matrix collagen, which is present, in particular, in the structure of the blood vessel wall, are markers associated with the modulating effect of the autonomic nervous system on the regulatory mechanisms of blood circulation. We hypothesized that these proteins may be a biomarker of the autonomic balance in the regulatory mechanisms of the circulatory system. In addition, these proteins can also be markers of the aging process, which increases the risks of developing autonomic dysfunction of the cardiovascular system (dominance of sympathicotonia) and changes in the quality of the tissue of the heart muscle and blood vessels, provoking the development of prenosological conditions and diseases of the cardiovascular system.

In vivo injected mitochondria-targeted plastoquinone antioxidant SkQR1 prevents ß-amyloid-induced decay of long-term potentiation in rat hippocampal slices.

Addition of 200 nM ß-amyloid 1-42 (Abeta) to a rat hippocampal slice impairs the induction of a long-term post-tetanic potentiation (LTP) of population spike (PS) in pyramidal neurons of the CA1 field of hippocampus. Intraperitoneal injection into the rat of the mitochondria-targeted plastoquinone derivative SkQR1 (1 µmol/kg of weight given 24 h before the slices were made) abolishes the deleterious effect of Abeta on LTP. These data demonstrate that SkQR1 therapy is able to compensate the Abeta-induced impairments of long-term synaptic plasticity in the hippocampus, which are the main cause of loss of memory and other cognitive functions associated with Alzheimer's disease.

[Morphometry and electrophoretic mobility of red blood cells from patients with asthma in the intravenous blood laser irradiation].

The morphometry and electrophoretic mobility of red blood cells from patients with infection-dependent asthma were comparatively studied prior to and following treatment. The patients who had underwent intravenous laser irradiation of blood (ILIB) in addition to conventional therapy had better morphofunctional parameters of red blood cells, by restoring their normal forms, decreasing their transitional ones, and increasing their electrophoretic mobility to normal values. Those who received traditional drug therapy showed no considerable morphofunctional changes of erythrocytes. Thus, in asthmatic patients, the changes in the morphology and function of red blood cells may suggest their membranous structural changes for whose correction ILIB should used.

[Examining the relationship between the electrophoretic mobility of peripheral red blood cells and their sedimentation rate in patients with hemophilia].

The correlation between the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and the electrophoretic mobility (EPM) of red blood cells in patients with hemophilia was studied due to the data available in the literature, showing an inverse relation. Anticoagulant-stabilized venous blood was a material to be tested. Patients with severe hemophilia A or B (factor VIII/IX < 1%; the normal values were 50-200%) were examined. The patients were divided into 2 groups: 1) those with an exacerbation of hemorrhagic syndrome and 2) those without an exacerbation. The patients with hemophilia with an exacerbation of the hemorrhagic syndrome showed a certain correlation between ESR and EPM, yielding two type of curves, which corresponded to two subgroups of patients. There was no correlation between EPM and ESR in the no-exacerbation group.

[Determination of the electrophoretic mobility of peripheral red blood cells from healthy individuals, by using ethylene-2-amine-4-chloroacetic acid as a preservative].

It is now known that the electric charge of a surface cellular membrane is a rather characteristic value for each type of a cell. Cellular electrophoresis may be used to study the electrokinetic properties of red blood cells in each specific case, thereby obtaining indirect information on the state of a surface membrane as the electrophoretic mobility (EPM) rate is directly proportional to the value of a cellular electric charge. The study was undertaken to compare the EPM rates of peripheral red blood cells from donors, by employing two different preservatives: EDTCHA and sodium citrate. No statistically significant differences were found in the groups under study and these parameters were comparable.

Surface plasmon-polaritons in graphene, embedded into medium with gain and losses.

The paper deals with the theoretical consideration of surface plasmon-polaritons in the graphene monolayer, embedded into dielectric with spatially separated gain and losses. It is demonstrated, that presence of gain and losses in the system leads to the formation of additional mode of graphene surface plasmon-polaritons, which does not have its counterpart in the conservative system. When the gain and losses are mutually balanced, the position of exceptional point-transition point between unbroken and broken [Formula: see text]-symmetry-can be effectively tuned by graphene's doping. In the case of unbalanced gain and losses the spectrum of surface plasmon-polaritons contains spectral singularity, whose frequency is also adjustable through the electrostatic gating of graphene.

The SUI-homologous translation initiation factor eIF-1 is involved in regulation of ion homeostasis in rice.

Halophytes survive high salinity by using complex adaptive mechanisms. In a search for novel molecular mechanisms involved in salt acclimation, transcript analyses revealed increased expression of a SUI-homologous translation initiation factor eIF-1 in the salt-tolerant grass species Festuca rubra ssp. littoralis but not in rice. Upon analysis of the cell specificity of eIF-1 transcription by in situ polymerase chain reaction (PCR), predominant signals were detected in rice leaf mesophyll. To further examine the role of eIF-1 in salt tolerance, transgenic rice plants were generated that over-express this factor under the control of the CaMV-35S promoter. The eIF-1 over-expressing lines showed improved growth under salt stress that was correlated with maintenance of photosynthetic activity and reduced Na(+) and Cl(-) accumulation in leaves. The transgenic rice lines also activated expression of the vacuolar H(+)-ATPase. In addition, an oxidoreductase that belongs to the aldo/keto reductase family was identified as a gene with modified expression in the eIF-1 over-expressing lines, compared with wild-type rice. Our data suggest that eIF-1 has a central function in salt-stress adaptation in rice by regulating ion accumulation and the intracellular redox status.

[Clinical significance of intracellular cytokines in patients with yersiniosis].

AIM: To evaluate clinical value of intracellular content of interferon-gamma (If-g), IL-2 and IL-4 in different forms of yersiniosis. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The number of If-g, IL-2 and IL-4 producing cells was estimated in 35 patients with generalized (n = 21, group 1) and secondary-focal (n = 14, group 2) forms of yersiniosis. RESULTS: The control over the number of If-g, IL-2 and IL-4 producing cells in the blood enables valid prognosis of the course and outcome of yersiniosis. CONCLUSION: Pathological processes developing in acute yersiniosis are based on interleukin-dependent immunopathology.

[Abdominoplasty during operations for ventral hernias].

Anatomic cadavers studies have shown the necessity of one-stage abdominoplasty during herniotomy for ventral hernias. An original method of hernioplasty was developed. It is demonstrated that abdominoplasty in all the cases reduces tension of tissues with maximal effect in defects of the anterior abdominal wall from 32 to 150 cm(2) and subcutaneous fat thickness more than 3 cm.

[Viral hepatitis markers in saliva specimens from patients with acute hepatitis A, B and C]. / Markery virusnykh gepatitov v obraztsakh sliuny bol'nykh ostrymi gepatitami A, B i C.

Anti-HVA IgM, HBsAg, anti-HBc IgM, anti-HVC were determined in the blood sera and saliva specimens obtained from patients with acute hepatitis A, B, C (HA, HB, HC) and from healthy persons of the control group. 37 HA patients, 27 HB patients and 24 HC patients, observed in the dynamics of the disease (for a period of 1 month and longer from the appearance of manifestations of the disease), as well as 30 practically healthy persons (the control group) were examined. Anti-HVA IgM could be found in saliva specimens taken from the HA patients 100% of cases, but could not be found in saliva specimens from the persons of the control group and HB patients. The presence of HBsAg was established in 92.8% and anti-HBc IgM, in 100% of cases in saliva specimens from patients with acute HB. In no case HB markers were found in saliva samples obtained from HA patients and from the persons of the control group. In HBsAg-positive saliva specimens HB virus DNA was detected by the method of polymerase chain, reaction, which opened new aspects for the modern interpretation of the role of saliva as a factor in the natural transmission of HB. Anti-HVC could be found in all patients both in the blood serum and saliva specimens, but proved to be absent in the persons of the control group, as well as in HA and HB patients. The dynamic study of HA, HB and HC patients for the detection of anti-HVA and anti-HBc IgM, HBsAg and anti-VHC demonstrated the possibility of detecting these markers for 1 month and longer in the blood sera and in saliva specimens. The results of these investigations suggest that saliva specimens may be regarded as an alternative to blood sera in the diagnosis of HA, HB and HC in patients with acute viral hepatitis; these results also open prospects for the use of saliva specimens as an object of study in diagnostic laboratories, the deciphering of viral hepatitis outbreaks, the diagnosis of HA in persons with anicteric forms of HA.

[The use of a polymerase chain reaction method for the diagnosis of Mycoplasma pneumonia]. / Primenenie metoda polimeraznoi tsepnoi reaktsii dlia diagnostiki mikoplazmennoi pnevmonii.

The assay system for the diagnosis of Mycoplasma pneumoniae infections, based on polymerase chain reaction (PCR), has been developed. The sensitivity of the detection of M. pneumoniae DNA in analysis of different clinical samples has been established. The study has shown the possibility of using the newly developed assay system for the detection of M. pneumoniae in the material obtained from patients with atypical forms of pneumonia and from Mycoplasma carriers.

[Characteristics of NADP-dependent isocitrate dehydrogenase functioning in pea leaves during salt stress]. / Nekotorye osobennosti funktsionirovaniia NADF-izotsitratdegidrogenazy list'ev gorokha pri solevom stresse.

In pea seedlings transferred to a medium containing 3% NaCl, NADP-dependent isocitrate dehydrogenase (NADP-IDH) activity in leaves increased more than twofold during the first hour, decreased, and increased again (approximately 1.5 times) by the 14th hour of exposure. Some catalytic and regulatory properties of NADP-IDH were studied using enzyme preparations purified from normal plants and plants exposed to salt stress. The results showed that Km for NADP-IDH in reactions with isocitrate and NADP decreased under stress by factors of 2 and 3, respectively. Specific features of enzyme activity regulation by citrate and trans-aconitate under these conditions were revealed. The inhibitory effects of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and 2-oxoglutarate on NADP-IDH from plants exposed to salt stress was stronger than that on the enzyme from normal plants. Glutamine and glutamate slightly activated the enzyme in both cases.

[Dynamics of erythrocyte electrophoretic mobility in patients with various forms of erysipelas]. / Elektrophoreticheskaia podvizhnost' éritrotsitov u bol'nykh s razlichnymi formami rozhi v dinamike bolezni.

AIM: To study electrophoretic mobility (EM) of erythrocytes in the course of various forms of erysipelas. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 78 patients with various erysipelas clinical forms were examined in the disease acute period and early in convalescence. RESULTS: EM of erythrocytes was significantly higher in hemorrhagic forms of erysipelas vs an erythematous form. CONCLUSION: Manifest changes in functional condition of erythrocytic membranes in patients with erythematous-hemorrhagic and bullous-hemorrhagic forms of erysipelas play an important part in the development of local hemorrhagic syndrome.

[Magnetic resonance relaxometry of serum in patients with different forms of cellulitis in the dynamics of the disease]. / Magnitnaia rezonansnaia relaksometriia syvorotki krovi u bol'nykh s razlichnymi formami rozhi v dinamike bolezni.

AIM: To study the time of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) of spin-lattice serum relaxation (T1) in the dynamics of an infectious process in patients with different forms of erysipelas. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 37 patients with different clinical forms of erysipelas were examined in the acute period of the disease and in the early period of convalescence. RESULTS: A statistically significant increase in T1 NMR was ascertained in patients with bullous hemorrhagic erysipelas as compared with those with erythematous form. CONCLUSION: Pronounced changes in the functional status of serum in patients with hemorrhagic forms of erysipelas are of great importance in the development of the local hemorrhagic syndrome.

[Surgical treatment of postburn cicatricial inversions of the lower eyelids with involvement of the lid edge and conjunctival ectopia]. / Khirurgicheskoe lechenie posleozhogovykh rubtsovykh vyvorotov nizhnikh vek s povrezdeniem ikh rebra i éktopiei kon"iunktyvy.

Examinations of 30 patients with postburn cicatricial inversions of the lower lids have revealed involvement of the median half of the tarsus and ciliary edge in approximately 1/5 of them. Conjunctival growth and creeping of the conjunctiva on the edge and outward surface of the eyelid, manifesting as a red spot, are observed at the site of this involvement, where no eyelashes grow. The treatment of 6 patients with such condition has led the authors to a conclusion that ectopic conjunctiva is subject to tangential resection with plasty of the eyelid, its tarsus and ciliary edge, released from the cicatrices, with a single graft of split skin. The technique of surgery is described.