Brain Changes in the White Matter of the Brain White Matter Changes and Cognitive Functions in Asymptomatic Patients.

We analyzed the relationship between white matter hyperintensities in T2-weighted MR-images (according to Fazekas score) and the state of cognitive functions (total MOCA score) in 65 asymptomatic individuals. A relationship between the presence/number of lesions in the deep white matter of the brain and cognitive status according to the total MOCA score was revealed. The results of cognitive functions assessment also correlated with MRI evaluation of the severity of brain cortex atrophy. The severity of deep white matter lesions according to the Fazekas scale were also associated with end-diastolic blood flow velocities in the middle cerebral, vertebral, and basilar arteries.

[Cell therapy for ischemic stroke. Stem cell types and results of pre-clinical trials]. / Kletochnaia terapiia ishemicheskogo insul'ta. Tipy stvolovykh kletok i rezul'taty doklinicheskikh issledovanii.

The literature review addresses the use of stem cells (SC) in ischemic stroke (IS). Part 1 of the paper overviews the results of experimental animal studies. Characteristics of different SC types and results of their studies in experimental models of IS are presented in the first section, the second section considers pros and cons of the methods of SC injection.

[Cell therapy for ischemic stroke. Results of clinical trials and perspectives of clinical application in the Russian Federation]. / Kletochnaia terapiia ishemicheskogo insul'ta. Rezul'taty klinicheskikh issledovanii i perspektivy primeneniia v Rossiiskoi Federatsii.

The first part of the review summarized the results of preclinical animal studies using stroke models that demonstrated the efficacy of cell therapy. The second part presents the proposed mechanisms of action of stem cells, optimal therapeutic window for cell transplantation, the results of completed clinical trials on humans in the period from 2010 to 2017, as well as the legal aspects of the use of cell technologies in the Russian Federation.

[Neurologic disturbances in children with cleft lip and cleft palate]. / Nevrologicheskie narusheniya u detei s rasshchelinoi guby i neba.

AIM: Neurological symptoms of genetic syndromes, including congenital cleft lip and palate (CLP) are well-studied while neurological characteristics of patients with non-syndromal CLP are not described. The authors studied neurological disturbances in CLP. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Twenty-one patients with CLP, mean age 12.0±4.7 years (the main group) were compared to healthy people (the control group). RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Elements of bulbar syndrome (atrophy and deviation of the tongue, sagging of the soft palate, specific speech disturbances) and mimic innervation abnormalities (hypomimia or hypermimia, face asymmetry), microfocal neurological symptoms occurred significantly more frequently (p<0.01) in patients of the main group. Bulbar disorders, identified in 100% of the patients, were most characteristic of CLP. The neurological features of patients with CLP demonstrate the involvement of the brain stem, mimic innervation, bulbar cranial nerves and defects of the development of the neural tube.

Use of bone marrow mesenchymal (stromal) stem cells in experimental ischemic stroke in rats.

The effects of human mesenchymal stem cells on neurological functions and behavioral reactions of animals and on damaged brain tissue were studied on the model of focal cerebral ischemia in rats. Homing and differentiation of transplanted mesenchymal stem cells were also studied. Significant regression of neurological disorders after cell transplantation was noted, no appreciable shifts were detected by magnetic resonance tomography. Homing of transplanted cells was detected mainly in the zone of focal ischemia. Some cells died, others exhibited signs of differentiation into neurons and glia.