"Kyrgyz Clinics" in Moscow: Medical Centers for Central Asian Migrants.

Social isolation limits migrants' access to health care, providing the context for the emergence of migrants' own medical infrastructure. In this article, we explore the so-called Kyrgyz clinics, private medical centers in Moscow founded by doctors from Kyrgyzstan and targeted specifically for labor migrants from Central Asian countries, particularly Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan. These Kyrgyz clinics both provide affordable medical services and enable migrant doctors to guide migrant patients through Russia's medical infrastructure, in the context of limited resources, lack of health insurance, low awareness of available services, and other barriers to care.

Why are well-educated Muscovites more likely to survive? Understanding the biological pathways.

There are large socioeconomic disparities in adult mortality in Russia, although the biological mechanisms are not well understood. With data from the study of Stress, Aging, and Health in Russia (SAHR), we use Gompertz hazard models to assess the relationship between educational attainment and mortality among older adults in Moscow and to evaluate biomarkers associated with inflammation, neuroendocrine function, heart rate variability, and clinical cardiovascular and metabolic risk as potential mediators of that relationship. We do this by assessing the extent to which the addition of biomarker variables into hazard models of mortality attenuates the association between educational attainment and mortality. We find that an additional year of education is associated with about 5% lower risk of age-specific all-cause and cardiovascular mortality. Inflammation biomarkers are best able to account for this relationship, explaining 25% of the education-all-cause mortality association, and 35% of the education-cardiovascular mortality association. Clinical markers perform next best, accounting for 13% and 23% of the relationship between education and all-cause and cardiovascular mortality, respectively. Although heart rate biomarkers are strongly associated with subsequent mortality, they explain very little of the education-mortality link. Neuroendocrine biomarkers fail to account for any portion of the link. These findings suggest that inflammation may be important for understanding mortality disparities by socioeconomic status.

[Genetic demography of populations of three megalopolises in relation to the problem of creating genetic databases].

Based on data collected from urban residents by questionnaire, the basic parameters of the genetic-demographic structure of populations of the three megalopolises, i.e., Moscow, Kharkov, and Minsk, have been calculated, including the migration coefficients and their dynamics in generations, the radius of the cities migration attraction, the parameters of marriage structure (the proportion ofinterethnic marriages, the level of intraethnic assortative mating, the marital distances), and the gene flow between the ethnic groups. It is shown that the representatives of the most numerous ethnic groups in each megalopolis have considerable amount of admixture. For Russians of Moscow, Ukrainians of Kharkov, and Belarusians of Minsk, the proportion of individuals whose ancestors were all born in the given city for at least three generations and belonged to the same nationality turned out to be very low (4.75% in Moscow, 1.83% in Kharkov, and 3.13% in Minsk). This finding questions the formation of a reference population in the megalopolis as a sampling of aboriginals of certain ethnic origins. In the paper, we justify principles of creating genetic databases for the population of the megalopolis taking into account the complexity and dynamism of its population structure.

Suburbanization and sustainability in metropolitan Moscow.

Although Soviet-era urban-growth controls produced relatively sustainable metropolitan development patterns, low-density suburban sprawl has accelerated markedly in modern Russia. Distinctive features of Moscow's development history are its greenbelt, which dates from 1935 and is becoming increasingly fragmented, proliferation of satellite cities at the urban fringe, conversion of seasonal dachas into full-time residences, the very exclusive Rublevo Uspenskoe Highway development, and today's crippling traffic congestion. The recent economic crisis has slowed development and actually increased the supply of "economy-class" single-family homes, for which there is much pent-up desire but insufficient credit availability to meet the demand. A renewed commitment to sustainability's triple bottom line­environmental quality, equity, and economic prosperity­will require greater government transparency and fairness, stronger planning controls, and an expanded public transportation system.

[HLA-DQA1, AB0 and AMEL genotyping of biological material by biochips].

A genotyping method of biological material for ABO, HLA-DQA1 and AMEL loci is described. The method is based on allele-specific SNP determination using the hydrogel biochips technology. The amplified fluorescently labeled fragments of the genes were hybridized with specific DNA probes immobilized on a biochip. The allele/genotype assignment was done according to the distribution of fluorescent signal. The minimal amount of biological material is corresponded to 100 pg of DNA. The method was proved using control samples with known genotype. Using biochips 442 DNA samples belonging to the East Slavic population group were genotyped. The allele frequencies of ABO and HLA-DQA1 loci were determined. The possibility of genotyping of biological traces, including the stubs of filter cigarettes, material from the lip of the glass was demonstrated. This method can be used for genetic testing in forensic studies. The probability that the determined genotype belongs to a concrete individual was estimated as 99.6%.

[Analysis of genetic predisposition to pulmonary tuberculosis in native Russians].

Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the most important concerns of public health. There is evidence suggesting that genetic status is responsible for predisposition to infectious diseases including TB. To determine genetic risk factors of TB development, the frequencies of polymorphisms of genes CYP1A1, CYP2D6, CYP2C9, CYP2C 19, GSTT1, GSTM1, NAT2, MDR1, and NRAMP1 in 73 TB patients and 352 healthy individuals were determined by allele-specific hybridization using microarray technology. The TB patients have shown a significant increase in the frequency of the null GSTT1 genotype (OR = 3.26, 95% CI = 1.91 - 5.55, p = = 0.000028) as well as the double null GSTT1/GSTM1 genotype (OR = 4.05, 95% CI = 2.14 -7.65, p = = 0.000034) compared to the group of healthy donors. It was shown that the NAT2*5/*5 genotype in combination with the "null" GSTT1 and the double "null" GSTT1/GSTM1 genotypes was observed significantly more often in the TB patients than in the control sample. Thus the examined GSTT1, GSTM1 and NAT2 gene polymorphisms may potentially alter the risk of TB development in ethnic Russians and are of interest for further research using larger cohorts of patients.

[Identification of the locus associated with diabetic nephropathy in type 1 diabetes mellitus]. / Identifikatsiia lokusa assotsiirovannogo s diabeticheskoi nefropatiei pri sakharnom diabete tipa 1.

Polymorphic tetranucleotide microsatellites D3S1512, D3S1744, D3S1550, and D3S232 were used to study the association of chromosome region 3q21-q25 neighboring the angiotensin II receptor type 1 gene (AT2R1) with diabetic nephropathy (DN) in diabetes mellitus type 1 (DM1). Allele and genotype frequencies were compared for DM1 patients with (N = 39) or without (N = 62) DN. Fisher's exact test with Bonferroni's correction revealed significant differences in frequencies of two D3S2326 alleles, one D3S1512 allele, and one allele and one genotype of D3S1550. No significant difference was observed with D3S1744. Thus, region 3q21-q25 proved tightly associated with DN in ethnic Russians with DM1 from Moscow.

[The pattern of predisposition to rheumatism]. / Struktura predraspolozhennosti k revmatizmu.

The present study was based on the results of many-year studies of the Mongoloid populations the Tofalars (793 and 661 persons in 1973 and 1984, respectively), the Dolgans (n = 952) the Taimyr Yakuts (n = 452), the Todji Tuvins (n = 819) and a sample from 200 families of rheumatic patients in Moscow and Moscow Region. The interpopulation gene differentiation expressed through the generalized genetic distance (8) and the prevalence of rheumatism correlated (r = 0.63). There was also a correlation between the mean heterozygocity of the populations and the spread of rheumatism-the determination rate was 72%. Therefore, structural features of the populations have a definite impact on the prevalence of rheumatism and suggest that there is a genetic component in the determination of the disease. A segregative analysis indicated the adequacy of a multifactorial model for the majority of the studied populations, the contribution of a genetic component to the determination of varying susceptibility to rheumatism ranged from 71% in the population of the Tofalars to 100% in the populations of the Dolgans and the Tuvins. The results of testing the type of rheumatism inheritance using a SAL-2 model, the data of a regression analysis of susceptibility heritability and inbreedity of the populations, and a component resolution of phenotypic dispersion of susceptibility are indicative of its involvement, along with an additive component, in the determination of rheumatism. Clinical and genetic findings also suggest that there is a genetic heterogeneity both of rheumatism as a whole (verified +likely) and verified rheumatism (without and with cardiac diseases).

[Serologic polymorphism of the HLA Class 2 antigens in the Russian population]. / Serologicheskii polimorfizm antigenov HLA klassa 2 v russkoi populiatsii.

Two hundred and thirty Russian Moscovities (108 healthy individuals and 122 cadaver kidney donors) were typed for antigens HLA-DR1-DRw10, HLA-DRw52-DRw53, and HLA-DQw1 and DQw3. HLA-DR1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7 were investigated in all individuals, the other having been only studied in portions of the material. The HLA class 2 antigens' polymorphism in Russian population has been shown to have features common to all Caucasians. Most widely distributed antigen is DR2 (phenotype frequency is 36%). Antigens DRw8, DR9 and DRw10 are rare. DR allele distribution demonstrated perfect fits to Hardy--Weinberg expectations. Antigens DR5 and DR4 are considered most difficult to define at early stage of the study.

[Systemic lupus erythematosus in the native inhabitants of Tadzhikistan]. / Sistemnaia krasnaia volchanka u korennykh zhitelei Tadzhikistana.

A total of 106 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) underwent clinico-laboratory comparative studies. There were 3 groups of patients. Of these, 43 patients were examined in Moscow, 34 natives of Tadzhikistan (Tadzhiks and Uzbeks), and 29 patients belonging to the nonindigenous population were examined in Dushanbe. For estimation purposes use was made of routine clinical-instrumental and laboratory methods including the determination of antinuclear factor (ANF). The clinicoimmunological features of SLE seen in the natives of Tadzhikistan consisted in a more frequent demonstration of facial erythema, arthritis, oral ulcerations and clinical criteria for ARA on the whole; in a rarer demonstration of capillaritis, serositis, and laboratory criteria for ARA including ANF. SLE patients belonging to the non-indigenous population of Tadzhikistan occupy an intermediate place between SLE patients belonging to the indigenous population and patients living in Moscow. By their clinico-laboratory parameters, however, they are closer to the Moscow group patients excluding the age at which the disease occurs. In the nonindigenous population of Tadzhikistan, the disease appeared to start 10 years later. The clinico-laboratory differences as well as those in the age of the disease onset in the indigenous and nonindigenous population of Tadzhikistan form the basis for elaborating the medical and social measures with a purpose of goal-oriented identification of factors at risk for the development of SLE in Tadzhikistan bearing in mind the ethnic characteristics.