Antitumor Properties of Aqueous Extracts from Inonotus rheades Mycelium and Their Evaluation under Various Cultivation Conditions.

The antitumor properties of aqueous extracts of Inonotus rheades basidiomycete mushrooms were evaluated when the fungi were cultured on wood discs and wood shavings (birch) at 25 ± 1°C in the dark and under constant illumination with blue light (12.8 W/m2). The aqueous fraction containing water-soluble polysaccharides was isolated and analyzed: WS-5 fraction cultured on wood discs under blue light illumination, WS-8 fraction grown under similar conditions on wood shavings; WS-6 fraction grown in the dark on wood discs; and WS-7 fraction grown under similar conditions on wood shavings. The antitumor effects of the extracts were studied on the model of Ehrlich ascites carcinoma in mice. It was found that the extracts isolated from the basidial fungus Inonotus rheades exhibit antitumor properties and that their accumulation during growth is determined by different cultivation conditions.

Complexes of ortho-Phthalic Acid in Spontaneous Animal Tumors.

The presence of diethyl-, dibutyl-, and 2-ethylhexyl phthalates in spontaneous animal tumors was determined for the first time. Small-cell breast cancer of the dog and Ehrlich ascites carcinoma with the cells are particularly rich of these compounds. It is assumed that the level of phthalates in these cells is due to the activity of expression of nuclear receptors for estrogens and progesterone, as well as the peculiarities of the metabolism of xenobiotics. The accumulation of these compounds in tumor cells can increase their malignancy. The data obtained can be used for development of new diagnostic and therapeutic technologies.

Extracellular Actin in Health and Disease.

This review considers the functions of extracellular actin - cell surface bound, associated with extracellular matrix, or freely circulating. The role of this protein in different pathological processes is analyzed: its toxic effects and involvement in autoimmune diseases as an autoantigen. The extracellular actin clearance system and its role in protection against the negative effects of actin are characterized. Levels of free-circulating actin, anti-actin immunoglobulins, and components of the actin clearance system as prognostic biomarkers for different diseases are reviewed. Experimental approaches to protection against excessive amounts of free-circulating F-actin are discussed.

Complex Analysis of Diffusion Transport and Microstructure of an Intervertebral Disk.

We studied the relationship between diffusion transport and morphological and microstructural organization of extracellular matrix of human intervertebral disk. Specimens of the lumbar intervertebral disks without abnormalities were studied ex vivo by diffusion-weighed magnetic resonance imaging, histological and immunohistochemical methods, and electron microscopy. Distribution of the diffusion coefficient in various compartments of the intervertebral disk was studied. Significant correlations between diffusion coefficient and cell density in the nucleus pulposus, posterior aspects of annulus fibrosus, and endplate at the level of the posterior annulus fibrosus were detected for each disk. In disks with nucleus pulposus diffusion coefficient below 15×10-4 mm2/sec, collagens X and XI were detected apart from aggrecan and collagens I and II. The results supplement the concept on the relationship between the microstructure and cell composition of various compartments of the intervertebral disk and parameters of nutrient transport.

[The possibilities for diagnostics of prescription of death coming based on the changes in the lumbar intervertebral disks (the comparison of the morphological, immunohistochemical and topographical findings)]. / Vozmozhnosti diagnostiki davnosti nastupleniia smerti po izmeneniiam v poiasnichnykh mezhpozvonkovykh diskakh (sopostavlenie morfologicheskikh, immunogistokhimicheskikh i tomograficheskikh rezul'tatov).

The objective of the present study was the comprehensive analysis of the postmortem changes in the lumbar intervertebral disks within different periods after death. A total of seven vertebromotor segments were distinguished in the lumbosacral region of the vertebral column based on the examination of 7 corpses. All these segments were divided into three groups in accordance with the prescription of death coming as follows: up to 12 hours (group 1), between 12 and 24 hours (group 2), and between 24 and 36 hours (group 3) after death. The models of the segments thus obtained were subjected to the study by means of diffusion weighted MRI. The removed intervertebral disks were used for morphological and immunohistochemical investigations. The comparison of the diffusion coefficients (DI) revealed the significant difference between the intervertebral disks assigned to groups 1 and 2 (p<0.01). The number of the cells in the pulpal core, the vertebral end plate, and the fibrous ring in all the above groups of the intervertebral disks was significantly reduced (p<0.01). The analysis of the correlation dependence between cell density and diffusion coefficients has demonstrated the well apparent relationship between these characteristics of the intervertebral disks comprising groups 1 and 2. It is concluded that diffusion weighted MRI in the combination with the calculation of diffusion coefficients for the intervertebral disks provides a tool for diagnostics of prescription of death coming as confirmed by the results of the morphometric studies and immunohistochemical analysis.

Level of Blood Cell-Free Circulating Mitochondrial DNA as a Novel Biomarker of Acute Myocardial Ischemia.

Changes in the level of blood cell-free circulating mitochondrial DNA were examined during experimental adrenaline-induced myocardial injury in rats. The amount of mitochondrial DNA in the blood was significantly elevated at 48 and 72 h after subcutaneous injection of adrenaline solution, and it was accompanied by development of multiple small-focal myocardial ischemia. This suggests that the measured level of blood cell-free circulating mitochondrial DNA might be used as a biomarker of acute myocardial ischemia.

Nanostructure changes in the intervertebral discs after experimental laser irradiation.

Laser-induced changes in the intervertebral discs were studied by the method of atomic force microscopy. Alteration of the proximal caudal intervertebral discs was modeled in rats: puncture and exposure to diode laser (2, 3, or 5 W) in constant or pulse regimens or only puncture (control). Nanostructure of disc surface was estimated by surface skewness, root mean square and average roughness, and coefficient of kurtosis. Maximum positive effect and signs of regenerative changes in the surface microstructure of the intervertebral discs were found after exposure to laser (2-3 W) in constant or pulse regimens.

[A model of the arterial aneurysm of the brain for microneurosurgical training].

Clipping of arterial aneurysms of the brain is one of technically complex neurosurgical interventions. In the available literature, there is no information about simulation models of aneurysm clipping that have tactile properties similar to the real ones. The study presents a technical rationale for the development of a new model for the aneurysm on human placental vessels to train skills of isolating and clipping under ruptured and unruptured aneurysm conditions.

Electrochemical behavior of titanium and platinum in dicarboxilic amino acids solution.

Titanium and platinum samples as components of bimetallic implants for the osteoregeneration process have been modified in solutions modeling biological systems and studied by means of cyclic voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and scanning probe microscopy. While aspartic and glutamic acids did not adsorb significantly on platinum in the potential region investigated, the presence of the amino acids affects oxide layer growth on the titanium surface under anodic polarization. The two studied amino acids behave differently on the titanium electrode surface due to differences in adsorption modes of these substances. The adsorption of the glutamic acid depends on the polarization potential to a large extent, and most of quantitative adsorption characteristics (EIS data, the surface roughness) undergo drastic change at the polarization potential value of 750 mV (vs. Ag/AgCl) in the presence of this substance. Equivalent circuit modeling of the surface processes has been carried out, and a scheme for aspartic and glutamic acid adsorption onto the titanium surface has proposed.

[Changes in lipid metabolism and hemostasis in intravenous and intrahepatic transplantation of neonatal allogenic hepatocytes in conditions of experimental hypercholesterolemia].

We studied effects of neonatal hepatocytes transplantation (NHT) on lipid metabolism and hemostasis in experimental hypercholesterolemia. A positive NHT influence on lipid metabolism, lipid peroxidation and hemostasis was established. The experimental data evidence for preferential influence of intrahepatic NHT on lipid metabolism and hemostasis compared to intravenous NHT.

[Gas-chromatographic analysis of hypercholestanol in the bile and its role in the pathogenesis of cholelithiasis]. / Gazozhidkostno-khromatograficheskoe opredelenie giperkholestanol- kholii i ee znacheniev patogeneze kholelitiaza.

The cholestanol/cholesterol ratio in the bladder and liver bile was estimated by capillary gas-liquid chromatography in patients with dyskinesia of the gallbladder, chronic acalculous cholecystitis, and chronic calculous cholecystitis. Cholesterol biliary calculi and their surface and intermediate layers and the core were examined either. The authors came to a conclusion that cholestanol/cholesterol ratio in the bladder and liver bile reflected the progress of liver cholesterol metabolism starting from the early stages of cholelithiasis to the formation of cholesterol biliary calculi. Therefore hypercholestanolcholia should be considered as an indicator of the risk of cholesterol biliary calculi development.

[The physicochemical evaluation of the bile using infrared spectroscopy]. / Fiziko-khimicheskaia otsenka zhelchi s pomoshch'iu infrakrasnoi spektroskopii.

Native bile, inspissated bile, and cholesterol choleliths were examined by infrared spectroscopy. Model compounds spectra were compared with native bile spectra. The spectra were divided into 3 groups: with acid fragments or cholesterol groups predominating and intermediate group. The peak of 3620 cm-1, absent in normal human bile and liable to augment if acid fragment level reduced was detected. The authors suggest a technique of infrared spectroscopy permitting early detection of disordered physicochemical characteristics of the bile in the course of cholesterol cholelithiasis development.

[Role of cholestanol in the pathogenesis of cholesterol cholelithiasis]. / Rol' kholestanola v patogeneze kholesterinovogo kholelitiaza.

The proportion of cholestanol/cholesterol in hepatic and cystic bile was evaluated using capillary gas-chromatography in subjects with disturbances in the biliary system (biliary dyskinesia, chronic acalculous cholecystitis, chronic calculous cholecystitis). The proportion was also measured in bile "paste" and cholesterol choleliths. With progression of cholesterol cholelithiasis, the proportion cholestanol/cholesterol increases, reaching its maximum in the stone the center of which accumulates crystals of cholestanol-cholesterol dihydrate. An original conception is proposed on pathogenesis of cholesterol cholelithiasis in man. It considers cholestanol as factor-reason underlying various pathological processes running in cholesterol cholelithiasis. Cholestanol is suggested to mark cholesterol cholelithiasis.