[Features of inflammatory reactions in patients with juvenile depression with a clinically high risk of psychosis]. / Osobennosti vospalitel'nykh reaktsii u patsientov s yunosheskimi depressiyami s klinicheski vysokim riskom psikhoza.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the levels of pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines and inflammatory markers such as C-reactive protein, leukocyte elastase, α1-proteinase inhibitor, autoantibodies to neuroantigens in the blood of patients with adolescent depression with clinical high risk for psychosis (CHR-P) and to study the relation of these biological markers to the features of psychopathological symptomatology of the patients. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Eighty young adults, aged 16-24 years, with the first depressive episode (F32.1-2, F32.38, F32.8) were studied. Based on the presence of attenuated positive symptoms in the structure of depression, all patients were divided into two groups: with CHR-P (clinical group, n=58) and without CHR-P (comparative group, n=22). The HDRS-21, SOPS, and SANS were used for psychometric assessment of the patients. Serum levels of cytokines TNF-α, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, and concentration of C-reactive protein (CRP) were determined. Leukocyte elastase (LE) activity, α1-proteinase inhibitor (α1-PI) activity, and plasma levels of autoantibodies to S100B protein and myelin basic protein (MBP) were assessed. RESULTS: Both groups of patients were characterized by the high levels of inflammation as assessed by LE (250.5 (226.2-280.8) nmol/min·ml vs 248.3 (226.8-284.5) nmol/min·ml) and α1-PI activity (44.4 (37.5-50.1) IE/ml vs 45.2 (36.4-49.9) IE/ml). Higher levels (p<0.05) of IL-6 (1.22 (0.64-2.2) pg/ml), CRP (0.93 (0.18-3.18) mg/l), and TNF-α/IL-10 (0.34 (0.2-0.47)) were detected in the group with CHR-P. This group was also characterized by higher levels of antibodies to the S100B protein 0.78 (0.69-0.84 units of opt.density) compared with the group without CRH-P (p<0.05). In each clinical group, different correlations between clinical, psychometric and biological parameters were revealed. CONCLUSIONS: The results confirm the involvement of inflammation in the development of depression in youth and indicate a different role of the inflammatory markers analyzed in the formation of CHR-P. The differences in the spectrum of inflammatory markers in depressed patients suggest a more pronounced pro-inflammatory potential in the group with CHR-P.

[Features of the immune profile of schizophrenic patients with catatonic syndrome]. / Osobennosti immunnogo profilya bol'nykh shizofreniei s katatonicheskim sindromom.

OBJECTIVE: An analysis of inflammatory and autoimmune markers in schizophrenic patients with- and without catatonic symptoms in comparison to healthy controls. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A sample of 170 patients with paranoid schizophrenia was stratified by the presence of catatonic symptoms in the structure of psychosis (66 patients with catatonia and 104 patients without catatonia), inclusion threshold was >10 points on the Bush-Francis catatonia scale. The examination was carried out in the early days of inpatient treatment using psychopathological, psychometric and immunological methods. RESULTS: Quantitative and qualitative differences in the spectrum of immune indicators in both groups of patients are revealed. A higher level of the immune system activation is found in the group with catatonic symptoms that indicates a worsening of the pathological process. A specific feature of the immunological profile of catatonic syndrome in schizophrenia is a decrease in ratio between leukocyte elastase and a1-proteinase inhibitor (leukocyte-inhibitory index) accompanied by the increase of other inflammatory markers that, presumably, indicates the deterioration of the phagocyte component of the inflammatory response. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that the decrease in leukocyte-inhibitory index is a potential biomarker of catatonic syndrome in schizophrenia.

[The dynamics of markers of apoptosis in the acute period of ischemic stroke]. / Dinamika markerov apoptoza v ostrom periode ishemicheskogo insul'ta.

AIM: To study the dynamics of markers of apoptosis (Bcl-2, p53) in serum in the acute period of ischemic stroke (IS) in comparison to the severity of the neurological condition and the volume of infarct. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Fifty-one patients (mean age 60.5±2.2 years) with the first ever carotid IS were examined within the first 24 hours. The comparison group consisted of 20 patients (mean age 58.7±2.1 years) with chronic cerebral insufficiency. Clinical and neurological dynamic examinations with assessment of neurological deficit using (NIHSS), CT/MRI of the brain; ELISA immunoassay of p53 and Bcl-2 in blood serum were carried out. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Significantly higher levels of p53 and of Bcl-2 were shown on the 3rd and 10th days in patients with IS compared to the control group (p<0.05). An increase in the content of p53 was positively correlated with the severity of neurological deficit (NIHSS≥10) on the first and third days of acute IS and with larger amounts of damage to the brain parenchyma according to the MRI study from the first day of IS and all subsequent days. High levels of Bcl-2 were positively correlated with the large volume of brain damage only on the 10th day of IS (p<0.045). The results confirm the active involvement of pro- and antiapoptotic processes in the formation of delayed neuronal death in the brain, which are important components of damaged brain tissue in IS.