Characteristics of the Immune Response to the Spectrum of Viral Antigens SARS-CoV-2 in Dynamics

Introduction. The COVID-19 pandemic caused by highly contagious SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus is still at its peak. As this infection is being studied, new diagnostic methods are emerging and existing ones are being optimized. The production of antibodies against a variety of SARS-CoV-2 antigens is being intensively studied to understand the basic mechanisms of humoral immunity and protective functions of antibodies. Purpose. To study dynamics of formation and maintenance of antibodies to three main antigens (S, N, M) of SARS-CoV-2 virus. Materials and methods. Seventy-five respondents with COVID-19 infection of different severity took part in the study: mild form – 22 persons, moderate form – 26 persons, severe form – 20 persons. Control group consisted of 7 seronegative sera collected from healthy volunteers. To confirm the presence of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 virus we used commercial test-systems manufactured by Vector-BEST "SARS-CoV-2-IgG-ELISA-BEST" (Russian Federation);"SARS-CoV-2-NP-ELISA-G" produced by Republican Scientific and Practical Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology (Republic of Belarus);as well as newly developed immunoassay "home-made" lia-test (a nitrocellulose membrane with applied S, N, M antigens of SARS-CoV-2 virus). Results. Nine months after the disease, antibodies to S antigen persisted in 92.6% of respondents with a mild form of the disease, and in 100% of those with moderate and severe forms. The N antigen remains seropositive in 48.1%, 48% and 65% of patients with mild, moderate and severe COVID-19, respectively. Positive tests for M protein are 26%, 44%, and 55% with increasing severity of infection. Conclusion. Production of antibodies to S-, N-, and M-proteins of SARS-CoV-2 virus occurs with regard to individual characteristics of the immune system. By the end of 9 months of follow-up, the respondents with moderate and severe forms of coronavirus infection retained antibodies to S-protein in 100% of cases. For N-and M-proteins, significantly fewer seropositive respondents were detected (48%, 65%, and 44% 55%, respectively). Patients who had a mild form of infection retained antibodies to S, N, and M antigens in 92.6%, 48.1% and 26% of cases, respectively. Thus, antibodies to S-protein of SARS-CoV-2 virus, which, as a rule, is the main antigenic component of commercial test systems, persist in the human body for the longest time. © 2022, Professionalnye Izdaniya. All rights reserved.

Chronic, acute and protocol-dependent effects of exercise on psycho-physiological health during long-term isolation and confinement.

Exercise could prevent physical and psychological deteriorations, especially during pandemic times of lock-down scenarios and social isolation. But to meet both, the common exercise protocols require optimization based on holistic investigations and with respect to underlying processes. This study aimed to explore individual chronic and acute effects of continuous and interval running exercise on physical and cognitive performance, mood, and affect and underlying neurophysiological factors during a terrestrial simulated space mission. Six volunteers (three females) were isolated for 120 days. Accompanying exercise training consisted of a continuous and interval running protocol in a cross-over design. Incremental stage tests on a treadmill were done frequently to test physical performance. Actigraphy was used to monitor physical activity level. Cognitive performance, mood (MoodMeter®), affect (PANAS), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), vascular-endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and saliva cortisol were investigated prior to, four times during, and after isolation, pre- and post-exercise on two separate days, respectively. As a chronic effect, physical performance increased (and IGF-1 tended) in the course of isolation and training until the end of isolation. Subjective mood and affect state, as well as cognitive performance, basal BDNF and VEGF levels, were well-preserved across the intervention. No acute effects of exercise were detected, besides slower reaction time after exercise in two out of nine cognitive tests, testing sensorimotor speed and memory of complex figures. Consistently higher basal IGF-1 concentrations and faster reaction time in the psychomotor vigilance test were found for the continuous compared to the interval running protocol. The results suggest that 120 days of isolation and confinement can be undergone without cognitive and mental deteriorations. Regular, individual aerobic running training supporting physical fitness is hypothesized to play an important role in this regard. Continuous running exercise seems to trigger higher IGF-1 levels and vigilance compared to interval running. Systematic and prolonged investigations and larger sample size are required to follow up on exercise-protocol specific differences in order to optimize the exercise intervention for long-term psycho-physiological health and well-being.

Telemedicine in Russia: Experience of understanding in legal doc-trine and formation of legal regulation

The article examines the main historical stages of the development of legal regulation of telemedicine in Russia, analyzes legislative and other initiatives in this area that took place since the understanding of the need to legalize electronic medicine long before the adoption of specialized legislation. The use of historical experience contributes to a deeper understanding of the specifics of legal regulation of medical care provided with the use of telemedicine technologies, allows to build legal forecasts of its improvement. In the context of the ongoing pandemic of the new COVID-19 coronavirus infection, which has affected all countries of the world, the role of telemedicine technologies in the provision of medical care is increasing. That situation actualizes relevant scientific research both in the field of natural sciences and in the historical and legal sphere. © 2020, Rossiiskaya Akademiya Nauk, Institut Istorii (Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute of General Hist. All rights reserved.