[ACOS: Clinical and functional features The Russian formulation mesalazine (kansalazine) in the therapy of ulcerative colitis]. / ACOS-sindrom: kliniko-funktsional'nye osobennosti.

AIM: To investigate the clinical and functional parameters in patients with asthma-chronic obstructive pulmonary disease overlap syndrome (ACOS) versus those with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A total of 129 people were examined. 51 patients with ACOS were followed up in Group 1; Group 2 included 38 patients with severe asthma; Group 3 consisted of 40 patients with severe COPD. All the patients underwent clinical examination: history data collection, physical examination, evaluation of disease symptoms, and study of respiratory function (spirometry, body plethysmography). RESULTS: ACOS is clinically characterized by considerable demands for emergency drugs and by more frequent asthmatic fits and exacerbations, which require hospitalization. The parameters of bronchial resistance in ACOS were established to be increased throughout the follow-up period and to be comparable with those in patients with COPD. In the patients with ACOS, the severity of pulmonary hyperinflation was associated with increased demands for emergency drugs (r=0.59; p=0.015). Fixed bronchial obstruction in ACOS can be caused by smoking intensity and duration associated with increased bronchial resistance in expiration (r=0.51; p=0.003) and intrathoracic volume (r=0.71; p=0.0001); as well as increased body mass index (p<0.001) and disease duration, which were interrelated with a reduction in the forced expiratory volume in one second/forced vital capacity ratio (r=-0.63; p=0.001 and r=-0.71; p=0.0034, respectively). CONCLUSION: Patients with ACOS show more severe clinical manifestations and a substantial increase in functional residual capacity and intrathoracic volume throughout the follow-up period, suggesting that the distal bronchi are impaired and pulmonary hyperinflation develops.

[Genetic Control of Circadian Rhythms and Aging].

The review establishes a link between a group of genes which are conserved in evolution and form a molecular oscillator responsible for generation of circadian rhythms and genetic determinants of aging including associated pathways of intracellular signaling. An analysis of mechanisms of development of age-dependent pathologies is conducted from the viewpoint of circadian genetics. Systematic data of circadian gene expression studies in animals demonstrating different rates of aging from accelerated to negligible are presented.

[Functional and laboratory characteristics in the concomitance of asthma and obesity at a young age].

AIM: To study the peripheral blood level of leptin and adiponectin and their possible effect on the functional status of the respiratory system in young asthmatic patients in relation to body mass index (BMI) for the optimization of asthma therapy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Examinations were made in 133 people, including a study group of 93 patients with asthma who were divided into 2 groups according to BMI: 1) those with a BMI of less 25 kg/m2 and 2) those with a BMI of 30 kg/m2 or more, as well as a control group of 40 apparently healthy patients. The investigators studied external respiratory function (ERF), the peripheral blood levels of leptin and adiponectin, the biochemical composition of plasma, by determining total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and triglycerides. RESULTS: Lipid metabolic disorders as dyslipidemia and hypercholesterolemia, increased severity of disease, and decreased ERF were recorded in the concomitance of obesity and asthma. The peripheral blood level of leptin in young asthmatic patients with obesity was found to be associated with higher BMI. CONCLUSION: A more severe course of disease presenting with decreased ERF, impaired lipid metabolism, and elevated peripheral blood leptin levels were noted in the concomitance of asthma and obesity at a young age.

[Impact of tobacco smoking on the clinical and functional indicators and markers of systemic inflammation in patients with severe asthma].

AIM: To study cytokine status and to reveal a possible relationship of clinical and functional indicators and systemic inflammation in patients with severe asthma to tobacco smoking. Subjects and methods. Examinations were made in 139 patients with severe asthma during its exacerbation and without the latter after 12 months. Groups 1 and 2 included 98 nonsmoking and 41 smoking patients with severe asthma, respectively. A control group consisted of 40 apparently healthy volunteers. External respiratory function, plasma TNF-α, IFN-γ, IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, C-reactive protein, and neutrophil elastase levels, and integral cytokine index were studied. RESULTS: Systemic inflammation that was more marked on a disease exacerbation and mediated by elevated TNF-α, IL-2, and C-reactive protein levels was detected in severe asthma in both groups. The smoking patient group showed a statistically significant increase in IL-8 and neutrophil elastase levels, which may be indirectly indicative of the active participation of neutrophils in the development of chronic persistent inflammation. CONCLUSION: Tobacco smoking is a clinically significant risk factor that aggravates both the course of asthma and the magnitude of inflammation during a disease exacerbation.