[Prevention of cognitive disorders in elderly and senile patients.]

The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of vitamin D on the cognitive functions and quality of life in elderly and senile patients with cerebrovascular disease. 100 elderly and senile patients with cerebrovascular disease were examined: 60 people - level 25 (OH)D in blood serum <20 ng/ml (deficiency, pronounced deficiency), in 40 people this indicator was ≥30 ng/ml (within the normal range). Cognitive functions were evaluated according to neuropsychological scales (MMSE, MoCA, FAB, «clock drawing test¼, Schulte tables). To study the quality of life, all patients filled out a general questionnaire SF-36. The body's vitamin D supply was judged by the content of 25 (OH)D in the blood serum. Patients with low vitamin D levels (25 (OH)D <20 ng / ml) were divided into two subgroups: 30 people were prescribed cholecalciferol at a dosage of 8 000 IU/day for three months and 30 people who were not treated with cholecalciferol. The study showed that patients with low levels of vitamin D [25 (OH)D <20 ng/ml] had significantly worse indicators when assessing both cognitive functions and quality of life. The work proved that cognitive functions affect the quality of life. In patients with extremely low levels of vitamin D [25 (OH)D <20 ng/ml], after taking cholecalciferol at a dosage of 8000 IU/day for three months, there was a normalization of the level of 25 (OH)D (the average level of which was 34,10±7,42 ng/ml) in the blood serum and there was a significantly significant positive dynamics in assessing cognitive functions and quality of life.

[The role of polypeptide compounds in mechanism of CNS plasticity in patients with hereditary pathology of peripheral motor neuron]. / Rol' rostovykh polipeptidnykh soedinenii v mekhanizme plastichnosti TsNS u bol'nykh nasledstvennoi patologiei perifericheskogo dvigatel'nogo neirona.

Synaptic pruning is a physiological mechanism of neuroplasticity, which is regulated through synthesis of growth polypeptides, neurotrophins. The role of neurotrophins in the mechanism of synaptic pruning in patients with hereditary pathology of peripheral motor neuron was studied in a clinical experimental trial. It was found that patients had elevated levels of regulatory growth polypeptides, which led to the axon growth inhibition effect in organotypic tissue cultures. Thus, neurotrophin overexpression can be considered as a factor preventing synaptic pruning and contributing to further process of neurological degeneration in nerve tissue in patients with hereditary pathology of peripheral motor neuron.

[Pathogenesis of cognitive disorders in patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy]. / Patogenez kognitivnykh rasstroistv pri myshechnoi distrofii Diushenna.

AIM: Clarification of the pathogenesis of cognitive disorders in patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy in the clinical laboratory and molecular genetic study. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Thirty-six male patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), aged from 5 to 22 years (mean age 13.7 years), were examined. The control group consisted of 30 healthy people (7-22 years old, mean age 13.8). The clinical, molecular-genetic and laboratory study was conducted. The search for mutations in the dystrophin gene was carried out using multiplex PCR and multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification. The laboratory study included determination of neurotrophins: brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), nerve growth factor (NGF) and ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) using immunoenzyme method in serum. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Severe cognitive impairment was found in 33% of patients with DMD. The distribution of mutations in the DMD gene was not uniform, most often the mutations were found in the region from exon 43 to exon 50. Serum concentration of NGF in patients with DMD was higher than in the control group (2391 pg/ml [1587; 4136] and 553 pg / ml [314; 864], respectively (p<0.001)). In the group of patients with cognitive disorders, there was a decreased concentration of BGF (23 670 [21 700; 30 720] pg/ml (p<0.001)). In patients with BGF concentration less than 31 000 pg/ml, the chances of cognitive disorders were more than 10 times higher (p<0.001, odds ratio OR=12.0, 95% CI [1.9-76.4]). Thus, biochemical mechanisms, such as NGF overexpression and BGF deficiency, are involved in the development of cognitive disorders in patients with DMD.

[Effect of phytohormones synthesized by rhizosphere bacteria on plants].

New strains of rhizosphere microorganisms Azotobacter chroococcum Az d10, Bacillus megaterium P1-04, and Bacillus mucilaginosus B-1574 were found to be able to synthesize cytokinins (CKs) and indolylacetic acid (IAA). Three forms of CKs-dihydrozeatin riboside, isopentenyl adenosine, and trans-zeatin riboside-were identified, whose ratio was different in the three bacterial cultures. Inoculation of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) plants increased the content of CKs and IAA in them by 35.6 and 21.3%, respectively, and also stimulated seed germination and increased the growth rate, the biomass of shoots, the number of lateral roots, and the root hair area, which ensured better plant nutrition. The IAA/CKs ratio shifted during bacterization towards CKs due to increase in the content of riboside forms, which apparently caused growth stimulation.

[Oxidation processes at initial stages of interaction of root nodule bacteria (Rhizobium leguminosarum) and pea (Pisum sativum L.): a review].

A possible physiological mechanism of legume-Rhizobium symbiosis, consisting in regulation of the intensity of oxidation processes by the microsymbiont in response to infection with Rhizobium, was analyzed using our own and published data. The results used in the analysis included data on the content of reactive oxygen species (O2*-, and H2O2), activity of antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase, catalase, and peroxidase), and intensity of lipid peroxidation proceeding with the involvement of lipophilic phenolic compounds of the microsymbiont.

[The defense and regulatory mechanisms during development of legume-Rhizobium symbiosis].

The roles of indolylacetic acid, the peroxidase system, catalase, active oxygen species, and phenolic compounds in the physiological and biochemical mechanisms involved in the autoregulation of nodulation in the developing legume-Rhizobium symbiosis were studied. It was inferred that the concentration of indolylacetic acid in the roots of inoculated plants, controlled by the enzymes of the peroxidase complex, is the signal permitting or limiting nodulation at the initial stages of symbiotic interaction. Presumably, the change in the level of active oxygen species is determined by an antioxidant activity of phenolic compounds. During the development of symbiosis, phytohormones, antioxidant enzymes, and active oxygen species may be involved in the regulation of infection via both a direct antibacterial action and regulation of functional activity of the host plant defense systems.

[The effect of inoculation with Rhizobium leguminosarum on the contents of cytoplasmic protein and free amino acids in the roots of pea seedlings].

The changes in the contents of protein and free amino acids in pea plants inoculated with Rhizobium leguminosarum were studied taking into account the susceptibility of roots to root nodule bacteria. The content of cytoplasmic protein during infection increased in the actively growing root region (0-5 mm) and decreased in the root regions susceptible to rhizobia (5-20 mm from the root tip). The quantitative composition of free amino acids changed essentially upon inoculation of pea seedlings with R. leguminosarum.