[Possibilities of instrumental methods of diagnosis of unstable atherosclerotic plaques of carotid arteries].

Today there exists a wide variety of laboratory and instrumental methods aimed at diagnosing an unstable carotid aortosclerotic plaque. Assessment of the laboratory indices is not sufficiently effective since it does not allow of revealing the fact of the formation of an unstable plague at early stages and to determine its localization. The instrumental methods employed (ultrasonographic study, magnetic resonance imaging, multiplanar computed tomography, positron emission tomography) were focussed on detecting pathomorphological markers of instability - thickness of the fibrous coating, structural plaques, the presence of erosions, ulcerations, haemorrhages, calcifications, lipid nucleus, activity of the cellular processes inside the plaque. The revealed signs promote early diagnosis of unstable atherosclerotic plaque with the determination of its localization. Nevertheless, they do not provide evidence about the danger of its rupture, whereas the overwhelming majority of acute vascular catastrophes including acute impairments of cerebral circulation is directly associated with arterial thrombosis resulting from rupture of the atherosclerotic plaque. Therefore, search for new methods aimed at prediction of complications of the atherosclerotic plaque which would be employed in routine clinical practice still remain urgently important today. The most promising is the study of the state of the atherosclerotic plaques of carotid arteries for prediction of acute impairment of cerebral circulation.

[Comparison of morphological features of carotid arteries atherosclerotic plaques with clinical-instrumental data in symptomatic and asymptomatic patients with severe carotid atherosclerosis].

A complex histomorphometric and clinical-instrumental analysis of atherosclerotic lesions of the carotid arteries obtained during carotid endarterectomies (CEE) of patients with hemodynamically significant stenoses was conducted. Two groups of patients were compared: symptomatic, which earlier underwent cerebral vascular accident (CVA) or transitory ischemic attacks (TIA), and asymptomatic ones with no complications of the disease. Statistical analysis of clinical and laboratory data showed no significant differences between two groups except for the level of lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)] in the blood plasma, which was higher (p<0.05) in asymptomatic patients compared with symptomatic ones. Statistical analysis of carotid arteries ultrasound duplex scanning (USDS) in the preoperative period did not reveal significant differences in the degree of maximum vessels stenosis between the compared groups of patients. Surface defects of atherosclerotic plaques (ASP) were shown to be significantly more common (p<0.05) in the group of symptomatic patients compared with asymptomatic ones. According to histological analysis 88% of extracted ASP was unstable in symptomatic patients and 77% of ASP - in asymptomatic patients. This may indicate high risk of CVA/TIA in both groups of patients. Statistical evaluation of magnetic resonance tomography (MRT) and USDS techniques in comparison with abilities of the most reliable histological analysis showed that both non-invasive diagnostic methods are highly sensitive in detecting unstable ASP, though MRT showed higher level of specificity compared with USDS.

[In vitro accumulation of the photosensitizer Photosens in the atherosclerotic plaque of the human carotid artery].

The investigation was undertaken to study the accumulation of the photosensitizer Photosens in arterial atherosclerotic plaques and to immunohistochemically identify cellular elements in them. Specimens were obtained during carotid endarterectomy. The preferential accumulation of Photosens occurred in the plaque areas containing the largest number of cells, such as macrophages and lymphocytes. The photosensitizer accumulated to a greater extent in the unstable plaques than in the stable ones, which seems to be associated with the more marked infiltration of unstable plaques by the cells involved in the inflammatory reaction.

[Cultivated human hair follicle cells are capable of integrating to skin structure in vivo].

In the present study, human keratinocytes and dermal papilla cells were labeled to investigate their behaviour after intradermal transplantation. Cells were transduced by lentiviral vectors that bore marker gene encoding green fluorescent protein (copGFP) or red fluorescent protein (DsRed). A portion of transgene expressing cells was evaluated by flow cytometry. Genetic constructions that we used provided high level (> 95 %) of transduction of hair follicle cells. In vitro transduced cells were injected under the epidermis of human skin fragments, and these fragments were then transplanted under the skin of immunodeficient mice. Injected epidermal keratinocytes were found, mainly, in hair follicles and partially in a zone of interfollicular epidermis, while dermal papilla cells were found in papilla derma. The results of the present research show that the chosen genetic constructions obtained on a basis of human immunodeficiency lentivirs are capable of effective and stable transduction of human skin cells. Injected cells survived and were found in the corresponding structures of the skin.

[Detection of bone marrow-derived cells in neointimal thickening in the rat carotid artery by nested polymerase chain reaction].

The bone marrow origin of cells involved in neointimal formation after injury of the luminal surface of the vessel was confirmed by highly sensitive nested polymerase chain reaction on isolated vascular wall cells. The model of intimal hyperplasia after balloon angioplasty of the carotid artery in radiation bone marrow chimeras between male and female Wistar rats was used. The Y chromosomes of rat male donors of the bone marrow for irradiated females were used as a marker of bone marrow-derived cells. This approach demonstrated a bone marrow origin of a large fraction of alpha-actin-positive (smooth muscle) neointimal cells.