The effects of the endothelium on adrenal steroidogenesis and growth are mainly mediated by proteins other than endothelin-1.

The endothelium releases factors stimulating the adrenal cortex. It is also known that endothelin-1 (ET-1) promotes generation of cortisol and aldosterone, and proliferation of adrenocortical cells. The aim of the study was to find out whether the effect of the endothelium on adrenocortical cells is dominated by the action of ET-1. The effects of endothelial cell-conditioned medium (ECCM), obtained during growth of human umbilical cord vein endothelial cells, on aldosterone and cortisol release by cells of the adrenocortical cancer cell-line NCI-H295R and the promoter activity of steroidogenic acute-regulatory protein (StAR) were studied. The effect of ECCM on proliferation of human primary normal adrenocortical and NCI-H295R cells was also investigated. Concentration-dependent increases in cortisol release that reached 192.7 ± 62.8 in percent of basal secretion, in aldosterone release that reached 188.2 ± 52.3 in percent of basal secretion, and in proliferation after stimulation with ECCM at concentrations of 10-50% were found. ECCM significantly activated the StAR promoter 3-fold in NCI-H295R cells if the ECCM was not pretreated with pronase. These effects of the endothelium were not reversed after co-incubation with endothelin receptor antagonists and could not be mimicked by incubation with endothelin-1. In conclusion, the cultured endothelial cells secrete a protein that stimulates steroidogenesis in adrenal cells and their growth. It was also shown that the ET-1 does not mediate the effect of ECCM on the NCI-H295R cell line.

[Permeability of acetone-glued diffusion chambers with walls made of the HAWP millipore filter for erythrocytes in in vivo cultivation]. / Pronitsaemost' skleennykh atsetonom diffuzionnykh kamer so stenkami iz milliporovogo fil'tra HAWP (millipore) dlia éritrotsitov v usloviiakh kul'tivirovaniia in vivo.

When studying the differentiation potencies of cells of the chick embryo at the stage of early blastoderm in the diffusion chambers with walls of millipore filter HAWP placed intraperitoneally, it is necessary to be sure that the chambers are impermeable for the blood cells. The chambers made with the use of aceton for glueing the millipore filter onto the ring of organic glass may be permeable for erythrocytes incapable of active movement. The appearance of erythrocytes in the chamber creates the illusion of hemopoiesis in the culture. Within several days of cultivation in the abdominal cavity, a monolayer of macrophages is formed outside the chamber which prevents the penetration of erythrocytes in the chamber.

[The erythrocyte lipids of the peripheral blood and myocardial dystrophy in patients with iron-deficiency anemia]. / Lipidy éritrotsitov perifericheskoi krovi i distrofiia miokarda u bol'nykh zhelezodefitsitnoi anemiei.

Lipids of peripheral blood red cells (total lipids and phospholipids, triglycerides, free fatty acids, cholesterol, cholesterol ethers, lysophospholipids, sphingomyelins, phosphatidylserins, phosphatidylethanolamines, phosphatidylcholines, cardiolipins, phosphatid acids) were assessed in correlation with wave T height on resting ECG. It is shown that iron deficiency anemia patients develop shifts in red blood cell lipid composition contributing to the onset of myocardiodystrophy. The correction of the lipid composition defects is an additional factor decreasing dystrophic processes in the myocardium.

[Lipid spectra of various zones of the myocardium, damaged by infarct, as a reflection of its metabolic and functional activity in the period preceding the lethal outcome of the illness]. / Lipidnyi spektr razlichnykh zon miokarda, porazhennogo infarktom, kak otrazhenie ego metabolicheskoi i funktsional'noi aktivnosti v period,predshestvuiushchii letal'nomu iskhodu zabolevaniia.

Lipid composition was studied in various zones of the myocardium impaired with infarction. Content of phospholipids was decreased, while lysophospholipids and free fatty acids were increased in the necrosis-impaired sites. In the overinfarction-impaired tissues content of total lipids, triglycerides, cholesterol and its esters and free fatty acids was elevated but some phospholipids were decreased (cardiolipins, phosphatidyl ethanolamine and sphingomyelins). Alterations in lipid composition observed in necrosis impaired myocardial tissues appear to occur due to destruction of cardiomyocytes, to the following liberation of enzymes from the cells and their irregular effects on lipid metabolism. There were apparently three types of reactions in the overinfarction-impaired sites: hydrolysis of lipids, decrease in the rate of fatty acids oxidation and increase--in synthesis of individual lipid classes. All the alterations detected were related to deficiency in oxygen, accumulation of NADH2, NADPH2 and factate. This suggests that activation of biosynthesis of free fatty acids and lipids, directed to neutralization of the dehydrogenase coenzymes and to continuation of glycolysis, may be involved in positive compensation-adaptive reactions during definite steps of the disease development. However, during the further steps of the disease increase in content of free fatty acids and other lipids in blood and tissues, as in the case of lactate, may aggravate the pathological state, acquired dysfunction and increased the necrosis-impaired zone. The data obtained suggest that analysis of lipid spectrum in various myocardial tissues may exhibit the rate of hypoxic and ischemic alterations, demonstrated the reserves of metabolic activity as well as showed the risk of necrosis enlargement during the prelethal period of the disease.

[Deterioration of lipid metabolism in testes under emotional-pain stress]. / Narushenie lipidnogo obmena semennikov pri émotsional'no-bolevom stresse.

In severe emotional-pain stressor conditions alterations of lipid metabolism in rat testes appear to develop as a result of activation of peroxidation and lipolysis. These alterations may be important for stress impairment of the testes incretory function. Activation of pentose-phosphate pathway in stress-impaired testes is apparently one of mechanisms required for restoration of their structure and functions after the stress influence.

[Lipid composition of erythrocytes in iron deficiency anemia]. / Lipidnyi sostav éritrotsitov pri zhelezodefitsitnykh anemiiakh.

The assay of lipid composition in red blood cells of 51 patients with iron-deficiency anemia (IDA) was conducted with the use of horizontal thin-layer chromatography, and the state of the end blood flow was studied with the ai of conjunctival biomicroscopy. It was found that in IDA patients the content of total lipids, phospholipids, free fatty acids, cholesterol, sphingomyelins, cardiolipins and phosphatidic acids increased and that of triglycerides decreased. The content of the rest fractions of total lipids in IDA patients was practically not changed. Variations in lipid composition of red blood cells lead to disorders in their functional activity. In IDA patients it is clinically expressed in the development of the sludge phenomenon that aggravates tissue hypoxia in women with this disease.

[Stromal lipids of peripheral blood erythrocytes and myocardial dystrophy in patients with iron deficiency anemia]. / Lipidy stromy éritrotsitov perifericheskoi krovi i distrofiia miokarda u bol'nykh zhelezodefitsitnoi anemiei.

Lipid fractions (total lipids and phospholipids, triglycerides, free fatty acids, cholesterol, lysophospholipids, sphingomyelins, phosphatidylserines, phosphatidylcholines, phosphatidylethanolamines, cardiolipins, phosphatidic acids) were assessed in stromal red cells of 41 patients with iron deficiency anemia (IDA). The values obtained were correlated with wave T height at rest ECG. It was found that IDA patients have abnormalities in the lipid spectrum of red cell stroma promoting myocardiodystrophy. Therapeutic measures to normalize relevant lipid spectrum may become one of the factors preventing further dystrophic developments in the myocardium.

[Erythrocyte membrane lipid composition in patient with iron deficiency anemia during treatment]. / Lipidnyi sostav membran éritrotsitov u bol'nykh zhelezodefitsitnoi anemiei v protsesse lecheniia.

Red blood cell membrane lipid composition was studied in 51 iron deficiency anemia patients, in 10 of them during ferro-therapy. It was noted that red blood cell membranes contained increased total levels of lipids, phospholipids and significantly decreased levels of cholesterol esters and lysophospholipids. During the treatment, in the presence of a distinct process of the recovery of disturbed lipid composition of red blood cell membranes, a significant increase was recorded in the content of triglycerides, phosphatidyl amines, while phosphatidyl and cardiolipin levels were significantly lowered. Red blood cell membrane lipid content in iron deficiency anemia patients and its dynamics in the process of their treatment might serve as an additional criteria of the body saturation with iron.

[The lipids of the erythrocyte stroma and myocardial ischemia in patients with iron-deficiency anemia]. / Lipidy stromy éritrotsitov i ishemiia miokarda u bol'nykh zhelezodefitsitnoi anemiei.

Red cell stromal lipid fractions (total lipids and phospholipids, triglycerides, free fatty acids, cholesterol and its esters, lisophospholipids, sphyngomyelins, phosphatidylserines, phosphatidylcholines, phosphatidylethanolamines, cardiolipins, phosphatide acids) were measured and ECG A leads at rest analyzed in 29 patients with iron-deficiency anemia to detect myocardial ischemia. Significant changes in red cell stroma lipid composition were revealed, particularly marked in women with myocardial ischemia. Measures aimed at normalization of red cell stromal lipid composition in patients with iron-deficiency anemia may be regarded as one of the factors inhibiting the development of myocardial ischemia.

Simvastatin and preparation of polyunsaturated phospholipids produce similar changes in the phospholipid composition of high-density lipoproteins during hypercholesterolemia.

We studied the phospholipid composition of high-density lipoproteins in patients with coronary heart disease and hypercholesterolemia treated with simvastatin (Zocor, inhibitor of the key enzyme of cholesterol synthesis) and preparation of polyunsaturated phospholipids (lipostabil forte). Simvastatin produced a hypolipidemic effect and modulates the phospholipid composition of high-density lipoproteins (similarly to lipostabil forte). These changes contribute to functional activity of high-density lipoproteins in the reverse cholesterol transport.

[Changes in the level of tightly-bound mitochondrial phospholipids induced by exogenous factors]. / Izmenenie soderzhaniia prochnosviazannykh fosfolipidov mitokhondrii pod vliianiem ékzogennykh faktorov.

The effects of some parameters of the incubation medium (tonicity, H+ and Pi concentration) on the phospholipid content in rat mitochondrial extracts prepared by normal extraction and by extraction with strongly acidified solvent mixtures, were studied. It was found that after normal extraction with a chloroform-methanol mixture, 8% to 25% of mitochondrial phospholipids can be additionally extracted by acidified solvent mixtures. The concentration of weakly extractable lipids depends on the tonicity and ionic composition of the incubation medium. It was suggested that there exist in mitochondria two lipid pools, a loosely and a tightly-bound ones; the equilibrium between these pools is effectively regulated by medium tonicity and other external factors.

Cerivastatin modulates antiatherogenic properties of high-density lipoproteins in patients with coronary heart disease and hyperlipidemia.

The effects of cerivastatin on antiatherogenic properties of high-density lipoproteins were studied in patients with coronary heart disease and hyperlipidemia. Apart from hypolipidemic effects, cerivastatin changed the phospholipid composition of high-density lipoproteins and improved their cholesterol-acceptor properties. This effect was most pronounced in the serum from patients with low content of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. These data indicate that cerivastatin modulates antiatherogenic properties of high-density lipoproteins.

Effects of simvastatin on the phospholipid composition of high-density lipoproteins in patients with hypercholesterolemia.

We studied the phospholipid composition of high-density lipoproteins in patients with hypercholesterolemia before and after treatment with simvastatin. Individual phospholipids were separated by thin-layer chromatography on glass plates coated with silica gel. It was found that apart from hypolipidemic effect, simvastatin changed the concentration and phospholipid composition of high-density lipoproteins, which improved their cholesterol-accepting and cholesterol-transporting properties.

Phospholipid composition of high-density lipoproteins reflects lipolysis of triglyceride-rich lipoproteins during hyperlipidemia.

We studied phospholipid composition of high-density lipoproteins in patients with normo- and hypertriglyceridemia treated with various hypolipidemic preparations (simvastatin and fenofibrate). Both preparations changed phospholipid composition of high-density lipoproteins and improved their functional activity. The differences in the phospholipid composition of high-density lipoproteins were probably related to lipolysis of triglyceride-rich lipoproteins catalyzed by lipoprotein lipase and, in particular, hepatic lipase.