[Method of surgical treatment of patients with a chronic rupture of the Achilles tendon]. / Sposob khirurgicheskogo lecheniya patsientov s zastarelym razryvom akhillova sukhozhiliya.

OBJECTIVE: To improve treatment outcomes in patients with long-standing Achilles tendon ruptures with severe diastasis and dysfunction of the calf muscle via the use of a new method of surgical treatment. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The authors proposed a new method of Achilles tendon repair for diastasis from 5 to 10 cm. This technique consists in elimination of diastasis with a tendon of the long peroneal muscle on the distal base. Surgical stages are described. The authors also report a patient with long-standing Achilles tendon rupture. Surgical treatment and postoperative outcomes are described. RESULTS: Postoperative outcomes were assessed in 23 patients. The control group consisted of 21 patients who underwent reconstruction according to Chernavsky's and Krasnov's methods. Assessment was carried out using clinical and biomechanical methods. The authors analyzed gait asymmetry and functional myography data. Their data indicate the advantage of treatment in the main group.

[Postoperative outcomes in patients with closed patellar fractures]. / Rezul'taty operativnogo lecheniya zakrytogo pereloma nadkolennika.

OBJECTIVE: To improve postoperative outcomes in patients with closed patellar fractures using a new method of surgical treatment. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The authors proposed a new method of patellar osteosynthesis. Technique of osteosynthesis is described, and surgical scheme is presented. Treatment outcomes were analyzed in 68 patients with closed patellar fractures. The control group consisted of 34 patients who underwent Weber osteosynthesis. The authors assessed clinical and radiological data. Moreover, clinical example of a patient with traumatic closed patellar fracture and illustrations of surgical treatment are presented. RESULTS: Clinical data indicate the advantage of treatment in the main group.

Apoptotic Bodies of Cardiomyocytes and Fibroblasts - Regulators of Directed Differentiation of Heart Stem Cells.

We studied the effects of apoptotic bodies of cardiomyocytes (ApBc) and fibroblasts (ApBf) on myocardial regeneration and contractility in rats and the dynamics of RNA concentrations in cardiomyocytes and fibroblasts at different stages of apoptosis. ApBc increase the contractility of rat myocardium, while ApBf reduce it. ApBc stimulate the development of clones of cardiomyocyte precursors in the myocardium, while ApBf stimulate the formation of endothelial precursor clones. In doxorubicin cardiomyopathy, ApBc, similar to the reference drug (ACE inhibitor) improve animal survival, while ApBf produce no such effect. RNA concentrations in cardiomyocytes and fibroblasts before apoptosis and at the beginning of cell death significantly differed, while in apoptotic bodies of these cells, it was practically the same. It has been hypothesized that RNA complex present in ApBc and ApBf represents an "epigenetic code" of directed differentiation of cardiac stem cells.

Natural killer cell activity irreversibly decreases after Cryptosporidium gastroenteritis in neonatal mice.

Cryptosporidiosis causes persistent diarrhoea in infants, immunocompromised patients and elderly persons. Long-term consequences of the disease include increased risk of malignancy, cardiomyopathy and gastrointestinal inflammation. This study aimed to investigate prolonged effects of cryptosporidiosis on innate immunity and growth in neonatal C3HA mice. The disease was challenged by Cryptosporidium parvum oocyst inoculation into 7-day-old animals. The mice whose intestine smears contained 3-5 or 6 and more oocysts per microscopic field at the day 5 after infection were considered as mildly or severely infected, correspondingly. To determine natural killer cell (NK) activity, we applied 3 H-uridine cytotoxic assay to the animals at 5-68 days after infection using K562 cells as targets. At severe infection, there was a statistically significant 1.5-2.0 fold decline of body mass, spleen mass and spleen cellularity that persisted in animals of all ages. Accordingly, NK cytotoxicity showed even more drastic drop reaching 2.7-3.0 folds that was statistically significant in all animals. At mild infection, the discovered effects were less pronounced and reached significance only in some age groups. Thus, our study provides evidence that NK cells show long-term cytotoxic activity decrease following Cryptosporidium infection in neonatal mice, particularly in severe disease.

Polychromatic visible and infrared light (480-3400 nm) downregulates the growth of hepatoma MH22a in mice.

We studied the effect of polychromatic visible (380-750 nm) (VIS) and combined with the visible infrared (480-3400 nm) (VIS-IR) radiation on the growth of hepatoma in mice. In the first series of experiments on C3HA mice with subcutaneously transplanted syngeneic hepatoma MH22a it was shown 1.5-4 times inhibition of tumor volume after irradiation of tumor-bearing mice with VIS-infrared light at a dose 4.8 J/ cm2. Mice irradiation at doses of 9.6 J/cm2 and 38.4 J/cm2 had no effect on the rate of tumor growth. Exposition to VIS and IR-light in all doses we used an increase of the surviveness of animals in the 1.5 and 2 times respectively was observed. In a second series of experiments we investigated the effect VIS-IR radiation on tumor cells in vitro with subsequent inoculation to intact mice. After implantation in mice irradiated cells at a dose of 4.8 J/cm2 9.6 J/cm2 inhibition of tumor growth during the first 25 days at 3-12 times as compared to control and increased survival in mice 1.5-2 respectively was observed. The main results of this study consists in the fact that none of the doses used VIS and a IR-radiation has not been shown to stimulate tumor growth both in irradiated mice with tumors, and the irradiation of MH22a hepatoma cells under in vitro conditions prior to transplantation of intact mice. Furthermore it was detected dose range VIS-IR light (4.8-9.6 Joules/cm2) when the rate of growth of hepatoma MH22a decreased and increased surviveness of animals.

Dur3 and nrt2 genes in the bloom-forming dinoflagellate Prorocentrum minimum: Transcriptional responses to available nitrogen sources.

The increasing inflow of nitrogen (N) substrates into marine nearshore ecosystems induces proliferation of harmful algal blooms (HABs) of dinoflagellates, such as potentially toxic invasive species Prorocentrum minimum. In this study, we estimated the influence of NO3-, NH4+ and urea on transcription levels and urea transporter dur3 and nitrate transporter nrt2 genes expression in these dinoflagellates. We identified dur3 and nrt2 genes sequences in unannotated transcriptomes of P. minimum and other dinoflagellates presented in MMETSP database. Phylogenetic analysis showed that these genes of dinoflagellates clustered to the distinct clade demonstrating evolutionary relationship with the other known dur3 and nrt2 genes of microalgae. The evaluation of expression levels of dur3 and nrt2 genes by RT-qPCR revealed their sensitivity to input of the studied N sources. Dur3 expression levels were downregulated after the supplementation of additional N sources and were 1.7-2.6-fold lower than in the nitrate-grown culture. Nrt2 expression levels decreased 1.9-fold in the presence of NH4+. We estimated total RNA and DNA synthesis rates by the analysis of incorporation of 3H-thymidine and 3H-uridine in batch and continuous cultures. Addition of N compounds did not affect the DNA synthesis rates. Transcription levels increased up to 12.5-fold after the N supplementation in urea-limited treatments. Investigation of various nitrogen sources as biomarkers of dinoflagellate proliferation due to their differentiated impact on expression of dur3 and nrt2 genes and transcription rates in P. minimum cells allowed concluding about high potential of the studied parameters for future modeling of HABs under global N pollution.