Remodelling of the respiratory network in a mouse model of Rett syndrome depends on brain-derived neurotrophic factor regulated slow calcium buffering.

Rett syndrome caused by MeCP2 mutations is a devastating neurodevelopmental disorder accompanied by severe breathing irregularities. Using transduction of organotypic slices from model MeCP2-/y mice with neuron-specific calcium sensor protein D3cpv, we examined the slow calcium buffering in neurons in pre-Bötzinger complex (preBötC), a component of the complex respiratory network. Examination of wild-type (WT) and MeCP2 null mice showed clear differences in the spatial organisations of neurons in preBötC and also in the disturbances in calcium homeostasis in mutant mice during early postnatal development. Deregulated calcium buffering in MeCP2-/y neurons was indicated by increased amplitude and kinetics of depolarisation-induced calcium transients. Both effects were related to an insufficient calcium uptake into the endoplasmic reticulum that was restored after pretreatment with brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BNDF). Conversely, the inhibition of BDNF signalling in WT neurons produced disturbances similar to those observed in MeCP2-/y mice. Brief hypoxia and calcium release from internal stores induced global calcium increases, after which the processes of many MeCP2-/y neurons were retracted, an effect that was also corrected by pretreatment with BDNF. The data obtained point to a tight connection between calcium homeostasis and long-term changes in neuronal connectivity. We therefore propose that calcium-dependent retraction of neurites in preBötC neurons can cause remodelling of the neuronal network during development and set up the conditions for appearance of breathing irregularities in Rett model mice.

[Level of cation proteins in blood neutrophils of healthy individuals and patients with arterial hypertension residing in the North]. / Soderzhanie kationnykh belkov v neitrofilakh krovi zdorovykh lits i bol'nykh arterial'noi gipertenziei, prozhivaiushchikh na Severe.

The functional state of neutrophilic leukocytes in peripheral blood (content of cation protein) was studied in 30 healthy donors an in 32 patients with arterial hypertension who have been residing in the North for a long time. The mean age of the examinees was 49. It was found that the changing functional condition of neutrophils is evidenced in healthy Northerners by a lower content of cation proteins versus the reference values. As for the patients with arterial hypertension, the content of the above proteins in their neutrophilic leukocytes was higher, versus the healthy subjects, and closer to the reference values.

[Experience of Health Protection Center on organization of medical care for coal miners in Kuzbass]. / Opyt raboty tsentra okhrany zdorov'ia po organizatsii meditsinskoi pomoshchi shakhteram Kuzbassa.

The authors present materials on activities of medical and sanitary center on contemporary phase of economic development under reforms of health care and coal industry.

[The serum enzymogram for the evaluation of the effectiveness of hemosorption in patients with acute destructive pancreatitis]. / Opyt issledovaniia syvorotochnoi enzimogrammy dlia otsenki éffektivnosti gemosorbtsii u bol'nykh s ostrym destruktivnym pankreatitom.

To evaluate the hemosorption efficacy in patients with acute destructive pancreatitis, the authors suggest an enzymogram consisting of 4 enzymatic tests: trypsin, trypsin inhibitor, gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase, pseudocholinesterase. It was demonstrated that these enzymes are highly informative, mirroring liver and pancreatic functions. After hemosorption these indicators were discovered to be improved as compared to those in controls. This made it possible to use the enzymograms for the assessment of the hemosorption efficacy for acute destructive pancreatitis.