Endothelin Level in Menopausal Women with Comorbidity of the Acute Phase Middle Severity COVID-19 with Arterial Hypertension and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.

The levels of endothelins were assessed in menopausal women with arterial hypertension (AH) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in the acute phase of the moderate COVID-19. Women under observation (age 45-69 years) were divided into two groups. Control group consisted of women (n=16) who did not have COVID-19, were not vaccinated, and had no antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 (IgG). The main group included women (n=63) in the acute phase of the moderate COVID-19 accompanied by pneumonia. According to the clinical and anamnestic data analysis, the main group was divided into subgroups: without AH and T2DM (n=21); with AH and without T2DM (n=32); and with AH and T2DM (n=10). The parameters of clinical blood analysis, as well as endothelin-1, endothelin-2, and endothelin-3 levels were assessed. In women with a moderate COVID-19, the endothelin-1 and endothelin-2 levels were increased compared to the control regardless of AH and T2DM status. We found no statistically significant differences in the studied parameters of endothelial dysfunction between the subgroups of menopausal women in the acute phase of the moderate COVID-19.

Oxidative Damage of DNA, Proteins and C-Reactive Protein Parameters in Girls and Boys with Exogenous Constitutional Obesity.

The parameters of oxidative damage of DNA, proteins, as well as the parameters of the thiol-disulfide system and C-reactive protein in adolescent girls and boys with exogenous constitutional obesity (ECO) were evaluated. In girls and boys with obesity, the levels of 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (marker of DNA destruction) were higher than in controls. Evaluation of the activity of the thiol-disulfide system revealed increased levels of oxidized glutathione (GSSG) and decreased levels of the reduced glutathione (GSH) and GSSG ratio (GSH/GSSG) in adolescents with ECO regardless of the sex in comparison with the control. C-reactive protein was also higher in the ECO groups regardless of the sex. The levels of glutathione peroxidase in obese boys were higher than in girls. In view of the revealed shifts, corrective measures with the prescription of drugs with antioxidant properties are recommended in adolescents with ECO to stabilize the indices.

Biochemical Status of Obese Male Adolescents of Different Ethnicity: Discriminant Analysis in the Identification of the Most Informative Indicators.

Parameters of the lipid metabolism and lipid peroxidation-antioxidant defense system in male adolescents with obesity, representatives of European and Mongoloid ethnicity were evaluated. Discriminant analysis revealed the most informative biochemical parameters for obese male adolescents: glutathione-S-transferase, VLDL cholesterol, glutathione peroxidase, reduced glutathione, and SOD activity for obese male Caucasian adolescents and glutathione-S-transferase, VLDL cholesterol, α-tocopherol, and glutathione peroxidase for Mongoloids obese male adolescents. The use of discriminant analysis allows implementing a differentiated ethnicity-oriented approach to prescribing antioxidant drugs in the complex therapy of obesity.

Superoxide Dismutase Activity in Male and Female Patients of Different Age with Moderate COVID-19.

The study involved 271 patients (132 men and 139 women) with moderate COVID-19. Superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity in erythrocytes was measured spectrophotometrically. In total group of patients (divided into age groups of 18-35, 36-45, 46-60, and 61-90 years), higher SOD activity was found in the 18-35 age group in comparison with the groups 46-60 years (p<0.01) and 61-90 years (p<0.05). Then, the groups were additionally divided by sex. In men, no differences in enzyme activity were found between the age groups. In women of early reproductive age, SOD activity was higher than in groups 36-45, 46-60, and 61-90 years. The sex differences consisted in higher SOD activity in women aged 18-35 years in comparison with men of this age. These data should be taken into account when choosing the tactics of therapy for patients with moderate COVID-19 course.

Content of Carbonyl Compounds and Parameters of Glutathione Metabolism in Men with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus at Preclinical Stages of Diabetic Nephropathy.

The content of carbonyl compounds (methylglyoxal and TBA-reactive substances) and components of the glutathione system (activities of glutathione-dependent enzymes, content of oxidized and reduced glutathione) and their interrelationships were studied in men of young reproductive age with type 1 diabetes mellitus at the stages of normo- and microalbuminuria. In patients with normoalbuminuria, the level of methylglyoxal, reduced and oxidized glutathione, and glutathione reductase activity were increased and the content of TBA-reactive substances was decreased. In the group with microalbuminuria, an increase in content of methylglyoxal and activity of glutathione-dependent enzymes relative to the control values were observed; the content of TBA-reactive substances was increased and glutathione reductase activity was decreased relative to the group with normoalbuminuria. In patients with microalbuminuria, a strong correlation between the mean glomerular filtration rate and the blood level of methylglyoxal was revealed.

Evaluation of lipid peroxidation processes in patients with chronic parenteral viral hepatitis and HIV co-infection depending on degree of inflammatory process activity in the liver.

AIM: To evaluate of parameters of lipid peroxidation - antioxidant defense changes in women of fertile age with chronic viral hepatitis (CVH) and with HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) infection, depending on the degree of inflammatory process activity in the liver. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 99 women of reproductive age were examined, of them 44 patients with chronic parenteral viral hepatitis, 27 patients with HIV co-infection (HIV + hepatitis B and/or C) and 28 practically healthy women (control group). RESULTS: Patients with CVH in combination with HIV-infection with the presence of minimal and low degree of inflammatory activity in comparison with patients with CVH-monoinfection had a higher content of lipid peroxidation products (an increase in the content of diene conjugates and ketodienes and conjugated trienes), reduced values of total antioxidant activity, superoxide dismutase activity, as well as the concentration of fat-soluble vitamins α-tocopherol and retinol. In the group with CVH and HIV with moderate and high degree of activity, similar, but even more pronounced changes in the system of lipid peroxidation were observed. CONCLUSION: The presence of co-infection - CVH in combination with HIV infection with minimal and low, as well as moderate and high inflammatory activity, is characterized by more intensive lipid peroxidation processes and a pronounced lack of antioxidant factors than with CVH-monoinfection.

Activity of LPO Processes in Women with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome and Infertility.

Specific features of LPO processes and antioxidant defense were studied in patients with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) and infertility. Changes in LPO processes in patients with PCOS were compensatory, which manifested in increased α-tocopherol and retinol concentrations and moderate decrease in superoxide dismutase activity. Intensification of prooxidant processes was found in the group of patients with infertility without PCOS. The observed changes necessitate differentiated approach to the treatment of these patients.

Isolation and properties of collagenolytic serine proteinase isoenzyme from King Crab Paralithodes camtschatica.

An electrophoretically homogeneous isoenzyme CSP-2 of collagenolytic serine proteinase has been isolated from the total preparation of king crab digestive enzymes. The molecular mass of the proteinase is 24.8 +/- 0.3 kD, pH optimum for activity is 8.5, the temperature optimum for activity is 38-40 degrees C, and the pH range of stability is 7-10. The enzyme has dual substrate specificity, but preference for positively charged amino acid residues in P(1)-position is more pronounced than in the case of the major isoenzyme. The temperature dependence of kinetic constants for synthetic substrate hydrolysis by CSP-2 has been investigated. Inhibition specificity of the enzyme is characteristic of serine proteinases but more like that of crab trypsin than that of the major CSP isoenzyme. The isolated collagenolytic proteinase also cleaves fibrinogen and fibrin and activates plasminogen. The amino acid sequence of the CSP-2 proteinase, which has been partially determined by tandem mass spectrometry, displays some similarity to the sequence of the major CSP isoenzyme.

[The role of antibodies to phospholipids in the pathogenesis of symptomatic epilepsy].

Antibodies to phospholipids (ABPL) were studied in 40 patients, aged from 17 to 65 years, with symptomatic epilepsy. Those with primary or secondary antiphospholipid syndrome and with diffuse diseases of connecting tissues were not included in the study. All patients underwent clinical, neurological, electroencephalographic and immunological examination, the latter including the determination of ABPL level, namely the level of AB to cardiolipin in the blood serum using ELISA. It was shown that the ABPL level was 1,5-2,0 times higher in patients comparing to the controls. This increase was observed in patients with moderate and high frequency of seizures and a history of at least 2 seizures. Moreover, the ABPL level was depended on the etiologic factor and epileptic EEG activity. In conclusion, the results obtained suggest that ABPL not only interact with vessel endothelium but caused the immunologically mediated damage of cortical neurons that plays an important role in the pathogenesis of symptomatic epilepsy.

[Growth factors and the hystologic picture of the liver in chronic viral hepatitis and hepatic cirrhosis].

The authors of the article present the results of studying correlations between growth factors and histological changes in the liver in 48 patients with chronic viral hepatitis and hepatic cirrhosis. The results show that the blood level of transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1) increases, whilst the level of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), epidermal growth factors (EGF), and regeneration index (RI) in general decrease according to increase in histological activity and the degree of hepatic fibrosis. There was a positive correlation between TGF-beta1 and a negative one between IGF-1 and EGF, as well as RI, on the one part, and the degree of hepatic inflammation and fibrosis, on the other. Measurement of the serum levels of growth factors with RI calculation broadens the possibility to evaluate inflammation and fibrosis in chronic viral hepatic diseases.

[Adenosine triphosphatase activity in the osmoregulatory organs of vertebrates]. / Aktivnost' adenozintrifosfataz v osmoreguliruiushchikh organakh pozvonochnykh.

Studies have been made on the activity of cation- and anion-stimulated ATPases, as well as succinic dehydrogenase in homogenates and subcellular fractions from osmoregulatory organs of marine (elasmobranch and teleost) and freshwater (teleost) fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. The activity of Na+, K+-ATPase was found to be rather similar in almost all osmoregulatory organs of the species investigated. The highest level of Cl-stimulated ATPase was found in microsomal fraction of the kidneys from birds and mammals. Succinic dehydrogenase activity is significantly higher in the renal tissue of mammals, both in total homogenates and in mitochondrial fraction.