Assessment of the state of intestinal microbiocenosis based on bacterial endotoxin and plasmalogen in elderly persons with type 2 diabetes mellitus pathology.

The concentration of bacterial plasmalogen 18a and endotoxin in the blood of elderly people 45-90 years old with the pathology of type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM 2) - the main group and without diabetes mellitus - the comparison group was investigated. The concentration of both plasmalogen 18a and endotoxin in the blood of individuals with DM 2 pathology is statistically significantly higher than in the blood of individuals without DM 2 pathology. To assess the state of microbiocenosis and predict type 2 diabetes mellitus, decisive rules have been determined in the form of threshold values of plasma concentrations 18a and endotoxin in the blood of elderly people with a suspected or established diagnosis of type 2 diabetes. Using ROC analysis, it was found that values above 20.66 µg / ml for plasmalogen 18a, and 0.48 nmol / ml for endotoxin, determine the presence of type 2 diabetes mellitus pathology in the 45-90 age group.

Four Components of the Conjugated Redox System in Organisms: Carbon, Nitrogen, Sulfur, Oxygen.

C1 compounds participate in various metabolic processes and regulations including DNA methylation. Formaldehyde (FA), a product of methyl group oxidation, is highly cytotoxic. In the cell, there are two pathways of its utilization: assimilation and oxidation. Formaldehyde displays cytotoxicity, and therefore its oxidation is considered as detoxification. The sensitivity to the threshold concentration of FA we regard as an indication of its major role in biosystem functioning. A model of a three-component conjugated redox system is proposed in which the methyl group oxidation pathway is an archaic and conservative donor of protons and electrons, the reduction of O2 serves as an acceptor, and the arginine amino group is used for production of both urea and nitric oxide (the donor and acceptor, respectively). The fourth component of the redox system is glutathione, which maintains redox balance. The three-level system of proton donors includes the oxidation of a methyl group (first level), the oxidation of acetate in mitochondria (second level), and glucose catabolism in the pentose phosphate pathway (third level). The whole redox system is united by the sulfhydryl groups of cysteines, glutathione, thioredoxin, and α-lipoic acid. The central regulatory role in this redox system belongs to glutathione-dependent formaldehyde dehydrogenase, which controls FA binding with tetrahydrofolic acid, arginine methylation, and denitrosation of sulfhydryl groups. The conjugated redox system was formed during evolution as a union of separate redox cycles of carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, and oxygen.

Age-related obesity is a heritage of the evolutionary past.

In the process of human aging, an increase in the total amount of fat is observed mainly due to accumulation of lipids in non-adipose tissues. Insulin resistance, provoked by the intracellular accumulation of triglycerides, is often associated with development of such age-related diseases as atherosclerosis, type 2 diabetes, cancer, osteoporosis, and also with systemic inflammation and lipo- and glucose toxicity. Accumulation of lipids and lipophilic compounds is a biological phenomenon common for both prokaryotes and eukaryotes. Initially, it arose as an adaptation to starvation and shortage of nitrogen-containing nutrients, but later it converted into a depot of membrane material, needed on recommencement of cell division. In rodents and humans, the accumulation of non-metabolized fat in non-adipose tissues can be regarded as an adaptation to changes in the internal medium on a certain stage of ontogenesis as a result of age-related dysfunction of adipose tissue.

[Medical and social characteristics of the very old Moscow citizens and World War II veterans].

The very old people is a growing population group in Russia and in Moscow in particular that requires more close attention as it demands special medical and social approaches. The investigation was based on data obtained from Moscow district clinics concerning the gender and pathologies structure of people aged 90 yrs and older. In this group women prevailed in total amount and among those older 100 yrs. Striking gender difference was revealed in disturbances of the carbohydrate metabolism. The most frequent pathologies in this population are cardiovascular, nerve and gastrointestine duct systems diseases that have equal prevalence among men and women. Centenarians appeared to be healthier than those in the group of 90-94 yrs. Many of them could serve themselves without extra help (36,48% versus 13,06%). The results obtained in this research must be helpful in the organization of geriatric clinics and cabinets.

[Hypertension in the aged: some peculiarities of pathogenesis].

Complex investigation of the structural myocardial and common carotid artery reconstruction was held to reveal some features of hypertension in the aged. The state of lipid metabolism, parameters of the oxidant system and inflammation markers were determined in healthy people (n = 30) and patients with hypertension (n = 132) of 60-74 years old. The results were discussed according to the view that adipose tissue mass elevation may be a reason for the age-associated process of the myocardial and blood vessel reconstruction from adaptive into the pathologic one. The myocardial wall is thickened because of the cardiomyocites proliferation and carotid arterial wall because of inflammation and lipid peroxidation activation. Hydrogen peroxide and nitric oxide may be regarded as markers of the oxidative stress on the background of age dependent changes of homeostasis.

[Metabolic abnormalities as a basis for age-dependent diseases and aging? State of the art].

Metabolic syndrome (MS) is a number of certain criteria reflecting abnormalities in lipid and glucose metabolism. These abnormalities are considered to be a reason for atherosclerosis, cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and diabetes mellitus type 2. The prevalence of CVD among those with diabetes is 3-5 folds higher than without diabetes. MS demonstrates ethnic and gender variants, its frequency depends on the lifestyle and age. Attention to MS has been attracted in the last decades induced by the obesity epidemic in US. The adipose tissue and high triglyceride blood levels have been regarded as hallmark of MS. It has appeared that metabolic ways of cholesterol, fat and glucose were tightly connected and united in a system of energy expenditure and reproduction. The high prevalence of MS, heart attacks and diabetes in the elderly population makes the evidence of age to be an independent risk factor of the development of metabolic abnormalities. But this problem is still out of the field of interest in gerontology. There exist a number of unsolved questions concerning the function of visceral adipose tissue, the role of free fatty acids in the insulin resistance, mechanisms of inflammation in the old age and so on that can be an object of gerontology. So, a program of advanced researches in this field is discussed.

Effect of lipid absorption by perfluorochemical emulsions in the bloodstream and perspectives of its clinical application.

Studies concerning lipid absorption by perfluorochemical particles (PFC) during circulation in the blood stream have been reported in experimental animals. We studied the cholesterol absorption from high density lipoproteins (rats) and erythrocyte membrane [1] and composition of the absorbed lipids [2]. The aim of present investigation is to clarify the influence of the PFC chemical structure and synthetic emulsifier on the composition of the absorbed lipids. The perspectives of clinical application of the effect of the lipid absorption by PFC particles is discussed.

Some aspects of perfluorochemical emulsion's interaction with blood.

FDC/FTPA (7:3) emulsions stabilized by procsanol (Emulsion 1) and by procsanol with yolk phospholipids (Emulsion 2) were incubated with the donor plasma. After the incubation during 6 hours of Emulsions 1 and 2 with plasma the 36% and 50% decrease of the cholesterol content in plasma was found. Analysis of the lipid content of lipoproteins after the Emulsion 2 administration to rats (2.5 ml/100 g of weight) revealed the 50% decrease of the cholesterol amount in the HDL fraction at 3 and 24 hours posttransfusion. The ratio cholesterol/total phospholipids in the erythrocyte membrane diminished up to 50% as well. The equal degree of the cholesterol adsorption by emulsion from plasma, HDL of rats and erythrocyte membrane is an evidence of nonspecific interaction of PFC particles with the blood components containing cholesterol.

[Growth-inhibitory substances in barley grain during postharvest ripening]. / Ingibiruiushchie rost veshchestva v zerne iachmenia v period posleuborochnogo dozrevaniia

The investigation studied the occurrence of growth-inhibitory substances in barley grain during postharvest ripening cultivated in different climatic zones. It was shown that the amount of inhibitory substances accumulated in grain was higher under unfavourable ripening conditions. Heat treatment of freshly harvested barley accelerated their disintegration. The disappearance of growth-inhibitory substances coincided with the termination of postharvest ripening of barley grain.