[A comparison of a neuroprotective effects of hypoxic postconditioning and cerebrolysin in the experimental model].

Hypoxic postconditioning using episodes of mild hypobaric hypoxia is a new neuroprotective technique. We compared the neuroprotective efficacy of hypoxic postconditioning and cerebrolysin in a model of posthypoxic pathology in rats. Animals that survived the severe hypoxia (180 Torr, 3 h) were exposed to hypoxic postconditioning or received cerebrolysin. Postconditioning prevented the injury and loss of hippocampal (fields CA1, CA4) and neocortical neurons whereas cerebrolysin was protective only for CA4 and the neocortex. Besides that, postconditioning, unlike cerebrolysin, led to the complete functional rehabilitation from the severe hypoxia by normalizing the level of anxiety and the pituitary-adrenal axis activity. The findings demonstrate that the elaborated postconditioning technique might provide useful tool for therapy of posthypoxic pathology and stroke.

[Hypoxic postconditioning corrects behavioral abnormalities in a model of post-traumatic stress disorder in rats].

Protective effects of the novel technique of hypoxic postconditioning with a hypobaric hypoxia paradigm were studied in "stress-restress" model ofposttraumatic stress disorder in rats. It was shown that repeated (3 times) exposure of rats that survived after severe traumatic stress to mild hypobaric hypoxia (postconditioning mode) efficiently abolished the development of stress-induced anxiety state. Postconditioning had a clear anxiolytic effect both when it was delivered after traumatic stress and after restress, but the intensity of this effect depended on the period ofpathogenesis of the posttraumatic stress disorder, when postconditioning was given. The results indicate that suggested postconditioning model with repetitive mild hypobaric hypoxia exerts potent anxiolytic and stress-protective action.

[Changes in intensity of hypoxic brain damage in rats induced by hypoxic postconditioning].

The present study has been aimed to estimate a neuroprotective effect of postconditioning (PostC) by using mild hypobaric hypoxia (360 mm Hg, 2 h) in a model of severe hypoxic brain injury (180 mm Hg, 3 h) in rats. PostC was performed by three trials of mild hypoxia with 24 h intervals, according to two different protocols--PostC was started 3 h (early PostC) or 24 h (delayed PostC) following severe hypoxia. Using histological methods and computer image analysis, loss of neurons in hippocampus and neocortex was analyzed 7 days after severe hypoxia. Severe hypoxia caused loss of 24% of neurons in layer V of the neocortex, 26% of neurons in CA1 region of hippocampus and 22% of neurons in CA4 region. Early PostC prevented loss of neurons in CA1 region of hippocampus and significantly reduced loss of neurons in neocortex (to 13%) and in CA4 region (to 10%). Delayed PostC fully prevented neuronal damage in CA4 region of hippocampus and neocortex and was to a large extent but not completely protective in CA1 region (12% of neurons were lost). The results show that PostC performed by hypobaric hypoxia has a pronounced neuroprotective effect, reducing the loss of neurons in vulnerable structures of brain (hippocampus and neocortex). The efficacy of neuroprotection depends upon the time of presentation of the first PostC session.

[Physical treatment methods during World War II]. / Fizicheskie metody lecheniia v gody Velikoi Otechestvennoi voiny.

The authors review the experience gained in the use of physiotherapy during World War II, specify essential principles of field physiotherapy, its stages and system. The number of the wounded and the sick who have benefited from physiotherapeutic procedures are reported. Most effective methods in management of war injuries and their sequelae which remain of importance today are analyzed.