[Pattern electroretinogram and macular perfusion in glaucoma]. / Pattern-élektroretinogramma i makuliarnaia gemoperfuziia pri glaukome.

PURPOSE: To study microcirculatory and functional changes in macula in patients with Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma (POAG). MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study included 95 POAG patients and 42 healthy control subjects. Whole en face image vessel density (wiVDRetina) was measured both in fovea and in parafovea using OCT-angiography (OCT-A) by means of SD-OCT AngioVue on Avanti RtVue xR (Optovue Inc., U.S.A.). Macular thickness and parameters of macular ganglion cell complex (GCC) were measured on the same day. Blood flow in the retrobulbar vessels was evaluated by means of Color Doppler Imaging (CDI). Pattern electroretinogram (PERG) was also taken from the study eyes. Correlations between PERG, SD-OCT GCC, macular thickness, and the parameters of OCT-A and CDI were studied. RESULTS: The amplitude of t-PERG P50 decreased from 6.1±1.3 µV in normal eyes to 2.8±1.6 µV (p<0.0001) in early glaucoma and to 2.3±1.5 µV (p=0.93) in advanced stages. Relative vessel density of the capillary bed decreased from 51.3±3.0% in normal eyes to 45.9±5.0% (p<0.001) and to 41.8±5.0% (p=0.023) in early and advanced glaucoma respectively. The parameters of OCT-A and CDI correlated with morphological and functional parameters in normal and early glaucomatous eyes. CONCLUSION: The study revealed reduction of macular microcirculation and decrease of PERG in early glaucoma. Correlations between the circulatory parameters and functional changes were found in early stages of the disease.

[Pattern visual evoked potentials and their relation to the peripapillary and retrobulbar blood flow in glaucoma]. / Patternzritel'nye vyzvannye potentsialy i ikh sviaz' s peripapilliarnym i retrobul'barnym krovotokom pri glaukome.

PURPOSE: To examine the relationship between the development of bioelectric response of retinal cell elements to pattern stimulus and the ocular blood flow. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Electrophysiological studies, including pattern-reversal visual evoked potentials (VEP) with large 1 degree (1°) and small 0.25° checks, Color Doppler imaging (CDI) of the retrobulbar vessels, and OCT Angiography in the area of the optic disc and peripapillary retina were performed in 48 patients with initial primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG), 47 patients with advanced POAG, and 42 control subjects. Authors also studied the correlations between VEP values and the parameters used in CDI and OCT-A examination. RESULTS: The most noticeable differences between the study groups were the amplitudes of P100 pattern VEP values for small and large patterns and the OCT-A parameters: Whole-image Disc Vessel Density (widVD), Peripapillary Vessel Density (pVD), Peripapillary Vessel Density Inferior Temporalis (pVD IT). In initial glaucoma, a strong correlation was observed between the amplitude of P100 pattern VEP 1° and pVD IT (r=0.75; p<0.0001); the blood flow rates in ophthalmic artery, central retinal artery, central retinal vein and short posterior ciliary arteries were below normal, while the blood flow in these vessels had statistically reliable correlation with the amplitude of P100 pattern VEP (p<0.05). No correlation was found in patients with advanced stages of glaucoma. CONCLUSION: Pattern VEP is an informative method of glaucoma diagnostics which accuracy can be enhanced by combining it with OCT-A blood flow examination.

[Macular blood flow in glaucoma]. / Osobennosti makuliarnogo krovotoka pri glaukome.

AIM: to assess macular blood flow in primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) patients using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCT-A). MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study included 65 POAG patients and 22 age-matched healthy volunteers. Using OCT-A, blood flow parameters (Flow Area, Flow Index, and Vessel Density) were assessed in the para- and perifovea (0.6-2.5 mm and 2.5-5.5 mm, respectively) at the level of both superficial and deep vascular pexuses. Statistical analysis was performed with SPSS version 21 and MASS library of the R language. RESULTS: All the studied parameters were decreased in glaucoma patients as compared to healthy participants: Index superficial parafovea was 0.03±0.01 and 0.04±0.01 (p<0.001), respectively; Index superficial perifovea - 0.02±0.01 and 0.04±0.01 (p<0.001), respectively; Flow superficial parafovea area - 1.57±0.85 mm2 and 2.53±0.53 mm2 (p<0.001), respectively; Index deep parafovea - 0.02±0.02 and 0.03±0.01 (p<0.001), respectively; Index deep perifovea - 0.01 ±0.01 and 0,03±0.01 (p<0.001), respectively; and Flow deep parafovea area 1.02±0.9 mm2 and 1.97±0.82 mm2 (p<0.001), respectively. The differences were statistically significant between glaucoma patients and the controls, but not between glaucoma patients at different disease stages. CONCLUSION: Decreased OCT-A parameters in non-advanced glaucoma indicate an early reduction of blood supply to the macula and explain the involvement of the latter in the pathological process in POAG.

[Optical coherence tomography angiography in glaucoma diagnosis]. / Opticheskaia kogerentnaia tomografiia s funktsiei angiografii v diagnostike glaukomy.

According to literature data, vascular dysfunction may well contribute to the development of glaucomatous optic neuropathy, which makes it reasonable to search for new imaging techniques capable of early diagnosis and monitoring of glaucoma through assessment of retinal, optic nerve head (ONH), and choroidal perfusion. Optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA), a recently introduced method based on the split-spectrum amplitude-decorrelation angiography (SSADA) algorithm, enables evaluation of both retinal and choroidal blood flow in peripapillary and macular areas. The first studies involving OCTA have revealed a decrease in retinal blood flow in glaucoma. It has also been shown that visual field indices correlate better with the peripapillary flow index than with morphometric parameters of the optic nerve head (ONH) and peripapillary retina. OCT angiography has great potential for ONH blood flow assessment during physiological tests, which is an important step towards understanding pathogenesis of glaucoma.

Enrichment of umbilical cord blood mononuclears with hemopoietic precursors in co-culture with mesenchymal stromal cells from human adipose tissue.

We demonstrated the possibility of enrichment of umbilical cord blood mononuclear fraction with early non-differentiated precursors under conditions of co-culturing with mesenchymal stromal cells from the human adipose tissue. It was established that umbilical cord blood mononuclear cells adhered to mesenchymal stromal cell feeder and then proliferate and differentiate into hemopoietic cells. In comparison with the initial umbilical cord blood mononuclear fraction, the cell population obtained after 7-day expansion contained 2-fold more CFU and 33.4 ± 9.5 and 24.2 ± 11.2% CD34(+) and CD133(+) cells, respectively, which corresponds to enrichment of precursor cell population by 148 ± 60. The proposed scheme of expansion of hemopoietic cells from umbilical cord blood is economically expedient and can widely used in biology and medicine.

Physicochemical and kinetic characteristics of isoforms of isocitrate lyase from corn.

Three electrophoretically homogeneous isocitrate lyase (ICL) isoforms were obtained by 4-step purification from corn scutellum (ICL(1) and ICL(2)) and green leaves (ICL). Their physicochemical, kinetic, and regulatory properties were analyzed. The molecular masses of ICL(1), ICL(2) , and ICL isoforms determined by gel filtration are 164, 207, and 208 kDa, respectively. The proteins have homotetrameric quaternary structure with subunit molecular masses of 43, 48, and 47 kDa for ICL(1), ICL(2), and ICL, respectively. We found some differences in pH optimum, K(m), and regulation by divalent metal cations between ICL(1) and ICL(2) and significant similarity of ICL(2) and ICL. Based on these data, we suggest the participation of these isoforms in metabolic regulation of the glyoxylate cycle, organic acid metabolism during photorespiration in leaves and acidosis in corn seeds.

[Differentiation of two hemp nettle species (Galeopsis bifida Boenn. and G. tetrahit L.) inferred from morphological characters and DNA markers].

Two species of the genus Galeopsis L., G. tetrahit L. and G. bifida (family Lamiaceae), are problematic to distinguish often wrongly recognized, and treated by some taxonomists as a single species. Morphological diagnostical characters of these species are variable and partly overlap. Species independence of G. tetrahit and G. bifida was evaluated and their diagnostic characters verified using ISSR and RAPD markers. A total of 57 ISSR and 28 RAPD fragments were obtained providing distinct subdivision of the accessions examined into two groups. Analysis of molecular data using the neighbor-joining method showed that the accessions studied fell into two clades in the same way as demonstrated by the analysis of 20 morphological characters using single linkage method. The morphological characters were found to be more variable compared to the molecular markers, although the combined of these characters provided differentiation of the species.