Comparative Expression Analysis of Human Endogenous Retrovirus Elements in Peripheral Blood of Children with Specific Language Impairment.

Specific language impairment (SLI) is a psychiatric condition with a complex etiology and a substantial genetic basis that affects children's verbal communication abilities. In this study, we examined the expression of five different human endogenous retrovirus elements (HERVs) in a cohort of 25 children with SLI and 25 healthy children in the control group. Human endogenous retrovirus elements, a diverse group of repetitive DNA sequences, can potentially cause considerable genetic heterogeneity. They had been integrated in the genome of our ancestors throughout evolution and now consist of about 8.0% of the human genome. Several HERV loci are transcribed in various cell types. Their expression in peripheral blood and in the brain is altered in many neurological and psychiatric diseases. To date, HERV expression profiles have never been studied in patients with SLI. This study aimed to elucidate differentially regulated human endogenous retroelements in peripheral blood of children with SLI, in comparison with healthy controls, through quantitative reverse tran-scription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) methodology. Our results show that two genes: HERV-K (HLM-2) gag and HERV-P env were expressed at lower levels in the blood samples from SLI children in comparison with those in the control group.

[A radionuclide study of esophageal motility disorders in patients with diabetic polyneuropathy]. / Radionuklidnoe izuchenie motilitetnykh narushenii pishchevoda u bol'nykh s diabeticheskoi polinevropatiei.

The radionuclide method was used to examine transport function of the esophagus in 24 patients suffering from diabetes mellitus and symmetric distal polyneuropathy. 99Tc-sulfocolloid was employed as a radiopharmaceutical agent. Radioactivity movement was visualized by means of a gamma chamber. In 9 patients (37.5%), measurements were made of the prolonged transit time for the whole esophagus as well as the prolonged transit time for the interior, median and upper third of the esophagus. The same patients demonstrated a delay of the rate of evacuation of the entire esophagus and respective parts thereof. The radionuclide method described is rapid and noninvasive. It may be included into the diagnostic complex for early identification of vegetative disorders in patients suffering from diabetic polyneuropathy.

[Radionuclide study of disorders of esophageal motility in patients with diabetic polyneuropathy]. / Radionuklidnoe izuchenie dvigatel'nykh narushenii pishchevoda u bol'nykh s diabeticheskoi polinevropatiei.

Radionuclide method was used to examine transport function of the esophagus in 24 patients with diabetes mellitus and symmetric distal polyneuropathy. 99mTc-+sulfur colloid was employed as a radiopharmaceutical agent. The movement of radioactivity was elucidated visually with the aid of a gamma-chamber. In 9 patients, measurements were made of the prolonged transit time of the whole esophagus as well as prolonged transit time for the lower, median and upper third of the esophagus. The same patients manifested deceleration of the evacuation of the entire esophagus and respective parts thereof. That method can be included into the diagnostic complex intended for early diagnosis of vegetative disorders in patients with diabetic polyneuropathy and for evaluating the intensity of autonomous neuropathy.

[The esophageal transport function in patients with nodular goiter and in patients operated on for thyroid cancer]. / Sostoianie transportnoi funktsii pishchevoda u patsientov s uzlovym zobom i bol'nykh, operirovannykh po povodu raka shchitovidnmoi zhelezy.

A study was made of changes of esophageal transport function in 10 patients with thyroid adenoma and in 27 patients after surgical and radiotherapeutic management for thyroid cancer. The results were compared with those of a control group. Significant data on changes on esophageal transport function in patients with thyroid adenoma were unnoticed. Esophageal dysfunction after operation and radioactive iodine therapy for cancer was detected in 55%. Dysfunction was thought to be caused by dysphagia which showed direct correlation with the severity of hypothyroidism.

[Barrett's esophagus]. / Baretov khranoprovod.

In 12 patients the endoscopic examination raised the suspicion of Barrett's syndrome. By means of guided biopsies and static scintigraphy with gamma camera and 99m-technetium pertechnetate ectopic gastric mucosa was found in the esophagus of 5 of the patients. In one patient a Barrett's ulcer was found. The establishment of a focus of increased radioactivity proximal from the stomach by static scintigraphy is a proof for the presence of ectopic gastric mucosa in the esophagus. Because of the high risk of malignancy a systemic endoscopic biopsy control is necessary for the patients with proved columnar-cell metaplasia in the esophagus.

[Ultrasonic Doppler sonography of patients with cardiovascular diseases]. / Ultrazvukova doplerova sonografiia pri bolni sus surdechno-sudovi zaboliavaniia.

The object of the study were 129 patients (53 male and 76 female), with an average age of 59.3. The youngest patient was 34 years old and the oldest--86. Clinically and paraclinically diseases of the cardiovascular system were confirmed in them: 69 with hypertonic disease, 45 with ischemic heart disease (IHD) and 15 with a combination of both the diseases. The condition of the internal carotid and vertebral arteries was studied by ultrasound doppler sonography. Data for pathological main vessels were established in 91 of the patients (70.54%): sonographically established insufficiency in hemodynamics, stenoses and occlusions. Data about I main vessel affected were established in 49 patients, 2--in 24 patients and 2 and 4 vessels--in 18 patients. Most frequent proved to be the main cerebral lesions in subjects with hypertonic disease and IHD (80%), followed by those with IHD (75.5%) and hypertonic disease (65.2%). A correlation was performed between the sonographically established pathology of cerebral main vessels and the minor objective neurological symptoms.