Individual Features of the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Thyroid Axis Functioning during Aging in Non-Human Primates

Individual features of age-related changes in the function of the neuroendocrine systems are an important problem as the basic component of a personalized approach to predicting and treating age-related pathologies. We studied the age-related features of the function of the hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid axis in laboratory primates with depression- and anxiety-like behavior (DAB). It was found that in young female rhesus monkeys with DAB, the basal and thyrotropin-releasing hormone-stimulated levels of thyroid-stimulating hormone were significantly lower than in young animals with standard behavior (control). During aging, the levels of thyroid-stimulating hormone increased in DAB animals and free thyroxine concentrations decreased both at baseline (fasting) and in response to the thyrotropin-releasing hormone test, while in animals with standard behavior, only a trend towards similar hormonal changes was revealed.

[Postoperative cognitive disorder]

Cognitive impairment or delirium occurs in about 40% of elderly patients after surgery. The increasing number of elderly people has led to a significant increase in the number of cases of postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD). This is one of the most important medical and social problems, the analysis of which is especially difficult, since it requires the coordination of a large number of specialties: anesthesiology, surgery, neurology, psychiatry, neuropsychology, as well as fundamental neurosciences. Thus, a systematic multidisciplinary approach that takes into account all possible factors affecting the condition of patients should be considered. The article is devoted to the main aspects of the pathogenesis, prevention and treatment of POCD.

[Features of endocrine function of the pancreas with aging in nonhuman primates with various types of adaptive behavior.]

An increasing number of studies are devoted to the study of the relationship of mental disorders, such as depression and anxiety, with the risk of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus. However, in the literature there are practically no publications on the study of the relationship of the features of higher nervous activity, in particular, adaptive behavior, in healthy individuals with the risk of developing age-related dysfunction of the pancreatic islet apparatus (PIA). The purpose of this study was to investigate features of the functioning of the PIA during aging in individuals with normal standard behavior (SB), as well as anxiety- and depressive-like behavior (DAB) in experiments on nonhuman primates. 76 physically healthy young mature and old female rhesus monkeys with SB and DAB were used in the experiments. Old animals were divided into subgroups with normal (NW) and excess (EW) body weight. All young animals were characterized by NW. The function of PIA was assessed using a glucose tolerance test. Intergroup differences in the functioning of the PIA in young animals were revealed, which were characterized by signs of impaired early insulin response, apparently due to a decrease in the sensitivity of β-cells of the pancreas to glucose. With aging, the function of the PIA was damaged in all animals, but the features of its changes depended on both the affiliation to a particular behavioral group and the animal's body weight. During aging in animals with SB, the development of relative insulin resistance of peripheral tissues was observed, accompanied by impaired glucose tolerance and a compensatory increase in the secretory activity of the PIA, which were more pronounced in animals with EW. Age-related dysfunction of the PIA in animals with DAB and NW was similar with age-related changes in the PIA function in animals with SB and NW. At the same time, with aging, animals with DAB and EW showed a more significant peak concentration of glucose than that of old animals with SB and EW, accompanied by a minimum «disappearance» rate of glucose from the circulation and significantly lower insulin secretion than this in animals with SB and EW. Thus, age-related dysfunctions of the PIA in primates with SB and DAB are unidirectional with the development of insulin resistance, impaired glucose tolerance and a compensatory increase in insulin secretion, which, however, in old animals with DAB and EW are accompanied by exhaustion of the PIA function, increasing the risk of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus.

[CORRECTION ENERGY DEFICIENT STATES AS POSSIBLE PERIOPERATIVE ADAPTATION OF CANCER HEPATOPANCREATODUODENAL ZONE PATIENTS.]

The aim of this study was to determine the role remaxol in complex intensive therapy of various jorms gipoergosis dur- ing the perioperative period in patients with hepatopancreatoduodenal zone malignancies. The treatment of 48 patients was analyzed. Immediately prior to surgery, at random, patients were divided into primary (n = 26) and control group (n = 22). In the study group for compensation the energy deficient states and organ hypoxia in the pancreas and the liver during the intra- and postoperative periods remaxol was included in the infusion therapy, the introduction ofwhich had been began before the start of anesthesia. In the control group antihypoxants weren't used. Integral assessment of prognosis and severity on a scale SAPS II and APACHE II. Status of energy and the type of energy deficit was estimated by the transport of oxygen and the concentration of lactate. In order to determine the level of stress exposure and the for- mation of adaptive reactions examined quantitative and qualitative composition of the peripheral blood. The study was conducted prior to surgery, on the 2nd and 5th day perioperative period. Inclusion in the scheme of metabolic remaxol program in the perioperative period in patients with malignant diseases of hepatopancreatoduodenal zone promotes the reduction of different types ofgipoergosis, efficient delivery and oxygen consumption, the adequacy of tissue oxygenation and restoration of adaptive physiological reactions such as.

[Correction of impaired glucose tolerance using tetrapeptide (Pancragen) in old female rhesus monkeys]

The aim of the investigation was comparative study of the influence tetrapeptide Pancragen (St. Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology, St. Petersburg) on hormonal function of the pancreas compared to the effect of widely used hypoglycemic drug - glimepiride. The investigation involved 9 old (20-25 years) clinically healthy rhesus monkey females (Macaca mulatta). Five of them were injected with Pancragen (0,05 mg/animal per day during 10 days, intramuscularly) for 10 days; 4 animals received glimepiride (4 mg/animal per day during 10 days, per os). Blood samples were taken from all the animals with subsequent analysis of glucose, insulin and C peptide levels; the manipulation was performed before administration of the drugs, on the background of their administration and after their withdrawal in basal conditions, as well as during glucose tolerance testing. Pancragen and glimepiride administration induced the decrease of blood glucose basal levels in both groups of old monkeys. Pancragen also normalized insulin and C peptide levels suggesting its recovering effect on the disturbed tolerance to glucose in old animals. At the same time, glimepiride administration led to a more expressed and delayed hypoglycemic effect and C peptide secretion stimulation without any significant effect on insulin secretion. The data suggest that Pancragen is effective and safe for correction of age-related imbalance of endocrine pancreatic function, and can be used for elderly patient with disturbed glucose tolerance.

[Impact of tetrapeptide pancragen on endocrine function of the pancreas in old monkeys]

Significant increase of the elderly in the demographic structure of a modern society is one of the main reasons for increase in the number of patients with diabetes type 2 and impaired glucose tolerance. The purpose of this research was to study impact of Pancragen (tetrapeptide Lys-Glu-Asp-Trp) on endocrine function of the pancreas of non-human primates, female rhesus monkeys, and to elucidate the possibil- ity of its use for correction age-related dysfunction of pancreatic islet apparatus. In old animals after the glucose administration (standard dose) in control period, a reduced glucose "disappearance" rate and a higher values of insulin and C-peptide peaks (5 and 15 min after the glucose injection) were observed in comparison with young animals in similar experiments. Pancragen administration (50 μg/animal per day during 10 days, intramuscularly) to old monkeys caused markedly increased the glucose "disappear- ance" rate, normalized the plasma insulin and C-peptide dynamics in response to glucose administration. The recovering effect of Pancragen on the function of the pancreas partially remained 3 weeks after discontinuation of the drug. Thus, Pancragen is a promising factor for restoring the age-related endocrine dysfunction of primates.

[Current principles of multidisciplinary treatment of pain in orthopedic clinics]

Differentiated strategy of treating patients with acute and chronic pain is developed. Preemptive analgesia is a priority trend in the treatment of acute postoperative pain. The most prevalent method of postoperative analgesia is prolonged opioid epidural analgesia carried out in intensive care wards and other wards by an acute pain management team. For treating patients with chronic painful syndromes, protocols of initial clinical and diagnostic evaluation are developed, permitting the choice of individual treatment strategy. Differentiated complex drug therapy planned with consideration for individual course of the painful syndrome is the basis of treating patients with phantom pain syndrome. Algorithms of differentiated therapy of radicular and spondylogenic pain are designed. Stage-by-stage analysis of treatment efficacy is carried out using modern electrophysiological methods. Realization of the proposed organization principles improved the efficacy of postoperative analgesia to 88.2%, prevented the development of postoperative painful syndrome in 35.6% cases, decreased the incidence of phantom pain syndrome after amputation of the limb from 63.3 to 31.6% and increased the efficacy of this syndrome treatment to 70.1%, and increased the efficacy of treating vertebrogenic painful syndromes to 82.3%.

[Fibrogenic and general toxic effects of copper and nickel sulfide ore dust (data for a hygienic evaluation)]

Experiments on acute and chronic inhalation of copper and nickel sulfide ore dust proved that the dust of rich ore, if compared with that of copper-bearing and impregnated ore, induces more marked toxic effects. Intratracheal administration of all the dust types, 50 mg, and inhalation of the high concentrations (102 mg/cu m in average) induced fibrogenic effects. The dust of rich ore induced more marked fibrogenic reaction in lungs, in 3 months after 6-month period of inhalations stopped that reaction disappeared. General toxic effects caused by the dust either of rich ore or impregnated ore were mild. Justifying the MAC requires consideration of possible carcinogenic effect.

[The experimental morphofunctional changes in the body under the influence of dry environmental air]

Analysis of morphological changes in organs, tissues and cells of animal organisms (white rats) is presented in interrelations with shifts in somatometric parameters, fluctuations in water exchange induced by the decreased content of diluted liquid vapours in the air. On the basis of studies results the leading role of low humidity of the environment in the development of changes of the dehydration syndrome type has been proved.

[Increase in the coefficient of component utilization by balancing the composition of the nutrient medium for growing pneumococci]

The possibility of using the experimental-analytical balance method (EABM) for development of balanced media, optimal and economic by their composition is shown. The method is based on the specific growth activity of the medium components and mathematical calculation of their concentrations. A balanced medium containing human placenta hydrolysate was developed. The medium has a high component consumption coefficient and provides maintenance of high levels of the pneumococcal culture biological properties such as growth, capsule formation, virulence and agglutinability. The quantities of nutrient yeast extract, cystine, glucose and sodium chloride in the balanced medium are 2, 18-20, 4-4.7 and 32-33 times lower respectively than those in the initial medium. The use of the balanced medium instead of the initial unbalanced one or instead of the meat medium based on the Hottinger broth will provide the total economy of 1010 or 2360-2580 roubles respectively per. 1000 liters of the medium. It is concluded that a wider use of this method in optimization of microbiological nutrient media in production of medical and biological preparations is promising.

[Enhancing the effectiveness of microbiological nutrient media through balancing their content by an experimental analytical method]

The possibility of successful use of the analitico-experimental method for the development and improvement of balanced microbiological growth media, economical in composition, has been shown. By this method a new variant of the semisynthetic medium for growing Bordetella pertussis vaccine strain has been obtained, thus making it possible to achieve a considerable increase in the yield of the biomass without decreasing the immunogenicity of the culture. The use of the balanced medium in the production of vaccines may alone give the overall economic effect totalling 11000 roubles per 10000 liters.

[Use of an experimental analytical method for equilibrating nutrient broths for Clostridium perfringens type A growth and toxin formation]

A successful attempt to use analytico-experimental approach to the evaluation of experimental data for the scientifically based calculation of the composition of complex culture media, intended for growing pathogenic microorganisms, has been made. The method is based on the evaluation of the specific growth-stimulating and toxin-forming activity of the components of a given culture medium, which are determined by the number of cells grown in the variants of the medium with the limited amount of one of its components. The use of the analytico-experimental balancing method makes it possible to develop culture media with the optimal composition ensuring the definite yield of the target product rather quickly and economically by experimenting on the minimal number of variants equal to the number of the components of the medium. The investigation carried out by means of the analytico-experimental method has revealed that on the basis of peptic serum albumin hydrolysate, pancreatic casein hydrolysate and fodder yeast extract, alongside the culture medium described in an earlier work and containing these components in the proportion 4:2:1, two other media, containing the above components in the proportion 2:4:1 and 3:4:2, can be obtained, these media providing the optimal conditions for, respectively, the toxin formation and growth of C. perfringens, type A.

[Dissolved oxygen content in microbiological nutrient media]

The modification of a highly sensitive method for the determination of the concentration of dissolved oxygen in liquid culture media and in water is described. This modification permits the easy conversion of the relative readings of electrode membrane transducers for measuring the partial pressure of oxygen into the readings characterizing the absolute concentration of oxygen in the medium (mg/cu. dm). The content of dissolved oxygen in microbiological media and in water depends on the amount of dissolved mineral salts, amino acids and peptides (the products in incomplete proteolysis), as well as on temperature. The maximum level of oxygen saturation in liquid culture media at 37 degrees C is different for various types of media and constitutes their peculiar characteristic, determined in the process of aeration under experimental conditions.

[Molecular structure and immunochemical properties of highly purified hemagglutinin from Clostridium botulinum type A]

A procedure for isolation of highly purified hemagglutinin from a toxic complex of culture filtrates of Cl. botulinum type A is described. This procedure includes precipitation with (NH4)2SO4, chromatography on Sephadex G-100, G-200 and DEAE-cellulose, specific adsorption on human erythrocytes and affinity chromatography. Using polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, it was shown that hemagglutinin is a heteropolymeric protein consisting of a monomer (Mr 53 000) and a trimer (Mr 160 000). The monomer is made up of two subunits with Mr 13 000 and one subunit with Mr 27 000 covalently linked by SS-crosslinks. The number and nature of the SS-crosslinks and SH-groups in the protein molecule were determined and a hypothetical structural model of hemagglutinin was proposed. Using immunochemical analysis, it was shown that some (but not all) serological properties of the highly purified protein from Cl. botulinum type A and of its partially purified counterpart are similar to those of hemagglutinin from Cl. botulinum type B.

[Comparative immunochemical study of the hemagglutinins of Cl. botulinum A and B]

The authors demonstrated an incomplete indentity of Cl. botulinum hemagglutinins of types A and B in the double diffusion reaction in agar gel, and their difference by electrophoretic mobility. Some differences in the interaction of hemagglutinins A and B with human erythrocytes were found by the hemagglutination inhibition method; apparently, of the principal significance in the relization of the reaction of human erythrocyte hemagglutination with hemagglutinins of Cl. botulinum, types A and B, was the OH-group position in the C4 galactose of the mucopolysaccharides of the erythrocyte cell wall. Apart from C4, apparently, for hemagglutinin of types A of significance was the reactive capacity of C1 and C2 galactose atoms, whereas for hemagglutinin of type B--free OH-group in C2 galactose atom.

[Hemagglutinin specificity of Cl. botulinum types A, B, and F in reaction with erythrocytes of various animals]

The following differences were revealed in the haemagglutination reaction with the erythrocytes of man, sheep, rabbit, chicks and mice between the haemagglutinins of Cl. botulinum, types A, B and F, having a close affinity with one another: haemagglutinin of type A actively reacted with the erythrocytes of man, sheep, rabbit, rats and chicks; haemagglutinin of type B reacted only with the erythrocytes of man and rabbits; haemagglutinin of type F failed to react with any of the types of the erythrocytes tested; only with the use of erythrocytes treated with neuraminidase was it possible to establish the presence of haemagglutinin fraction in Cl. botulinum, type F. Treatment of human erythrocytes with neuraminidase and proteolytic enzymes caused a marked increase in the sensitivity of the haemagglutination reaction in haemagglutinins of Cl. botulinum, types A, B and F.

[Use of a synthetic medium for cultivating pathogenic anaerobes]

It was shown that a synthetic medium suggested by the authors earlier was useful for the growth and toxin formation of Cl. tetani, Cl. botulinum and Cl. perfringens, types B and E. A study of the character of growth and toxinogensis, microscopic examination of morphology of culture cells and results of passages showed the suggested synthetic medium to be of value; a possibility of its application for studying the nutrient requirements and the role of individual components of the nutrient media in the process of growth and toxinogenesis was also demonstrated.