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Relevance – it is promising to develop a system for the diagnosis and prevention of primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG), which would be based on the determination of constitutive propensity factors and would be able to predict the onset and progression of the disease. The aim of the study was to develop a model for predicting the rate of progression of primary open-angle glaucoma depending on gender and endothelial NO-synthase (NOS3) gene polymorphism. There were genotyped 153 patients with POAG aged 36-84 years. Genotypes rs1799983 and rs207074 were determined in the blood of patients by real-time polymerase chain reaction (amplifier Gene Amp® PCR System 7500; USA) using the TaqMan Mutation Detection Assays Life-Technology test system (USA). For mathematical processing of the obtained results, the Statistica 10 program (StatSoft, Inc., USA) was used. The rate of progression of POAG was higher in the presence of risk alleles in the haplotype of the NOS3 gene polymorphisms: T rs1799983 and C rs2070744 (haplotypes TT-CC, GT-CC and GT-CT), which, when distributed by gender, was more pronounced in women than in men of each of the possible haplotypes. The maximum difference was noted for carriers of the TT-SS haplotype, in whom the rate of progression of POAG in women exceeded that in men by 1.4 times (p<0.001). A regression model was built with satisfactory prediction indicators (multiple correlation coefficient R=0.963; coefficient of determination R² =0.928; p<0.001). The probable “hereditary” age of patients in which one or another stage of POAG should be expected is calculated. Gender and haplotypes rs1799983 and rs2070744 of the NOS3 gene were shown to be associated with the onset and rate of progression of POAG, which was implemented in the prognostic model of the disease. Separately for men and women, carriers of different haplotypes, the rate of progression and the possible age of POAG development by stages were calculated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the study was to develop a recovery means for beans infected by Bean yellow mosaic virus (BYMV) as well as Bean common mosaic virus (BCMV) using callus culture and liposomal glycan preparations. Methods. Cultivation of explants and callus cultures was carried out in vitro using conventional methods of plant biotechnology. The tissue culture propagation was performed during the spring or summer seasons. The presence of viral infection was tested by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. The virus-specific primers that allowed amplifying the conserved regions of the capsid protein gene of BCMV or BYMV were used for virus identification. Results. The culture of bean callus infected with BCMV was obtained and adapted for antiviral agents testing. It has been shown that during long-term cultivation (10-12 weeks) in the presence of liposomal preparation containing Ganoderma adspersum glucan (10-100 mg/l), plant tissue culture become free from viruses following virus eradication. This is evidenced by the absence in the callus tissue of 391 bp sequences typical for the virus coat protein gene. Conclusions. The full suppression of virus reproduction and gradual elimination of virus occurred in callus tissue obtained from BCMV-infected beans and cultured on B-5 medium supplemented with liposomal glycanglycolipid complex (10-100 mg/l). The data obtained can be useful for the development of practical control method to cure plant virus diseases using callus culture and antiviral-active glycan-glycolipid complexes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), first reported in Wuhan, China in December 2019, is dangerous for pregnant women, and the probability of infection is the same as in the general population. COVID-19 may be transmitted from person to person through two different routes: airborne and direct contact. Diagnosis of COVID-19 requires the detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. The main biomaterial for laboratory research is discharge from the nasopharynx and (or) oropharynx. The incubation period for COVID-19 is thought to last from 2 to 14 days, with a median time of 4–5 days. The causative agent of COVID-19 can be detected in the upper respiratory tract 1–2 days before and within 7–14 days after the onset of symptoms. The disease can occur with mildto-moderate severity, and manifests itself as a respiratory infection (runny nose, sore throat, low-grade fever, with no viral pneumonia and hypoxia). Severe COVID-19 may develop pneumonia, respiratory distress syndrome, sepsis, septic shock, cardiomyopathy, arrhythmia, renal failure, and other complications up to multiple organ failure. Pregnant women with COVID-19 may have complications of pregnancy, such as miscarriage, premature discharge of amniotic fluid, and premature birth. There are no reports of vertical transmission, but some newborns develop intrauterine growth retardation and life-threatening gastrointestinal complications. Thus, pregnant women with a confirmed diagnosis or suspicion of COVID-19 are at high risk for developing pregnancy complications and adverse perinatal outcomes. Currently, information is being collected on COVID-19 cases in pregnant women, the course of infection, and perinatal outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bean common mosaic virus (BCMV) is one of the most widespread in bean crops viruses belonging to Potyviridae family. The present study was conducted to know the physical properties of BCMV distributed in Ukraine. Methods. Visual diagnosis, biological testing of the virus, electron microscopy, polymerase chain reaction with reverse transcription (RT-PCR). Results. The presence of BCMV in the plants showing clear viral infection symptoms was established by RT-PCR. The virus was purified from BCMV-infected bean tissues by modified procedure involved clearing with 2.5% of Triton X-100 and concentrating by centrifugation with linear 10-50% sucrose gradient in 0.1 M Tris-thioglycolic acid. The yield of purified virus was 3-4 mg/100 g of infected leaves. The determination of physical properties using the same buffer showed that infectivity of crude was lost by heating at 60-65° C for 10 minutes, dilution end point (DEP) was 10 -4 and longevity in vitro (LIV) was 1-2 days at 4° C or 3-4 days at 20-25° C storage in vitro. This virus is long flexuous filamentous particles approximately 740-750 nm in size. Conclusions. The results added physical properties to the knowledge of BCMV which helps in determining management strategies against the virus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: to reveal the prognostic-diagnostic significance of polymorphism of vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene G63980A, reference SNP (rs) 1544410, and possible prognostication of the risk of disorders appearance in the structural-functional state of the bone tissue in a combined course of osteoarthritis (OA) and obesity in young people. Methods: the study group included 96 patients at the age of (35.5 ± 0.9) years with OA and obesity, the control group were 96 practically healthy people of the same age and gender, the comparison group consisted of 18 patients with OA and the normal body mass. Obesity was classified after calculation of the body mass (Ketle) index. The functional state of the locomotor system was assessed by the WOMAC scale. The mineral density of the bone tissue was measured with bone densitometer Explorer QDR W (Hologic). Gene polymorphism was investigated in the human genome by the method of polymerase chain reaction. Odds ratio (OR) of the disease development was calculated. Results: severe radiological stages of joints were revealed 2.4 times more frequently in OA combined with obesity than in isolated OA. Osteoporosis was diagnosed in 59.4% of patients from the study group versus 50% in the comparison one. In the study group, patients with polymorphic variants of VDR gene, who had the B allele, predominated. The following risk factors for the development of OA were revealed: bone fractures in patients and their family members in the past history, genotype variation in VDR gene, age of the onset of disease under 30 and the radiological stage of OA. Conclusions: clinical-instrumental manifestations of the disease worsen in young patients with OA against a background of obesity. The same patients form osteoporotic disorders as early as during five years of the combined course of the above nosologies. Prognostically unfavourable factors are as follows: the BB variant of VDR gene, fractures in patients and their family members' past history, manifestation of the disease under 30 years of age and the radiological stage of OA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim. In this study we have analyzed the expression of some water stress-inducible genes of Arabidopsis. Methods. A method of growing the A. thaliana seedlings at slowly lowering water potential on an agar-solidified medium was used. Gene expression was analyzed using a method of real-time PCR. Results. We have detected an increased expression of RD29A and AtP5CS, two ABA-dependent genes. At the same time, their expression did not reach the level observed in the experiments where the conditions of acute water stress were imposed. The levels of expression of AtP5CS correlated with the concentration of proline in the seedlings of A. thaliana. However, there was not detected a significant increase in the expression of DREB2?, RD17 and ERD1, three ABA-independent genes. Conclusions. The pattern of gene expression under conditions close to natural ones may differ from that observed under an acute water stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the first time the new physicochemical mechanism has been proposed and grounded in order to underastand the origin of the spontaneous transitions. It is based on the tautomerization, induced by the interaction of the DNA-polymerase recognition center with the canonic nucleotide bases, of the pyrimidine bases in wobble base pairs Gua·Thy and Ade·Cyt which transition into the pairs Gua*·Thy and Ade·Cyt* accordingly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]