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A positive correlation was found between the level of global seismic activity and dynamics of cortisol concentration in blood serum of male rabbits (r=0.33, p=0.01) and Campbell's dwarf hamsters (r=0.38, p=0.04). For a small group of healthy volunteers (n=5), we also found a positive correlation between cortisol levels and the number of major earthquakes, excluding aftershocks (r=0.36, p=0.009) and a negative correlation with IL-18 levels (r=-0.28, p=0.04). The body response to earthquakes is not delayed, and the numerous aftershocks do not seem to affect the biological indicators under study. These facts showed that the earthquakes themselves do not affect the cortisol level via the changes of the environmental parameters. In contrast, the underlying biotropic factor is an unknown trigger responsible for an increase in the number of potent earthquakes. Evidently, it is important to take into account the level of global seismicity as a marker of this trigger provoking the rise of glucocorticoid hormones., (© 2024. Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

It has been found that the intraday dynamics of body temperature in small mammal and bird species on the adjacent day are similar. Therefore, by focusing on the body temperature dynamics of the previous day, it is possible to predict with a high degree of accuracy the periods of increase and decrease in body temperature for the current day. This phenomenon was observed when animals were kept under natural illumination and under artificial illumination when the phase of the intrinsic circadian rhythm shifted by 1-2 h every day. When analyzing this phenomenon in birds, it has been shown that the best match for body temperature dynamics occurs when comparing adjacent days based on sidereal days (a period of 23 h and 56 min). Over time, after several days, the daily patterns of body temperature fluctuation take on a completely different form and frequency. These facts suggest a connection between ultradian rhythms and the rotation of the Earth around its axis, and consequently, the position of animals on the surface of the planet relative to space objects., (© 2024. Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

The objective of this study was to assess the level of antibodies to carbamylated proteins and analyze the clinical and immunological associations in patients with ACPA-negative and ACPA-positive variants of rheumatoid arthritis., Materials and Methods: . The study involved 150 patients with a reliable diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis and 25 patients as healthy controls. Depending on ACPA values, two groups of patients were recruited: ACPA-positive (n = 75) and ACPA-negative (n = 75). RA activity was assessed by the DAS28 index. Determination of antibodies to carbamylated proteins was performed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (BlueGene Biotech, China). Quantitative determination of ACPA in serum was performed by enzyme immunoassay using a commercial reagent kit (AxisShield, UK; upper limit of normal 5.0 U/mL; Orgentec, Germany; upper limit of normal 20.0 U/mL)., Results and Discussion: . Median anti-CarP in patients with RA was 126.2 [100.83; 157.41] ng/mL and was statistically significantly higher (p < 0.001) than in healthy controls (88.89 [70.53; 107.75] ng/mL). Among all patients with RA, 50 (33.3%) were anti-Carp-positive (22 (29.3%) in the ACPA(+) group and 28 (37.3%) in the ACPA(-) group), and one (2%) volunteer from healthy controls was anti-CarP(+) (p = 0.002). In ROC analysis performed to assess the diagnostic significance of anti-CarP for RA for all patients with RA, the area under the curve was 0.783 ± 0.047 with 95% CI: 0.691-0.874 (p < 0.001), with a cut-off point of 143 ng/mL, specificity 96%, sensitivity 36.7%. In the ACPA(+) RA group, the erosion count was statistically significantly higher (p = 0.044) in anti-CarP(+) patients than in anti-CarP(-) patients. A weak direct correlation between anti-CarP and DAS28 was found in the ACPA(-) RA group., Conclusions: . We studied the predictive value of anti-CarP as an auxiliary biomarker in ACPA(+) and ACPA(-) subtypes of RA. ACPA(+) anti-CarP(+) patients have a more "erosive" subtype of the disease than ACPA(+) anti-CarP(-) patients. In ACPA(-) patients, anti-CarP helps to identify a more erosive subtype of the disease, and among ACPA(-) patients it helps to reduce the proportion of seronegative patients. Further studies are required to determine the optimal standards for the laboratory diagnosis of anti-CarP and to clarify the diagnostic potential of these ABs as part of the differential diagnosis of arthritis in other rheumatic diseases., (© 2024. Pleiades Publishing, Ltd.)

Aim: To study the association of bone mineral density (BMD) with serum biochemical and immunological markers in postmenopausal women with rheumatoid arthritis (RA)., Materials and Methods: The study included 173 women with RA (age 61.0 [56.0; 66.0] years). A survey, dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry to measure the BMD of the lumbar spine (L I -L IV ), femoral neck (FN) and total hip (TH), routine blood chemistry, measurement of C-reactive protein (CRP), rheumatoid factor, cyclic citrullinated peptide antibodies (CCPA), parathyroid hormone (PTH), vitamin D 3 , myostatin, follistatin, interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL-6 receptors, insulin-like growth factor 1, adiponectin, leptin, fibroblast growth factor 23, and tumor necrosis factor SF12 were performed., Results: PTH (β=-0.22, -0.35 and -0.30 for L I -L IV , FN and TH, respectively), CRP (β=-0.18, 0.23 and -0.22 for L I -L IV , FN and TH, respectively) and leptin (β=0.35, 0.32 and 0.42 for L I -L IV , FN and TH, respectively) were shown a significant association with BMD in all sites of measurement. It was independent of age, body mass index and postmenopause duration. Associations were also found between adiponectin and BMD of L I -L IV and TH (β=-0.36 and -0.28, respectively), CCPA and BMD of FN and TH (β=-0.21, -0.24, respectively) and IL-6 and BMD of FN (β=0.37)., Conclusion: The study of biochemical and immunological markers in women with RA demonstrated that CRP, CCPA, PTH, IL-6, adiponectin, and leptin influenced BMD.

Association was assessed between the data harvested by a long-baseline laser interference deformograph and the dynamics of body temperature (BT) in hamsters deprived of natural daily light-darkness changes. The power spectral data revealed the positive correlation between simultaneous time series of hamster BT and the Earth's crust deformation (ECD). The superposed epoch analysis established an association between abrupt upstrokes of hamster BT and ECD increments. Thus, the direct relationships between BT dynamics (reflecting predominance of sympathetic part of autonomic nervous system) and ECD (according to long-baseline laser interference deformography) were established. The study observed synchronization of the free-running circadian rhythm of hamster BT with the tidal stress in Earth's lithosphere. Further studies are needed to find the physical factor underlying the revealed relationships., (© 2024. Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)