Search

Nowadays, the issue of the role of non-hereditary factors in the formation of addictive states arouses great interest. The review analyzes the results of clinical and fundamental studies of the molecular and cellular basis of addiction caused by stress exposures during embryonic development. The current ideas about the adverse effects of maternal stress during pregnancy on the development of the fetal brain mediator systems, as well as their further functioning and interaction in postnatal ontogenesis, are considered. The main focus is on the significance of interactions between the dopamine and glutamate systems of the structures that ensure functioning of the internal reinforcement mechanisms, the role of glucocorticoids in the adjustment of these interactions, and the consequences of inadequate glucocorticoid stimulation during brain development for the subsequent formation of addictive pathologies, such as alcohol and nicotine addiction.

The formation of the alarm call’s time–frequency characteristics at different stages of individual development was studied on the russet ground squirrel (S. major). The hypothesis about the vocalizations of young individuals of ground squirrels being emitted at lower frequencies than those of adults was tested. The results of the study indicate a differentiated formation of the sound signal in the different sexes of the russet ground squirrel in postnatal ontogenesis. The sound signal in females is formed in the first year of life during the season of activity, whereas it is formed in males in the year following the first hibernation. In terms of the studied call parameters, the voice of adult females is higher than that of young animals of both sexes, while the voice of adult males is lower. The possible causes and significance of the identified sex and age features of the alarm call of the russet ground squirrel are discussed.

This study deals with the dynamics of lactate dehydrogenase (LDG) activity in brain structures during early postnatal ontogenesis (days 17 and 30) and the reproductive period (day 90) of white rats exposed to hypoxia in the fetal period of prenatal ontogenesis (days 18-20). It was established that in rats that underwent prenatal hypoxia in the fetal period the level of LDG activity did not reach its control values with age during postnatal ontogenesis. In most cases, hypoxia led to increase LDG activity in the brain structures.

The purpose of the experimental work was to study the effect of constant light, depending on the time of the onset of light exposure (from the age of one month or from fourteen months), on the development of age-related pathology and oncology in male rats. The results of the study show that decreased functional activity of the epiphysis due to the influence of constant light from the age of one month increases the incidence of inflammatory, non-tumor and tumor genesis diseases, and leads to the rapid development of age-related pathology. On the contrary, the onset of constant light exposure in male rats from the age of 14 months slows the development of age-related pathology, reduces the incidence and development of malignant tumors.

Data on tiger (Panthera tigris altaica) cubs development are presented in the literature mainly by information about basic changes in morphology and physiology (feeding, second dentition, etc.). The scale of tiger cubs’ ontogenesis is proposed here. It is an integrated system of data on cubs’ development based on the data organization and lining them up chronologically, supplied by experimental experience obtained in different conditions and situations. Also the original results of observation tiger cubs in captivity are used. The proposed scale allows to obtain integral representation of tiger cubs postnatal ontogenesis and to predict the results of the stimuli could be used in critical situations instead of natural ones that are necessary at different stages of cubs development but absent in captivity. Besides, the scale can be used for rehabilitation of orphan tiger cubs held in captivity while they are being prepared for releasing to the wild nature.

The role of epigenetic mechanisms involved in blood-pressure regulation has been reviewed. It is known that some periods in early pre- and postnatal ontogenesis are very sensitive to some environmental and endogenous influences. These periods are characterized as highly vulnerable to the formation of a complex of epigenetic changes that may determine the trajectory of the further formation of physiological systems involved in the blood-pressure regulation. Early life influences on these systems may predispose an individual to the development of hypertensive disease in further life. In some cases, the transmission of epigenetic changes to the next generations may resolve the contradiction between the high heritability of arterial hypertensive disease and the low total contribution of polymorphic DNA variants in the population variability of blood pressure values.

Sympathetic innervation of the stomach was studied in rats by the method of retrograde axon transport of Fast Blue in postnatal ontogenesis. The number of labeled neurons increased in the first 10 days of life and then did not change until the senescence. All labeled neurons innervating the stomach contain the catecholamine synthesis enzyme, tyrosine hydroxylase. The proportion of labeled neuropeptide Y-immunopositive neurons did not change in the development, the percentage of labeled calbindin-immunoreactive neurons decreased in the first month of life.

The histological structure and morphometric and some histochemical indices of thyroid gland of maral as a subspecies of red deer at the postnatal stage of ontogenesis were studied. It was established that the gland was structurally formed by the time of the birth. C-cells are detected at 6 months of age. With age, the ratio of follicles of different sizes changed: smaller forms predominate in newborns and those 6 months old, medium and large predominate in adults and in old deer. Histological, morphometric, and histochemical data indicate to activation of the thyroid gland in the period of intensive growth for up to 6 months and a gradual decrease in activity over the next years of life. During aging, along with an increase in stromal elements, large follicles with colloid are stretched and resorption processes in the follicles are reduced.

The article, based on the investigations carried out in 91 school students aged 7–18 years who were exposed to severe weather conditions as residents of the European North of Russia, analyzes the processes underlying the development of structures for providing the spatial synchronization of cerebral bioelectric potentials. The coherence values were evaluated for 19 channels (171 pairs of leads) in five basic EEG frequency bands (Δ, θ, α1, α2, and β). The article describes the age-related dynamics, gender-specific features, and topical specificity in the development of coherent connections in the left and right cerebral hemispheres, as well as in the formation of interhemispheric and interregional connections. We used a computerized evaluation technique for distinguishing between three school age groups of northerners using the frequency structure of EEG coherence with the purpose of elaborating some criteria for diagnosing school students with a developmental delay in the formation of spatial organization for the interaction of local EEG processes. The recorded age-related changes in the EEG-pattern structure reflect the pattern of morphofunctional brain development in children and adolescents exposed to the severe conditions of the North at different stages of their postnatal ontogenesis.

The article presents the results of the analysis of EEG wave structure formation in children and adolescents aged 7-18 years living under severe conditions of the North. The approaches developed in discrete mathematics (the graph theory, the theory of network flows) were used to assess the time-frequency transformations of EEG patterns. We evaluated conditional probabilities of reciprocal transitions between the components of six frequency bands of E EG (delta, theta, alpha-1, alpha-2, beta-1, beta-2). We described age- and sex-related features as well as regional specificities of the EEG wave structure. We defined the age periods of reorganization of diffuse EEG activities into the main EEG rhythms; the role of distinct rhythms in the maintenance of the EEG wave structure and its dynamic rearrangements was also discussed. The age-related changes of the structure of EEG patterns form some general picture of the morphofunctional development of brain in children and adolescents at different stages of postnatal ontogenesis under severe climate and socio-economic conditions of the North.

The structural organization of the paravasal connective tissue of intraparietal blood vessels of the myocardium at different stages of postnatal ontogenesis has been investigated. The study was performed with heart tissue preparations from the bodies of 80 men of three age groups (first stage of maturity, n = 20; advanced age, n = 30; and old age, n = 30. Distinctive structural features were defined, and both qualitative and quantitative transformations of the connective tissue during each period were characterized.

In this study, we investigated the influence of serotonin on the development and functioning of T- and B-cell-mediated immunity during ontogenesis using the pharmacological model of serotonin depletion in rat fetuses. It has been demonstrated that prenatal serotonin deficiency resulted in a decrease in thymus and spleen weights, changes in their cellular composition, and long-lasting disturbances in cell-mediated and humoral immunity in postnatal ontogenesis. The data obtained suggest that serotonin may be considered a morphogenic factor in development of the immune system.

In experiments on Wistar rats and guinea pigs, dynamics of blood hematological parameters and of erythrocyte deformability index (DI) was studied from birth to the 3-month age. In rats, significant changes were revealed in the picture of blood for the first month of postnatal ontogenesis. The number of erythrocytes and leukocytes sharply increased, the number of reticulocytes decreased, their ratio in the degree of maturity was changed. The mean erythrocyte volume and their acidic resistance also decreased. Prior to the 4-week age, DI increased, which was accompanied by an increase in the hemoglobin hydration and flattening of the erythrocyte shape. Then DI decreased and erythrocytes acquired the more spherical shape. After the critical period of 3–4 weeks the studied parameters reached plateau. In guinea pigs, at this period of ontogenesis the hematologic parameters had sufficiently stable values, except for a DI decrease from birth to 1.5 months, then it rose without reaching the initial values. Like in the case with rats, DI had a close correlation with the erythrocyte parameter of shape (Omin).

It has been shown in a series of works that famine experienced in early ontogenesis may have remote consequences for human health. The present study contains an analysis of the prevalence of type II diabetes (T2DM) among those of Ukraine’s residents who were born during the famine of 1932–1933, as well as before and after it. The study results have revealed a significantly higher prevalence of T2DM in individuals whose development in utero was exposed to the period of maximally expressed starvation (1933), compared to that of the subjects unexposed to the famine during their prenatal development phase. These differences were clearly manifested in the individuals born within the first half of the year and were completely absent in the subjects born in the second half, which may serve as evidence of the involvement of seasonal natural factors in the pathological processes. Our possible explanation for the above is that if a person’s development happens to be exposed to famine, this may lead to the induction of remote metabolic changes, which have an adaptive importance in early postnatal ontogenesis, but which raise the risk of T2DM developing later in life.

Functional relationship between wave form of complex spike (CS) and depression time of simple spike (SS) in discharge of cerebellar Purkinje cells was studied after their activation with afferent climbing fiber at different terms of postnatal ontogenesis in norm and after treatment with harmaline. The experiments were carried out on three age groups of Wistar rats: rat pups (2 weeks), the adult (4–6 months), and the old animals (22–26 months). It was established that the SS duration in norm was approximately equal in rat pups, adult, and old animals, whereas it markedly decreased form the young to the old animals during the SS depression in the Purkinje cell discharge. Frequency of small action potential (lAP) and their number in the Purkinje cell discharge were approximately equal in young rat pups and adult animals, while in old animals these parameters were higher, on average, by 30%. After administration of harmaline, all CS parameters in rat pups and old animals increased in parallel with the depression time elongation. In adult rats, harmaline did not produce statistically significant changes of the mean values of CS parameters, but an increase of the simple spike depression time was observed. The obtained results allow concluding that the SS wave form and the simple spike depression time in norm are functionally coupled and change with age. The effect of harmaline on the CS wave forms as well as on interrelation of the CS duration and the CS depression time in the Purkinje cell discharge was more pronounced at the early and the late stages of Wistar rat postnatal ontogenesis.

In wakeful rats at the age from newborn to 3 weeks there were studied interrelations of rhythmical oscillations of heart rate, respiration rate, and periodic spontaneous motor activity. In all studied systems, these oscillations are coordinated and occur in several frequency diapasons. Frequencies in the near-minute diapason (the period from 30 to 90 s) are the most constant and do not change with age. Regular oscillations are the most stable in newborns. Bursts of motor activity usually are irregular, but episodically the distinct near-minute rhythm is traced. Studies of the character of interaction of the heart activity, respiration, and periodic somatomotor excitation allow stating that the main coordination pathway of spontaneous autorhythmic functions in early postnatal ontogenesis is formation of secondary rhythms. Possible ways of formation of the secondary rhythms are considered.

The periods of development individual behavior in beluga calves are described. During these periods, calves form locomotor skills and interrelations with other individuals, and this determines the overall social structure of a pod. The formation of behavior in White Sea beluga calves passes through a number of stages. New types of social interactions arose in the following sequence: the imprinting period, the first abandoning of the mother without contact with other members of the pod and accumulation of new locomotive elements, first contacts with other young-of-the-year calves, and the complication of interaction types through game activities. Calves usually formed pairs with coevals or elder calves that possessed a richer locomotor repertoire. New motions appeared as a result of imitation of adult animals. These periods do not have distinct terms and depend on the individual qualities of the calves. Some changes in the belugas’ behavior were seen under the conditions of the active development of managed ecotourism in the area around Solovetsky Island, the animals showed adaptation to the presence of man.

In experiments on Wistar rats, dynamics of blood hematologic and rheological parameters was studied from birth to the 3-month age. Results of this study indicate an intensive activity of the red bone marrow anlagen for the first 3 weeks of postnatal ontogenesis. This is manifested as an increase of the number of cells in the erythron system, a change of the erythrocyte acidic resistance, and a shift in the leukocytic formula. The boundary between the 2nd and 3rd weeks of ontogenesis is a critical period: there occur a sharp deceleration of erythropoiesis and a change of the age-related erythrocyte composition and of the blood leukocyte ratio towards the parameters characteristic of adult rats. The rise in the number of leukocytes and erythrocytes does not stop after this period. Until the 4-week age, the deformability index increases to be accompanied by an increase of hemoglobin hydration and improvement of the erythrocyte toroid shape. Subsequently, inversion of these processes occurs.

In sagittal cerebellum sections, morphometrical study of cerebellum of mature-born animals—guinea pigs—was performed using Nissl’s procedure. A change of shape and volume of Purkinje cells and their nuclei in the course of the guinea pig postnatal ontogenesis was studied. It has been shown that both the growth process itself and the rate of formation of the definite form of Purkinje cells and of their nuclei in the course of ontogenesis proceeds non-uniformly. The most intensive growth of vertical and horizontal diameters of Purkinje cells and of their nuclei is observed during the 1st and 4th weeks of postnatal life. Especially rapid is an increase of horizontal diameters of Purkinje cells and of their nuclei, which impairs the ovoid-bear-like shape to the cerebellar Purkinje cells of adult guinea pigs.

Results of study of several blood biochemical parameters of the harp seal Pagophilus groenlandicus Erxleben, 1777, from birth to the adult state are presented. The following age groups of the animals have been studied—newborns, 1.5–2 months, 1 year, 2 years, 3 years, and adults (older than 6 years). The content of total protein and its fractions, free amine nitrogen, urea, creatinine, glucose, total lipids, total calcium, and inorganic phosphorus was determined in the seal blood plasma. Differences of the degree of expression of levels of all studied parameters in the course of early postnatal ontogenesis of the animals have been established. The most significant metabolic changes in the harp seals were revealed at the period of end of weaning and transition to independent ingestion and then after the first year of life.

Type 1 diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease characterized by autoimmune degradation of insulinproducing β-cells. Seasonality of birth of children with type 1 diabetes has been shown in a number of epidemiological studies. It could testify that autoimmune process began during fetal and postnatal development. No such studies were carried out in the former Soviet Union countries. The aim of the present study is to compare the seasonal birth month pattern in patients with type 1 diabetes (10780 men and 9337 women) born in 1960–2003 to that in the total population of Ukraine (14 995768 men and 14 109792 women) born during the same period. Significant differences were found between these two populations: χ 2 = 103.97, p < 0.0001 and 135.17, p < 0.0001 in men and women, respectively. The results of cosinor analysis showed similar sinusoidal birth patterns of patients with type 1 diabetes in all subgroups, irrespective of the age of clinical disease manifestation: 0–9, 10–19, or 20–29 years. In all cases, the highest and lowest predispositions to type 1 diabetes were inherent in the people born in spring and autumn, respectively. In all groups, the highest incidence rate was in persons born in spring and early summer and the lowest ones, in those born in autumn and early winter. We propose that seasonality of birth of patients with type 1 diabetes in the two above populations could be due to long-term programming of glucose-insulin metabolism caused by the effect of certain seasonal factors during early ontogenesis.