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The purpose of the study was to substantiate and develop the improved model of the specialized nephrology care for the children with infectious inflammatory diseases of the urinary system at the regional level. Materials and methods. The official statistical data have been studied (reports on the state of medical care for children in the Chernivtsi region and data from the Center of medical statistics of the Ministry of Healthcare from 2006 to 2017), information-analytical and statistical methods have been used. The modern etiological structure of uropathogens – urinary tract infection pathogens among the children of the Chernivtsi region (2009-2016) was studied. Clinical and laboratory examination of 3,089 children (0-17 years old) was conducted in the region; the regional spectrum of sensitivity to antibacterial drugs was determined among the main groups of urinary tract infection pathogens; their age, gender and administrative-territorial differences among the children's population of the region are analyzed. Results and discussion. During 2012-2017 there was a significant increase (by 23.0%) in the incidence of infectious and inflammatory groups of the urinary system diseases among children of 0-14 years old, while among adolescents there was simultaneously an intensive decrease in indicators (by 40.0%) compared to 8.7% in 2006-2011. The ratio of indicators and their dynamics suggests that the growth of sick adolescents is largely due to the insufficient effectiveness of medical care, while children of 0-14 years old is due to their low and insufficient prevention. The data formed the foundation for substantiation and development of an improved functional-organizational model of the system. In addition to the existing and functionally changed elements the model contains new elements: regional/inter-regional center of specialized medical aid for children with infectious-inflammatory diseases of the urinary system. Conclusion. Implementation of the elements of the suggested improved model in a part of a rational approach in distribution of functions concerning medical observation of patients at the stages of providing medical aid enabled to make the period of hospitalization of nephrological patients by 11.40% shorter and an average period of treatment of patients with infectious-inflammatory diseases of the urinary system by 2.93% shorter. Efficiency of implementation of certain elements of the suggested model with its positive evaluation by independent experts and its compliance with the strategy of branch reforms enables to recommend the improved functional-organization model of providing medical aid for children with infectious-inflammatory diseases of the urinary system at the regional level to be introduced into the health care system of Ukraine

The problem of iodine deficiency (ID) and its adverse effects on the Ukrainian population, especially on children, pregnant and lactating women, does not lose its relevance. The aim. To assess the state of iodine status of the Northern Bukovіna population by the level of thyrotropin (TSH) in newborns during the years 2015–2020. Methods. Selective screening analysis to determine the serum level of TSH in newborns during 2015–2020 (a total of 47888 results), median ioduria and survey among pregnant women, determination of urinary iodine, ultrasonographic and hormonal profiles of 199 prepubertal children living in Northern Bukovina were performed. Results. During the analyzed period, there was a positive trend: the median ioduria in pregnant women increased from 89.8 μg/l in 2015 to 140.1 μg/l in 2020, the level of neonatal hyperthyrotropinemia above 5 μIU/l decreased to 5 % in 2020 (P < 0.001), there was an upward trend in the median ioduria among prepubertal children (60.4 ± 9.3 μg/l). The frequency of goiter was different and accounted for 25.3 % among children living in the mountainous area and it was much lower among children living in the plain areas and in Chernivtsi (15.6 % and 13.1 %, respectively, P < 0.05). Thyromegaly among children of the reference group occurred in 15.1 %. 12.3 % of children were characterized by TSH in the range of age standards, which were shifted towards its increase (4.23–5.00 μIU/l). Conclusions. The increase in the median ioduria and the decrease in the frequency of neonatal hyperthyrotropinemia above 5 μIU/l on the background of iodine supply has been found in the pregnant population. The indicator of neonatal hyperthyrotropinemia above 5 μIU/l can be used to assess iodine deficiency only in the population of pregnant women.

Introduction. Influenza is a severe viral disease, a frequent complication of which is a secondary bacterial pneumonia. Influenza vaccines prevent secondary bacterial complications. Virus-like particles are one of the promising areas for the development of new vaccines. The aim of this work is to study the correlation of the pathomorphological characteristics of the lungs with clinical, virological, and microbiological markers of the disease at vaccination with virus-like particles (VLPs), containing hemagglutinin (HA) of influenza virus (HA-Gag-VLPs) in a murine model of secondary bacterial pneumonia induced by S. pneumoniae after influenza infection. Material and methods. BALB/c mice were vaccinated with VLPs containing influenza HA. After 21 days, mice were infected with two strains of influenza viruses, homologous and non-homologous, and 5 days after viral infection, were infected with S. pneumoniae. The vaccination effect was evaluated by morphological, virological (titer of the virus in the lungs) and microbiological (titer of bacteria in the lungs) data, and was confirmed by clinical data (survival, change in body weight). Results. Immunization with HA-Gag-VLPs, followed by infection with a homologous influenza virus and S. pneumoniae, reduced the area of foci of inflammation, inhibited the replication of the virus and bacteria in the lungs, and also protected animals from death and reduced their weight loss. Immunization with HA-Gag-VLPs upon infection with a heterologous strain and S. pneumoniae did not affect these criteria. Conclusion. The immunization with HA-Gag-VLPs prevented the viral replication, providing a reduction of S. pneumoniae titer and the degree of lung damage, protecting animals from the disease in a murine model of secondary bacterial pneumonia, induced by S. pneumoniae, after influenza infection with homologous strain of the virus.

The article presents the clinical case of an abscess of the iliopsoas muscle (iliopsoitis), a rare abdominal infectious and inflammatory disease that required a multidisciplinary approach in the diagnosis of this pathology in a multidisciplinary hospital.

Morphological, morphometric, and ultrastructural analysis of the nerve fibers in the colon mucosa was performed in C57BL/6 mice at various terms of development of acute colitis induced by dextran sodium sulphate. The nerve fibers were labeled with antibodies to pan-neuronal marker βIII-tubulin. The progression of inflammatory and ulcerative processes in the mucosa on days 3-5 was associated with hyperplasia and hypertrophy of nerve fibers that peaked on day 7 after colitis induction. Ultrastructural analysis at all terms of colitis development showed moderate degeneration of axons. Thus, hypertrophy and hyperplasia of the nervous fibers in colon mucosa in experimental acute colitis correlated with aggravation of the ulcerative process in the mucosa. These changes are determined by alteration of histoarchitectonics and regenerative processes in the mucosa.

We studied morphological changes in the prostate ventral lobe, proliferative activity of the epithelium in prostate acini, and the levels of prolactin and prostate-specific antigen in the blood serum of Sprague-Dawley rats after repeated injections of sulpiride in a dose of 40 mg/ kg over 30 and 60 days and in 10 and 30 days after withdrawal. Morphological and morphometrical analysis of hyperplastic changes in the prostate ventral lobe was performed. Ki-67+ proliferating epithelial cells in the acini were counted. The dynamics of serum concentrations of prolactin and prostate-specific antigen was evaluated by ELISA. Morphological and morphometrical analysis and evaluation of the content of Ki-67+ cells demonstrated epithelium hyperplasia in the prostate ventral lobe after sulpiride treatment for 30 or 60 days and in 10 days after withdrawal, but serum level of prostate-specific antigen did not differ from the control. After 60-day sulpiride treatment and in 30 days after withdrawal, pronounced hyperplastic changes of prostate and elevated concentrations of prostate-specific antigen (but not prolactin) were observed. Thus, administration of sulpiride (40 mg/kg) to Sprague-Dawley rats for 60 days allows, by morphological criteria and serum level of prostate-specific antigen, to model stable hyperplastic changes in the prostate corresponding to benign prostatic hyperplasia in humans.

We studied sex differences lymphocytes subpopulations of peripheral blood in adult C57Bl/6 mice during acute and chronic colitis, induced with 1% DSS. We measured subpopulations of lymphocytes with flow cytometry. We showed that in the control group the female mice had statistically significantly higher values of the relative number of regulatory and cytotoxic T lymphocytes comparing to the males. During acute colitis the females showed an increase in the relative number of Thelpers and a decrease of cytotoxic Tlymphocytes, which reflects the activation of immune response. The males had a decrease in the absolute number of leukocytes, lymphocytes and cytotoxic and regulatory T lymphocytes, probably because of an increase in migration of these cells to the inflammation locus and local lymph nodes. In chronic colitis the females had a decrease in the absolute number of leukocytes, lymphocytes, T helpers, cytotoxic T lymphocytes and B lymphocytes when comparing with acute colitis. During chronic colitis the males had a decrease in the absolute number of T helpers and B lymphocytes but an increase of regulatory T cells in comparison with the control group; in comparison with acute colitis the males with chronic colitis had higher relative and absolute number of regulatory T cells. The increase of T regulatory lymphocytes is due to an increase in their proliferation rate in the thymus and increase of their migration to the inflammatory locus – the colon. Future clinical studies may be based on these results, which show that the treatment of colitis, especially with immunotropic agents, must take sex differences into account.

Hypoxia and immune reactions are closely interrelated at molecular, cellular and organism levels, and the individuals differ in resistance to oxygen deficiency. Animals with high and low resistance to hypoxia have different adaptive capabilities and predisposition to the development of inflammatory diseases. Data on the individual characteristics of hypoxia resistance in female laboratory animals and humans, and its relationship to immune system reactions in both normal conditions and inflammatory diseases are not available in the literature. It is known, however, that acute infectious and inflammatory diseases develop at lesser rates and are less severe in women and female laboratory animals than in males, which can be explained by higher resistance of females to hypoxia. The aim of our study is to reveal the features of morpho-functional thymus changes, and subpopulation of peripheral blood lymphocytes in systemic inflammatory response induced by LPS administration to female Wistar rats with different resistance to hypoxia. Resistance of mature female Wistar rats to hypoxia was determined as a survival period in a ventilated lowpressure chamber simulating high altitude condition (11 500 m). The rats with a lifetime “at high altitude” of > 180 s have been classified as highly resistant to hypoxia, and the animals surviving for < 20 seconds were designated low-resistant. One month after determining the hypoxia resistance, the females were injected intraperitoneally with E. coli O26:B6 lipopolysaccharide (LPS) at a dose of 1.5 mg/kg during the dioestrus phase. The animals were withdrawn from the experiment by i/m Zoletyl injection (15 mg/kg) one day after LPS administration. The relative volume fractions of thymic cortex and medulla were evaluated; the areas of necrosis were determined in the liver, and the number of neutrophils in the interalveolar septa was counted in the lungs. The serum contents of corticosterone, testosterone, TGF-β were determined. A flow cytometry evaluation of the relative and absolute numbers was performed for major subpopulations of lymphocytes in peripheral blood. The number of apoptotically dying cells of the thymus was assessed. For statistical processing of the obtained data, the Statistica 8.0 software was applied, using criteria of multiple comparisons by Kruskal–Wallis and Dann. The differences were considered statistically significant at p < 0.05.In both high- and low-resistant to hypoxia females, the development of a systemic inflammatory -response was accompanied by a moderately severe thymic involution, apoptosis of thymocytes, an increase in the absolute number of NK, and rise of testosterone and corticosterone contents. LPS injection into low-resistant rats, if compared to females highly resistant to hypoxia, led to more severe manifestations of systemic inflammation, i.e., a pronounced inflammatory reaction in the lungs and a more extensive liver necrotic area accompanied by increased absolute numbers of regulatory T lymphocytes and T helper cells, and more pronounced thymic accidental involution with apoptotic death of thymocytes. Systemic manifestations of inflammation were less pronounced in hypoxia-resistant female rats, which was apparently associated with activation of lymphocyte migration from the thymus and blood to the inflammation focus, and development of more effective immune response.Conclusion: immune reactions in the systemic inflammatory response induced by LPS in female Wistar rats depend on individual resistance to hypoxia. These data should be used to develop approaches to personalized therapy of infectious and inflammatory diseases in women.

Hypoxia tolerance and the intensity of systemic inflammatory response during endotoxemia were examined in newborn, prepubertal, and mature Wistar rats. To assess the sensitivity to hypoxia, the rats were placed into a pressure chamber simulating an altitude of 11,500 m. The systemic inflammatory response was provoked by intraperitoneal injection of LPS from E. coli O26:B6. Serum concentrations of HIF-1α, neopterin, C-reactive protein, and endotoxin were measured. In histological sections of the liver, the area of necrosis was assessed. The smallest tolerance of the prepubertal males to hypoxia correlated with the greatest manifestations of hepatic inflammation and elevated endotoxin, neopterin, and C-reactive protein. Elevation of serum HIF-1α in 3 h after LPC injection was observed in only prepubertal rats. The data obtained should be taken into account during the development of therapeutic strategy for prepubertal children with infectious and inflammatory diseases.

Purpose The aim of the study was to characterize the severity of the systemic inflammatory response induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in animals with different resistance levels to hypoxia. Materials and methods Two to three months old male Wistar rats (220-240 g) were divided according to hypoxia tolerance in a hypobaric chamber. After a month, they were injected intraperitoneally with Escherichia coli LPS at a dose of 1.5 mg/kg. After 3, 6 and 24 hours of LPS injection, we studied the levels of IL-1β, C-reactive protein (CRP) and TGF-β in the serum, the expression of Hif-1α and Nf-kb in the liver, morphological disorders in the lung and ex vivo production of IL-10 by splenic cells activated by ConA. Results In the early periods after the injection of LPS, increase in Nf-kb expression in the liver was observed only in the rats susceptible to hypoxia. After 6 hours of LPS injection, the number of neutrophils in the interalveolar septa of the lungs of rats susceptible to hypoxia was higher than in tolerant rats. This points to the development of more pronounced LPS-induced inflammation in the rats susceptible to hypoxia and is accompanied by increased expression of Hif-1α in the liver after 6 hours of LPS administration, serum IL-1β level after 3 hours and CRP level after 24 hours. The production of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 by the spleen was significantly decreased after 6 hours of LPS injection only in the animals tolerant to hypoxia. After 24 hours of LPS injection, a significant decrease in serum TGF-β level occurred in the rats tolerant to hypoxia in comparison with the control group, which improved the survival rates of the animals. Conclusion We have demonstrated the differences in the severity of the LPS-induced inflammatory response in male Wistar rats with different resistance levels to hypoxia. Rats susceptible to hypoxia are characterized by a more pronounced inflammatory response induced by LPS.

Hypoxia plays an important role in the development of many infectious, inflammatory, and tumor diseases. The predisposition to such disorders is mostly provided by differences in basic tolerance to oxygen deficiency, which we discuss in this review. Except the direct exposure of different-severity hypoxia in decompression chambers or in highland conditions, there are no alternative methods for determining organism tolerance. Due to the variability of the detection methods, differences in many parameters between tolerant and susceptible organisms are still not well-characterized, but some of them can serve as biomarkers of susceptibility to hypoxia. At the moment, several potential biomarkers in conditions after hypoxic exposure have been identified both in experimental animals and humans. The main potential biomarkers are Hypoxia-Inducible Factor (HIF)-1, Heat-Shock Protein 70 (HSP70), and NO. Due to the different mechanisms of various high-altitude diseases, biomarkers may not be highly specific and universal. Therefore, it is extremely important to conduct research on hypoxia susceptibility biomarkers. Moreover, it is important to develop a method for the evaluation of organisms’ basic hypoxia tolerance without the necessity of any oxygen deficiency exposure. This can contribute to new personalized medicine approaches’ development for diagnostics and the treatment of inflammatory and tumor diseases, taking into account hypoxia tolerance differences.

It is a common fact, that the content of sex hormones in humans and animals varies in different age periods. The functional state of the immune system also changes with age. However, sex differences studies of inflammatory and immune responses during puberty prevail in literature. Investigation of immune responses to LPS peculiarities in prepubertal females and males may contribute to the development of more effective immunotherapy and minimize side effects of children vaccination. Therefore, the aim of this work was to investigate the LPS-induced SIRS sex differences in prepubertal Wistar rats. Despite the absence of sex differences in estradiol and testosterone levels, LPS-induced inflammatory changes in liver and lungs are more pronounced among males. Males demonstrate the increasing neopterin, corticosterone levels and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) activity. Not less important is that in females, demonstrating less morphological changes in liver and lungs, endotoxin level is tenfold higher, and corticosterone level decreases. Thus, endotoxin cannot be used as a marker of the severity of multiple organ failure in prepubertal period. The LPS-induced immune reactions in females and males are similar and are characterized by immunosuppression. Both females and males have decreased production of cytokines (IL-2, IL-4, TNF-α, TGF-β) and the absolute number of CD3 + and CD3 + CD8 + lymphocytes in blood. The acute atrophy of thymus and apoptosis of thymic cells are revealed in animals of both sexes. However, the number of CD3 + CD4 + T-helpers and CD4 + CD25 + Foxp3 + T-cells decreases only in females with SIRS, and in males there was a decrease of CD45R + B-cells. The least expressed sex differences in immune responses in the prepubertal period can be determined by the low levels of sex steroids and the absence of their immunomodulatory effect. Further studies require the identification of mechanisms, determining the sex differences in the inflammatory and immune responses in prepubertal animals.

Intestinal bowel diseases (IBD), including ulcerative colitis (UC), is the group of difficult to diagnose widespread among the population diseases. Pathogenesis of the disease is associated with a complex interaction of the genetic factors, the environment, the microbiome and the unpredicted reaction of the immune system, and the existing treatment methods are not effective enough. It is known, that hypoxia plays a key role in both system and local inflammatory reactions, mainly due to microcirculatory disorders and disseminated intravascular coagulation. Therefore a lot of studies have demonstrated that severity of any inflammatory diseases, including Crohn's disease (CD) and UC depends on hypoxia resistance. In this review we discussed microcirculation of blood and physiological hypoxia in the intestine, the role of hypoxia-inducible factors in the development of IBD and UC, as well as their influence on the severity of the inflammatory process. Authors described the protective effect of various PHD inhibitors and its benefits and disadvantages, so as new approaches of searching of very specific low molecular weight substanses as drugs for the control of IBD and UC.

To investigate morphological changes in the thymus, the subpopulation composition of lymphocytes and its non-lymphoid cells in dextran-induced experimental acute ulcerative colitis and in different periods of chronic ulcerative colitis.Acute and chronic ulcerative colitis was simulated in C57BL/6 mice, by replacing drinking water with a 1% aqueous dextran sulfate sodium solution. Thymic changes were morphometrically assessed; the number and absolute area of thymic corpuscles and epithelial cells were calculated; and the subpopulation composition of lymphocytes and thymic stromal cells was determined using flow cytofluorimetry; the Kruskal-Wallis test and the Mann-Whitney test were used to compare the groups.In acute catarrhal and ulcerative colitis, there was acute accidental thymic involution with devastation of the cortical substance and with a decline in its volume fraction, with an increase in the levels of cells dying through the mechanism of apoptosis, and with a decrease in the absolute number of lymphocytes, T-helper cells, cytotoxic T-cells, regulatory T-lymphocytes, B-lymphocytes, and dendritic cells, with a rise in the index of the area of thymic corpuscles and in the content of late-phase corpuscles among them, and with the appearance of thymic corpuscles as cyst-like cavities. In chronic ulcerative colitis, the cortex was expanded and the area of thymic corpuscles and the count of medullary epithelial cells increased. The cyst-like thymic corpuscles formed clusters, the count of dendritic cells increased in early-stage chronic ulcerative colitis, but the levels of macrophages decreased in both periods of its development.There is acute accidental involution and thymic hyperplasia with an increase in medullary epithelial cells and thymic corpuscles consisting of cytokeratin 19Цель исследования - изучить морфологические изменения тимуса, субпопуляционного состава лимфоцитов и его нелимфоидных клеток при экспериментальном декстраниндуцированном остром и в разные сроки развития хроническом язвенном колите. Материал и методы. Острый и хронический язвенный колит у мышей линии C57BL/6 моделировали заменой питьевой воды на 1% водный раствор декстрансульфата натрия. Проводили морфометрическую оценку изменений в тимусе, подсчитывали число и абсолютную площадь тимических телец, эпителиальных клеток, определяли субпопуляционный состав лимфоцитов и клеток стромы тимуса с помощью проточной цитофлуориметрии, для сравнения групп использовали дисперсионный анализ Краскела-Уоллиса и критерий Манна-Уитни. Результаты. При остром катарально-язвенном колите развивается острая акцидентальная инволюция тимуса с опустошением и уменьшением объемной доли коркового вещества, увеличением содержания гибнущих по механизму апоптоза клеток, снижением абсолютного количества лимфоцитов, Т-хелперов, цитотоксических и регуляторных Т-лимфоцитов, В-лимфоцитов, а также дендритных клеток, увеличением показателя площади тимических телец и содержания среди них телец поздних фаз развития, появлением тимических телец в виде кистоподобных полостей. При хроническом язвенном колите корковое вещество расширяется, увеличиваются площадь тимических телец и содержание эпителиальных клеток мозгового вещества. В ранний срок развития хронического язвенного колита кистоподобные тимические тельца формируют скопления, повышается содержание дендритных клеток, а содержание макрофагов снижается в оба срока его развития. Выводы. При экспериментальном остром и хроническом язвенном колите выявлены соответственно острая акцидентальная инволюция и гиперплазия тимуса с увеличением эпителиальных клеток мозгового вещества и тимических телец, состоящих из цитокератин-19

The features of B16 melanoma progression in male C57BL/6 mice with initially high and low resistance to hypoxia were studied. To assess the resistance to hypoxia, the mice were placed in a low-pressure chamber at a simulated altitude of 10,000 m. One month after testing, B16 melanoma was inoculated to high- and low-resistant animals. In 19 days after melanoma transplantation, the severity of melanoma progression was assessed by morphological and immunofluorescent methods. The expression of vegf-a and hif-1a in the liver of melanomabearing and control mice was evaluated by real-time PCR. Tumor growth progression was more pronounced in low-resistant mice, which was seen from high weight of the primary tumor node, relative necrosis area, proliferation rates (mitotic index and number of Ki-67+ cells), and expression of vegf-a gene in the liver. In high-resistant to hypoxia animals, the number of caspase-3+ cells dying by apoptosis was higher. The data on more rapid melanoma progression in mice with low resistance to hypoxia should be considered during the search of new prognostic markers and methods for therapy of malignant neoplasms.

In the article the problem of reducing the consumption of energy, material resources and harmful emissions into the environment is described, the need for improvement of environmental management in the technological process of production of building materials is considered.

Anna M Kosyreva,1 Olga V Makarova,1 Lev V Kakturskiy,2 Liliya P Mikhailova,1 Marina N Boltovskaya,3 Konstantin A Rogov2 1Department of Immunomorphology of Inflammation, Federal State Budgetary Institution “Science Research Institute of Human Morphology”, Moscow, Russia; 2Department of Pathology, Federal State Budgetary Institution “Science Research Institute of Human Morphology”, Moscow, Russia; 3Department of Reproductive Pathology, Federal State Budgetary Institution “Science Research Institute of Human Morphology”, Moscow, Russia Purpose: The aim of our research was to study sex differences and the severity of inflammatory changes in target organs and the peculiarities of immunological disorders when low and high doses of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) were administered to rats. Methods: Male and female 2- to 3-month-old Wistar rats (200–250 g) were injected intraperitoneally with Escherichia coli LPS in one of two doses: 1.5 or 15 mg/kg. In a day after the LPS injection, we studied endotoxin, corticosterone, sex steroids, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) activity levels in the serum; morphological disorders in the lung, liver, thymus, and spleen; ex vivo production of IL-2, IL-4, tumor necrosis factor (TNF), and interferon γ (IFNγ) by splenic cells activated by ConA; and relative amount of T- and B-lymphocytes in the peripheral blood. Results: After the injection of low-dose LPS, the serum endotoxin level increased only in males and was combined with a more pronounced inflammatory response in the lungs and thymus and an increase in ALT and AST activity levels without any changes in corticosterone level. After the injection of high-dose LPS, the inflammatory and pathological changes in the target organs manifested as severe endotoxemia and sex differences of pathological changes in the lungs and liver were not revealed. The level of production of IL-2, IL-4, IFNγ, and TNF by splenic cells and the number of T-lymphocytes, including cytotoxic cells, in the peripheral blood, decreased in males, which is an evidence of a pronounced suppression of the immune response. Conclusion: We have shown that the morphofunctional changes in the organs of the immune system in females and males, as well as the intensity of the sex differences of inflammation, depend on the severity of systemic inflammatory response, induced by different doses of LPS. Keywords: endotoxinemia, SIRS, thymus, spleen, male rats, female rats

The aim of the work: the investigation of the morphofunctional features of the thyroid gland of male Wistar rats depending on the dose of consumed alcohol under the conditions of voluntary intake. The levels of thyrothrophin (TSH), triiodothyronine (T3), thyroxin (T4) and morphometric parameters of thyroid gland were estimated. Depending on the individual alcohol consumption three subgroups of rats were distinguished: with low (3,14±0,19 g/kg per day), medium (7,23±0,54 g/kg per day) and high consumption (13.51±1.12 g/kg per day). TSH concentration increased for the animals with medium and low consumption, being within normal limits for the animals with high consumption. The T4 level decreased in groups with medium and high consumption, T3 decreased only in the group with medium consumption. Under the conditions of voluntary intake alcohol induced an apparent activating effect onto the thyroid gland independently of the dose, which consisted in a mass increase and the increase of the nuclei area and thyrocyte height. The detected differences in rat alcohol consumption and the intensity of the activation signs of the thyroid gland under the conditions of voluntary intake can be stipulated by the genetically determined body properties.

This work describes macroscopic, hystological and morphometrical study of human trachea and bronchi glands of smoking and non-smoking adult men. The study shows that number of excretory ducts of the glands in trachea, main right and distal bronchus is 3-4 times larger for smokers, rather that for non-smokers. Also, a growth of volumetric fraction of bronchial glands and mucous acini in main right and common bronchi was reliably identified for smokers versus non-smokers. These findings indicate that smoking not only increases the volumetric fraction of glads in bronchial wall, but also leads to growth of number of glands.

The relationship between the phase of 4-day serum corticosteroid biorhythm and resistance to acute hypobaric hypoxia was studied in male rats. Single evaluations of hypoxic resistance of Wistar rats during the same time of the day have shown that the lifespan of animals is significantly longer during the 4-day biorhythm acrophase than during the bathyphase. Daily testing for 12 days has detected a 4-day rhythm of hypoxic resistance, synphasic with corticosterone biorhythm, irrespective of the wave-like course of the adaptation process phase from the beginning of daily testing and hypoxic resistance. Experiments on Sprague-Dawley rats have shown that animals highly resistant and medium resistant to hypoxia during the infradian biorhythm acrophase become medium resistant and poorly resistant during the bathyphase. In order to detect the animals with the least hypoxic resistance in the population, the studies should be carried out during the 4-day infradian biorhythm acrophase, while detection of the most resistant animals should be carried out during the bathyphase.

to investigate morphological changes in the muscular layer and an intermuscular population of interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC) in acute ulcerative colitis induced by dextran sulfate sodium (DSS).Acute colitis was induced by 3% DSS (molecular weight 40 kDa) in drinking water for 5 days; a control animal group was given tap water. Longitudinal colonic sections were histologically examined. Immunofluorescence staining of total preparations with antibodies to c-Kit was employed to assess an ICC population.Morphological examination showed a morphological pattern of acute ulcerative colitis in the DSS-treated mice. The colonic muscular layer was thickened and the cytoplasm of smooth muscle cells was vacuolated. There was a decrease in ICC network density and counts in the muscular layer, as well as a specific c-Kit positive granularity in the ICC bodies and processes.In acute ulcerative colitis, there are alternative changes in the colonic muscular layer and a decrease in ICC density.Цель работы - изучение морфологических изменений мышечной оболочки и межмышечной популяции интерстициальных клеток Кахаля (ИКК) при остром язвенном колите, индуцированном декстрансульфатом натрия. Материал и методы. Острый колит моделировали заменой питьевой воды на 3% водный раствор декстрансульфата натрия (ДСН, Мм 40 кДа) в течение 5 сут, контрольная группа животных получала питьевую воду. Проводили гистологическое исследование продольных срезов ободочной кишки. Для оценки популяции ИКК использовали иммунофлюоресцентное окрашивание тотальных препаратов антителами к c-Kit. Результаты. При морфологическом исследовании у мышей, получавших ДСН, наблюдалась морфологическая картина острого язвенного колита. Мышечная оболочка была утолщена, цитоплазма части лейомиоцитов вакуолизирована. Плотность сети и число ИКК в мышечной оболочке снижались, наблюдалась c-Kit-положительная гранулярность тел и отростков ИКК. Заключение. При остром язвенном колите наблюдаются альтеративные изменения в мышечной оболочке и снижение плотности ИКК.Цель работы — изучение морфологических изменений мышечной оболочки и межмышечной популяции интерстициальных клеток Кахаля (ИКК) при остром язвенном колите, индуцированном декстрансульфатом натрия. Материал и методы. Острый колит моделировали заменой питьевой воды на 3% водный раствор декстрансульфата натрия (ДСН, Мм 40 кДа) в течение 5 сут, контрольная группа животных получала питьевую воду. Проводили гистологическое исследование продольных срезов ободочной кишки. Для оценки популяции ИКК использовали иммунофлюоресцентное окрашивание тотальных препаратов антителами к c-Kit. Результаты. При морфологическом исследовании у мышей, получавших ДСН, наблюдалась морфологическая картина острого язвенного колита. Мышечная оболочка была утолщена, цитоплазма части лейомиоцитов вакуолизирована. Плотность сети и число ИКК в мышечной оболочке снижались, наблюдалась c-Kit-положительная гранулярность тел и отростков ИКК. Заключение. При остром язвенном колите наблюдаются альтеративные изменения в мышечной оболочке и снижение плотности ИКК.

Comparative characteristics of induced sputum cellular composition in 11mild and 12 moderate stable COPD patients, 30 patients with chronic bronchitis and 13 smokers have been studied. Patients with mild stable COPD were found to have increased absolute number of all cells, including neutrophils and macrophages in the induced sputum in comparison with patients with chronic bronchitis. The inflammatory process in the lungs increases along with airflow limitation degree

Differences in the immune and inflammatory response were revealed in the lungs of male and female Wistar rats on day 1 after administration of LPS in a dose inducing the development of acute bacterial endotoxemia. Females showed more pronounced morphofunctional signs of immune system activation than males: this was characterized by more severe accidental involution of the thymus, devastation of the splenic white pulp, and enhanced production of IL-4, IL-12, and TNF-α by splenocytes. In males, production of the above cytokines decreased and inflammation in the lungs was more pronounced at these terms.

We studied the antiinflammatory effect of a Russian-made glucocorticoid budesonide administered by inhalation and intraperitoneal injection to rats with experimental noninfectious pulmonary granulomatosis. The antiinflammatory effects of budesonide at both administration routes were similar. Intraperitoneal injection, in contrast to inhalation, produced a systemic effect manifested in suppression of hyperplasia of non-encapsulated lymphoid formations in the mucosa.

initial pathogen from the sputum, 'cure with super­ infection' as eradication of initial pathogen with appearance of a new pathogen, and 'failure' as no eradication of the initial pathogen. The mean duration of treatment was 8.3 days for patients in the lomefloxacin group and 7.5 days for patients in the ciprofloxacin group. Two patients in the lomefloxacin group did not complete treat­ ment (one developed a rash that was judged by the investigators to be probably related to drug treat­ ment and one developed secondary pneumonia that was not considered to be related to treatment) and were excluded from the evaluation of clinical and bacteriological effectiveness. Table I summarises the clinical and bacteriological results for evaluable patients in both groups. There were nO statistically significant differences between the 2 treatment groups. No serious adverse events were reported, nor were there any clinically significant changes in laboratory parameters. Once-daily oral administration of lomefloxacin 400mg was as effective as twice-daily administra­ tion of ciprofloxacin 500mg in this group of patients with acute exacerbations of chronic bronchitis or pneumonia. Bacteriological eradication rates were similar after administration of lomefloxacin 400mg once daily (82.1 %) or ciprofloxacin 500mg twice daily (83.9%). Clinical effectiveness rates (cure plus improvement) were 100% for both treatment groups. Both drug regimens were generally well tol­ erated.