Cholestasis (disturbance of the liver bile outflow into the duodenum) is a frequent complication of cholelithiasis and other pathologies of the hepatobiliary system. In this case, all metabolism types are disturbances and all body organs and systems, including the nervous system, are affected. The objective of the study was to establish changes in the c-fos immunoreactivity in the cerebellum neurons of rats at different time after modeling subhepatic cholestasis. In this work, we used a material of 60 white male rats 200–250 g in weight. In experimental animals, the ligation of the common bile duct was carried out, in control animals – a false operation while maintaining a physiological bile flow in the duodenum throughout the experiment. Subhepatic cholestasis in rats is accompanied by an increase in the cortex cerebellum on the 2–20th days after the ligation of the common bile duct of the number of neurons with the increased c-fos-immunoreactivity, with the maximum one on the 10th day of the experiment. In surviving animals, after the removal of cholestasis in the long term (45–90 days), the number of neurons with the increased c-fos immunoreactivity, as well as the expression of this protein in neurons is normalized.

The derivatives of fatty acids are considered as promising bases for the development of medicinal and cosmetic agents. In this regard, it is necessary to study their potential toxicity, including chronic. In repeated toxicity experiments on mice of C57BL6 line, the administration of N-palmitoyl-5-aminolevulinic acid (within liposomes) for 62 days was less toxic than N-palmitoylglycine injected in the same regimen, which resulted in lower mortality of animals. The toxic effects of high doses, both PalGly and Pal-5-ALA, are characterized by a gender dependence: males were more sensitive to PalGly, whereas females - to Pal-5-Ala. Chronic administration of liposomes of phosphatidylcholine (without N-acylamino acids) caused the death of several mice, suggesting that the toxic effects of PalGly and Pal-5-ALA in liposomal form are at least partly due to the influence of the liposomes themselves.

The aim of the study was to assess the level of blood neuron specific enolase (NSE) in children with chronic gastroduodenitis (CGD) depending on Hеlicobacter pylori (HP), the severity of the inflammatory process, sex.
The study involved 73 children with CGD. Group I– children with CGD associated with HP (HP CGD+); group II – with CGD not associated with HP (CGD, HP–). The control group (GK) – 28 healthy children. In the diagnosis of the disease, the endoscopic and morphological methods were used; the urease, microscopy, molecular biological and serological tests were performed to verify HP.
The elevated levels of NSE were revealed in children groups I and II compared with GK (p < 0.01, p < 0.01). High levels of NSE in serum were observed in boys with CGD HP+ compared with girls with CGD HP+ (p < 0.01). Similar changes related to the gender were identified in group II (p < 0.01). In group I the highest values of NSE were identified with erosive gastroduodenitis (p < 0.01). In group II the opposite direction of enzyme changes was revealed and depended on the severity of the disease.
Тhe increase of NSE in the blood of children with CGD HP+ and HP-indicates the presence of enzyme in the mechanisms of the inflammatory process in the mucous membrane gastroduodenal area outside the continuum of HP-infection. A multidirectional character of NSE changes depending on the characteristics of lesions mucous membrane gastroduodenal zone in groups I and II does not exclude the NSE involvement into the mechanisms of formation of the severity of the disease. Higher levels of NSE in boys as in CGD, HP+ and HP – do not exclude the relations of NSE and sex hormones.

We examined 150 patients with osteoarthritis of hip joints. The stage of development of arthrosis is II–III (according to Kellgren-Lawrence). Statistical processing was carried out, and the risk factors at the population level were revealed, which provide the emergence of coxarthrosis and affect the patient’s circulation.

The possibility of using vitamin D to normalize the histological structure of the spleen changed under the influence of prednisolone in rats was studied. The animals were subjected to the intragastric administration of saline and either prednisolone (5 mg/kg b. w.) or its combination with vitamin D (800 IU/kg) daily for 3 weeks. The results of morphometric analysis of spleen slices reveal that the administration of prednisolone leads to a significant decrease in spleen sizes, white pulp volume, and in sizes of germinal centers of lymphatic follicles within the white pulp, and to an increase in the number of megakaryocytes in the red pulp. Vitamin D alleviates histological changes due to the prednisolone treatment, in particular the substantial restoration in sizes of germinal centers in the spleen has been found. The data obtained suggest the benefits of further studies of possible mechanisms of vitamin D to normalize immunological and hematopoietic functions in subjects subjected to glucocorticoid treatment.

The present study is devoted to search for the opportunities of early diagnosis of the development of contrastinduced nephropathy when performing coronary angiography and percutaneous coronary intervention in patients with a chronic ischemic heart disease. The predicative ability of modern biomarkers was studied in comparison with serum creatinine. Baseline serum β2-microglobulin levels >1.1 mg/l can be attributed to patients at a high risk of developing complications. Increasing the level of cystatin C in the blood by 25 % from baseline after 24 hours or >1.064 mg/l, increasing the level of β2-microglobulin in blood after 24 hours > 1.42 mg/l allows you to diagnose acute kidney damage, before the creatinine dynamics and can be used in routine clinical practice. The determination of neutrophil lipocalin in the urine improves the accuracy of diagnosis, but is difficult in routine practice.

A stroke is one of the leading causes of morbidity, disability and mortality in many countries. Mechanisms of development of ischemic stroke are complex and have not been fully established.
The aim of this study was to estimate the changes in the pool of free amino acids and their derivatives in the plasma of rats undergoing subtotal cerebral ischemia (SCI) and treated with L-NAME.
Experiment was made on 18 rats: 12 animals were undergoing bilateral flament occlusion of arteries carotid, 6 of them were treated with L-NAME. The analyses of free amino acids levels in the blood plasma extracts were carried out by reversedphase HPLC. Concentrations of several amino acids were elevated after 1 hour of ischemia, including aspartate, asparagine, glutamine, glycin, alanine, taurine, phenylalanine, gistidine, 3-methilgistidine, treonine, citrulline, ornitine, as well as branched-chain amino acids.
Administration of L-NAME partially prevented the imbalance of the amino acids pool caused by SCI. Preventive injection of L-NAME alleviated the imbalance in the pool of free amino acids of blood plasma caused by SCI.

The analysis of association of polymorphic variants of the vitamin D receptor gene (VDR) with bone mineral density (BMD) values in menopausal women was performed. The study included 66 patients with postmenopausal osteoporosis (PMO group) and 170 postmenopausal women with normal BMD values (CON group). The statistically significant difference between the analyzed groups in the genotypes and the alleles frequency distribution for the VDR ApaI gene variant was revealed: for the carriers of C/C genotype, the risk of osteoporosis was higher compared to individuals with A/A genotype (OR = 2.7 [95 % CI: 1.5–4.7], p = 0.002). Allele A was overrepresented in the CON group and associated with the reduced risk of disease (OR = 0.6 [95 % CI: 0.4–0.8], p = 0.001). Statistically significant differences were found between the studied groups when analyzing VDR BsmI gene variant distribution. For the individuals with the unfavorable VDR BsmI G/G-genotype, the risk of PMO was significantly higher when compared to the carriers of the A/A-genotype (OR = 2.1 [95 % CI: 1.0–4.4], p = 0.02). For the bearers of A-allele, the risk of osteoporosis was significantly lower (OR = 0.6 [95 % CI: 0.4–0.9], p = 0.007). Among the carriers of the VDR ApaI C/C-genotype, the average BMD level was by 13.7 % lower compared to the carriers of the VDR ApaI A/A-genotype (0.767 and 0.872 g/cm², respectively, p = 0.04); among individuals with the TaqI C/C-genotype, the BMD level was by 13.8 % lower compared to TaqI T/T-genotype bearers (0.803 and 0.914 g/cm2, respectively, p = 0.03).
VDR gene polymorphism may play an important role in the susceptibility to osteoporosis and is significantly associated with the BMD level in postmenopausal women.

Minimal residual disease (MRD) is the most significant predictor of the relapse in patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). MRD evaluation is necessary not only for the prediction of the relapse, but for additional stratification of patients by the risk groups in order to address the issue of the therapy individualization and to evaluate the therapy quality. This study analyzes the MRD parameters in patients with ALL at the stage of induction therapy and evaluates the effect of the value of the minimum residual disease on survival rates and the risk of relapse in patients with ALL treated according to protocol ALL-MB 2008.

A comprehensive assessment of the morphofunctional changes in the reproductive system of male rats of several age groups was carried out, starting from the prepubertal period (50–52 days) and until they reach puberty (4,5 months) under the conditions of exposure to low-intensity electromagnetic radiation from a mobile phone (EMR MP, 1745 MHz, power density of 0.2–20 µW/cm2).
It was established that the nature of the revealed morphofunctional changes in the reproductive system of male rats exposed to low-intensity EMR from MT largely depends on the exposure duration and the age of animals.
The impact of EMR from MT (for 7 days) on the body of male rats during puberty leads to significant changes in the developing reproductive system. Namely, against the background of an increase in the mass of epididymis and seminal vesicles, the development of degenerative changes in the testes was revealed, manifested by the inhibition of the proliferative activity and the activation of differentiation of spermatogenic epithelial cells – spermatids, which is accompanied by a significant increase in the number of epididymal spermatozoa (early puberty), while their viability decreases and serum testosterone concentrations increase. On the contrary, the prolonged (for 60 and 90 days) exposure of EMR from MT to the organism of male rats from the early puberty period and until they reach puberty is characterized by a weakly expressed spermatogenic epithelium reaction, but also the most characteristic decrease in the number and viability of spermatozoa, as well as by the increase in concentration of testosterone in blood serum.
The complex of identified disorders in the morphofunctional state of the reproductive system of male rats indicates the inhibition of its function under the influence of low-intensity EMR from MT, which may be a factor affecting the decline in male fertility.

The bioelectric activity of the heart, pro- and antioxidant processes in the blood of adult rats after the introduction of dietary supplements: glutamate and sodium benzoate, dye tartrazine were investigated. Consumption of sodium glutamate, sodium benzoate, tartrazine, each individually, by adult rats leads to a breakdown in a heart rate, a decrease in the duration of electrical diastole of the heart, a distortion of the P-wave potential, an increase in heart rate variability, which indicates the increased activity of cholinergic nerve fibbers involved in the regulation of the cardiac activity. In sexually mature animals, the consumption of sodium glutamate does not affect the equilibrium state in the peroxidation system – the antioxidant protection in the blood, while dye tartrazine, which is consumed with food for a long time, initiates the process of protein peroxidation and causes to suppress in the blood of sexually mature animals.

A new combined method for screening of immunomodulatory properties of drugs was developed, including: expression of CD80, HLA-DR, CD32, CD205 and CD197, interleukin-12 production and apoptosis by DCs; production of reactive oxygen species and evaluation of phagocytosis by neutrophils; expression of CD69 and production of tumor necrosis factor-α by Jurkat-tat cells; and CD80 and HLA-DR expression, viability and apoptosis using the Daudi cell line.

The article is aimed to summarize the scattered data on the role of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPAR) and the possibility of using PPAR’s agonists for treatment of alcohol dependence and alcoholic liver disease. Earlier it was shown that some PPAR agonists can reduce ethanol consumption and preference in rodents. Several hypotheses considering the antialcoholic activity of PPAR agonists and the roles of PPAR in the development of alcohol dependence were discussed. In light of these data, the therapeutic potential of PPARs agonists as an agent for the treatment of alcoholism, has been reviewed.