According to the available data, the effect of high doses of ionizing radiation on the human central nervous system (CNS) takes form of cognitive dysfunction and increased risk of development of malignant neoplasms. At the same time, there is a growing concern about the possible effects of low, moderate doses of ionizing radiation and chronic irradiation, on cognitive functions, as well as their potential long-term consequences manifesting as neurodegenerative diseases. There is both epidemiological and experimental evidence confirming that low and moderate doses of ionizing radiation affect cognitive abilities. The underlying mechanisms include disruption of normal neurogenesis in the hippocampus, development of long-term sustained neuroinflammation, disorders of synaptic plasticity, energy metabolism, and oxidative status. On the part of CNS, the body is most sensitive to radiation during the period of active formation of the brain. Irradiated at that time, people may suffer consequences thereof for several months and years, or have them manifesting only much later, in old age. Improvement of radiation safety and development of means and ways of prevention and treatment of radiation-induced CNS disorders require further research efforts aimed at establishing causal relationships between chronic exposure to radiation and low-dose irradiation and their adverse effects on the part of CNS in the long term post-exposure.
VIEWS 752
The model of severe poisoning with acetylcholinesterase inhibitors has shown the possibility of drug treatment of toxic effects with valproic acid containing a tertiary amino group. The study was aimed to assess potential mutagenic effects of the valproic acid derivative containing a tertiary amino group when studing its safety. Testing for toxicophores and assessment of the mutagenic effect probability were perfomed using the QSAR Toolbox offline software (v4.5 SP1). The Ames test with and without metabolic activation was used to estimate mutagenic potential of valproic acid containing a tertiary amino group in vitro. The computer prediction results predicted that the test substance would show no mutagenic effects in the Ames test. These data were confirmed by the in vitro Ames test for a broad range of concentrations of valproic acid containing a tertiary amino group (0.02–5.0 mg/mL). The concentrations of valproic acid containing a tertiary amino group exceeding 1.58 mg/mL have a bacteriostatic effect on the TA 100 S. typhimurium strain and the WP2 uvr A pKM 101с E. coli strain. Thus, the valproic acid derivative containing a tertiary amino group possesses no mutagenic effect, it can be recommended for further preclinical trials of therapeutic efficacy and safety.
VIEWS 891
Acute blood loss is associated with deterioration of blood circulation, including microcirculation. Clinical and experimental studies are focused on the search for the possibility of neutralizing the consequences of such impairment. The use of hypothermia is considered not only as a method to improve survival, but also as a method to improve cerebral microcirculation in hemorrhage. The study was aimed to assess the state of the rats’ cerebral arteries in cases of mild hypothermic exposure after acute moderate blood loss. The study involving anesthetized Wistar rats was performed by vital microscopy. We assessed the responses of pial arteries (initial diameter 10–40 µm) in animals cooled to the rectal temperature of 34 °С under conditions of hemodynamic stability and when simulating blood loss (20% of total blood loss) in normothermic animals and animals with mild hypothermia. The findings showed that 3.5 h of exposure were associated with vasoconstriction in animals of all studied groups. Hypothermic state of the body was associated with initial decrease in the diameter by 9% of the baseline (24.9 ± 0.9 µm to 22.7 ± 0.7 µm; p < 0.05) followed by restoration of the diameter after 2 h (to 25.7 ± 1.7; p > 0.05). Blood loss was associated with the decrease in the diameter of cerebral blood vessels by 20–25% within the first hour (23.4 ± 0.7 µm to 17.6 ± 1.1 µm; p < 0.001) and no subsequent restoration (the diameter was 16.7 ± 0.8 µm after 3.5 h of monitoring). When using hypothermia, vasoconstriction following blood loss was 8–10% in the first 45 min of monitoring (22.6 ± 1.3 µm to 20.3 ± 1.2 µm; p < 0.05), then the constriction decrease was observed (the diameter was 21.4 ± 1.4 µm after 3.5 h of monitoring). It was concluded that the use of mild hypothermia resulted in the reduced vasoconstrictor effect of moderate blood loss on the pial microvessels.
VIEWS 755
Knowledge about the specificity of changes in the activity of neural networks associated with realization of thought processes can be used to construct the personalized medical rehabilitation systems. This approach is of particular interest for people with the speech function disturbance due to stroke, since the development of aphasia with the loss of speech leads to severe social maladaptation that worsens the disease outcome. The study was aimed to assess the functional activity of individual neural networks based on the theory of combining the EEG microstate identification technique with the method of determining spatial localization by solving the EEG inverse problem in 27 individuals (15 males and 12 females) with an average age of 52 years, who had speech impairment due to acute atherothrombotic stroke. Mathematical analysis of the scalp bioelectrical activity multichannel recording from the system for EEG microstate model isolation was carried out under changing environmental conditions caused by the auditory-speech load together with the EEG inverse problem solution for each subject. It was found that the speech disorder development depends not only on the fact of damage to brain structures, but also on the deep functional restructuring of both neural streams involved in implementation of brain function and the entire speech connectome. The disease with a predominant motor disorder, that has shown the possibility of transferring functions to the intact hemisphere prefrontal structures, in contrast to sensory disorders representing global changes in the entire speech connectome, can probably be considered the most favorable variant of aphasia.
VIEWS 758
Factors of the immune system, including secreted pro-inflammatory interleukins, enable tumor control. However, against the background of prolonged chronic inflammation, they can trigger oncogenesis. Polymorphic variants in the coding and regulatory regions of cytokine genes can affect gene expression, mRNA stability, structure and activity of the protein product, with consequences on the levels of cells and body as a whole. This study aimed to search for the relation between polymorphic variants of interleukin genes IL1b (rs1143634), IL2 (rs2069762), IL4 (rs2070874), IL6 (rs1800795), IL8 (rs4073), IL10 (rs1800871) and risk of cancer, and to analyze the effect of polymorphic loci on concentration of serum interleukins. The study involved 585 persons chronically exposed to radiation. We established association of polymorphic IL4 site (rs2070874) with concentration of serum IL4 in individuals with chronic low dose-rate exposure of the red bone marrow 1.17 to 3507 mGy (mean value — 566 mGy). The content of serum IL4 in people with C/T and T/T genotypes (as per the dominant model) was significantly lower than in those with C/C genotype (p = 0.02). Polymorphic sites rs1143634, rs2069762, rs2070874, rs1800795, rs4073, rs1800871 were not found to be associated with the risk of malignant neoplasms in exposed individuals.
VIEWS 739
An athlete’s performance is a major issue of the elite sports. The current studies are focused on various factors of success, however, the effect of sibling position on the athlete’s personality formation is poorly understood. The study was aimed to assess the correlation of the formal and dynamic features with the resource potential in athletes who played badminton based on their sibling position using the structured interviews; Questionnaire of Formal and Dynamic Properties of Personality by V.M. Rusalov; Perinatal Experience – Resource Potential test by N.P. Kovalenko; correlation analysis. A total of 40 athletes were enrolled (20 boys and 20 girls; average age 14.5 year). In the “eldest or only child” subsample, the athletes’ communicative plasticity negatively correlated with the parameters of sensory and physiological systems (r = –0.50), as well as stress tolerance (r = –0.60). Correlations between the stress tolerance and psychomotor ergicity (r = 0.63), etc., were revealed. The athletes of the “second or later-born child” subsample had higher psychomotor plasticity and a larger resource potential (p < 0.05). The basic perinatal matrix is integrated into the formal and dynamic structure of the athlete’s personality. Thus, athletes of the “second or later-born child” subsample have a higher resource potential. Athletes of the “eldest or only child” subsample show lower psychomotor plasticity, however, they are more tenacious in fulfilling their goals. The areas of concern for the sports psychologist who works with athletes are highlighted in accordance with the results.
VIEWS 711