Vol 7, No 2 (2017)

Leukocyte telomere length (LTL) associations with age, sex, and risk factors for age-related diseases have been studied in Russian people of preretirement and retirement age. This parameter has been determined by quantitative real-time PCR in 398 men (56.3 ± 7.2 years) and 365 women (56.6 ± 7.1 years) selected from a population sample of 45 to 69-year-old residents of the Oktyabrskii and Kirovskii raions of Novosibirsk (9400 people). The sample was formed in the course of the international project HAPIEE. Telomere length has been found to correlate with age (r =–0.159, p < 0.001) and the waist: hip ratio (WHR) (r =–0.107, p = 0.003). The average LTL in women is significantly greater than in men, p = 0.031. In men, LTL correlates with body mass (r = 0.140, p = 0.005) and waist size (r = 0.111, p = 0.027). In women, there are inverse correlations of LTL with waist size (r =–0.127, p = 0.015) and WHR (r =–0.141, p = 0.007). Leukocyte telomere length inversely correlates with the amount smoked (r =–0.121, р = 0.024). It directly correlates with age, smoking, and a variety of phenotypical traits. In men with family histories of malignancies, LTL is greater than in men without such histories.

The review is dedicated to one of the molecular factors of skin aging essential for cosmetic medicine for the elderly. Cell renewal processes slow down with aging, and the proliferation–apoptosis equilibrium shifts towards cell death. One of the pivotal apoptotic markers is transcription factor p53. Its expression in skin keratinocytes increases under the influence of ultraviolet radiation. Mutant forms of p53 have been revealed in 70% of keratinocytes of skin exposed to ultraviolet radiation. On the one hand, suppression of p53 expression decreases apoptosis in skin cells, thereby decelerating senescence. On the other hand, it promotes the development of neoplasms in the skin. Thus, support of the physiological balance of p53 expression in skin cells is important for theoretical and practical gerontocosmetology. In addition, p53 can be used as a marker for skin cell functionality in response to anti-aging cosmetic products and to instrumental cosmetology.

To develop approaches for the prevention and treatment of the metabolic syndrome (MS), a pathological state widespread in the modern population, that involves a complex of metabolic and functional disorders, appropriate animal models of the MS are required. One of these models is induced by the consumption of a combined high-carbohydrate and high-fat (HC/HF) diet. However, the character, temporal dynamics and severity of the metabolic abnormalities in MS induced by the HC/HF diet are still poorly understood. The aim of this work was to characterize the metabolic changes in Wistar rats with the MS induced by a 10- and 15-week HC/HF diet which included the consumption of a 30% sucrose solution (instead of drinking water) and food rich in saturated fats. The rats which received the HC/HF diet for 15 weeks had a number of features characteristic of the MS such as increased body mass and a specific content of abdominal fat, hyperglycemia, hyperinsulinaemia, impaired glucose tolerance, insulin resistance, dyslipidemia, as well as the markers of impaired function of the cardiovascular system, hyperhomocysteinemia, a reduced level of nitric oxide and increased concentration of endothelin-1. In the rats, which were on the diet for 10 weeks, the metabolic abnormalities were less pronounced, indicating an insufficiency of a 10-week duration of the HC/HF diet for the MS induction. Thus, the model of the MS induced by a 15-week HC/HF diet has the characteristic features which allow for extrapolation of the obtained data to similar pathologic changes in humans, and can be used in the study of the etiology and pathogenesis of the MS and in the search for effective ways of MS prevention and treatment.

The features of the peripheral erythron in rats 4, 12, and 24 months old were studied. Each age group (n = 20) consisted of 10 intact animals and 10 animals with postinfarction cardiosclerosis (PICS). In the group of 24-month-old animals, an increase in the number of erythrocytes and the absence of difference in the number of reticulocytes was found. Expressed anisocytosis and decrease in hemoglobin synthesis in animals of this age group suggests age-related disorders in maturation of erythroid cells. The development of postinfarction myocardial remodeling has not affected erythropoiesis typical for the animals of the older age group. At the same time, a significant increase in the reticulocyte count in the peripheral blood smears was observed for this group of animals. The development of PICS in the marginal age groups of the animals leads to a smoothing of the difference between age groups noted in the animals in the intact state.

The aim of the present work was a comparative study of cytogenetic consequences of spring–summer tick-borne encephalitis in elderly and young individuals due to differences in glutathione S-transferase genes. The cytogenetic survey was conducted in 120 tick-borne encephalitis patients, residents of the north of Tomsk oblast (20–35 years (1st group) and 65–85 years (2nd group)). A material for the study (buccal epithelium) was taken in each subject 3–5 times: 1st–2nd day after hospitalization, in 1 week, 1, 3, 6 months. It was established that tick-borne encephalitis causes significantly larger cytogenetic changes in the buccal epithelium in elderly than in young patients. The recovery of the cytogenetic norm is observed in the group of young individuals three months after hospitalization; elderly individuals, six months after. When comparing cytogenetic consequences of tick-borne encephalitis, it was demonstrated that in young patients the level of cytogenetically anomalous cells was significantly higher in carriers of inactive GSTM1(0)/GSTT1(0) gene forms as compared with patients in which homozygous variants of these genes were active. No such dependence was registered in elderly patients.

Oxidative stress has long been recognized to play an important role in the pathogenesis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and aging, initiating oxidative damage of biomolecules. This study reveals the development of imbalances in the system of lipid peroxidation and an increase in the level of the marker of oxidative damage to DNA, 8-hydroxy-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), in patients with COPD and healthy individuals. Evaluation of the relationship between the parameters of the system of lipid peroxidation and the level of 8-OHdG made it possible to detail different oxidative mechanisms in the pathogenesis of COPD in patients of middle or old age.

The parameters of posttraumatic deformity correction in 27 patients aged from 61 to 76 (62.9 ± 1.4) years were analyzed using osteoplasty and transpedicular fixation for osteoporotic thoracolumbar fractures of vertebral bodies. Indicators of posttraumatic deformity, the wedging index (WI) and segmental kyphosis (SK), decreased in all patients. At the same time, minimally invasive (transcutaneous) surgery made it possible to restore the lost anatomy without being inferior to the results of open intervention. In patients with compression fractures both the WI and SK decreased significantly; in patients with a burst nature of injury only WI became lower. In patients with the T-test > –3 SD both the deformation indicators decreased, and with a more pronounced decrease in mineral density (T-test < –3) only WI decreased significantly. The results indicate recovery of lost anatomy, but the degree of correction depends on the nature of the fracture and the amount of bone mass.