Vol 8, No 2 (2018)

This article presents the results of sociological research on the paternalistic attitudes that determine the relationship between the state and the elderly in the context of new socioeconomic conditions. It was revealed that the previous paternalistic expectations of the elderly were stable and manifested more strongly in the older age group (71–90 years old). The younger age group of the elderly (55–70 years old) begins to distance themselves from the guardianship of the state and relies more on their own resources under new circumstances. Four groups of the elderly were differentiated by their degree of adequacy in their view of the social situation, reliance on state resources, and their own activity. Paternalism takes on new forms that are reflected in the mentality of the older generation of citizens.

The paper is the second part of the series of two papers on demographic aspects of population ageing in Saint-Petersburg in 1990–2014 compared to the situation in the Russian Federation as a whole. In the first part, the situation with population ageing in Saint-Petersburg and Russia was considered based on conventional ageing measures—proportion of the elderly in the total population, ageing index, old age dependency rate and parent support ratio [6]. In the second part, a number of prospective ageing measures that take account of remaining life expectancy are studied, such as proportion of population above old-age threshold (proportion of population with remaining life expectancy 15 years or less), POADR (prospective old-age dependency ratio), population average remaining years of life (PARYL). Prospective ageing indicators are compared with their traditional analogues. Gender imbalance of prospective ageing measures has been considered. Acceleration of population ageing of St. Petersburg and Russia leads to a new demographic situation, which requires the adoption of appropriate economic and social measures.

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder of elderly and old-aged people. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and peripheral tissues—lymphocytes and platelets, buccal and olfactory epithelium, and skin fibroblasts—are used for intravital diagnostics of the expression of signaling molecules (AD markers). There are several changes in the production of hyperphosphorylated τ-protein form, BACE1, and peptide Aβ42 in CSF in the case of AD, but CSF sampling can have a number of side effects. Biopsies of the epithelium and portions of blood are a less traumatic method of obtaining tissue samples for AD diagnosis. An increase in the expression of the hyperphosphorylated form of τ-protein is shown in the blood lymphocytes of AD patients. An increase in the content of high molecular forms of phosphorylated τ protein and amyloid precursor protein (APP) was also detected in the platelets of AD patients. Changes in the amount of two miRNA families, miR-132 and miR-134, were detected in blood cells 1–5 years before the manifestation of clinical signs of AD. An increase in the bound-calcium concentration, Aβ40 and Aβ42 peptide synthesis, and τ protein was observed in AD skin fibroblasts. In olfactory and buccal epithelia, an increase in the expression of hyperphosphorylated τ-protein form and Aβ peptide was detected in AD patients. The detection of AD markers in peripheral tissues available for biopsy is highly important for intravital diagnostics, prevention, and targeted treatment of AD.

A comparative analysis of parental age-associated changes in the reproductive function and embryonic development has been performed for offspring of D. melanogaster imagoes of mutant (w_CS¹ and w_Or¹) and wild-type (Canton-S and Oregon-R) lines. Fruit fly imagoes from three age groups (3-, 10-, and 20-day-old) were used in the experiment. Reciprocal crossings of young (3-day-old) imagoes to individuals from each age group were performed in order to identify the effects of maternal and/or paternal age on reproductive function parameters in the offspring. The effects of maternal and paternal ages on various reproductive function parameters in F₁ offspring were shown to vary between wild-type lines and mutant lines w_CS¹ and w_Or¹ which is apparently due to genetic differences between the lines. The white mutation alone or combined with advanced parental age had a negative effect on fertility and viability characteristics in F₁ offspring and caused a predisposition to the development of dominant lethal mutations and death at the pupal stage, such that the emergence of less adapted and viable offspring in the population was prevented.

The goal of the present study was to analyze the content of serine-arginine protein kinase 1 (SRPK1) in the human dermis at different ages (from gestational week 20 to 85 years of age). Indirect immunohistochemical detection was used to visualize SRPK1, proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), and CD 31, an endothelial cell marker, in skin sections. The results showed that the SRPK1 content in the dermal fibroblasts is increased between the antenatal period and 20 years of age and decreased uniformly afterwards (until 61–85 years of age). The SRPK1 content in microcirculation blood vessels of the dermis is increased uniformly between the antenatal period and the age of 61–85 years. Dermis vascularization and the numbers and proliferative activity of fibroblasts was or were decreased steadily between the antenatal period and the age of 61–85 years. The decrease in the SRPK1 content in dermal fibroblasts after 20 years of age occurs concomitantly with the decrease of fibroblast number and proliferative activity. The age-related increase in the SRPK1 content in dermal blood vessels occurs concomitantly with a decrease in vascularization. Therefore, one can assume that SRPK1 exerts dissimilar effects on the proliferation of different dermal components during aging.

We investigated the influence of the vascular peptide bioregulator on microcirculation in the brain cortex of spontaneously hypertensive rats of different ages and determined whether there was functional cumulation during two applications of the drug Slavinorm by above-mentioned animals. It was shown that a single course treatment with vascular peptide bioregulator had increased the density of the microvascular network of the pia mater in young animals by ~1.2 times and did not affect the perfusion and oxygen saturation of sensorimotor cortex. The second course treatment with Slavinorm was given in six months. Functional cumulation was revealed in 12-month-old rats that had two course treatments with vascular peptide bioregulation: the density of the microvascular network of the pia mater was increased by ~1.6 times; the perfusion level was increased ~15% in comparison with intact animals of the same age. These animals were more tolerant to cerebral vasospasm (the application of vasoconstrictor on the brain surface): the highest level of tissue oxygen saturation was remained at fairly constant perfusion in comparison with other animals.