Том 9, № 3 (2019)

The effect of chronic continuous consumption of 5 and 10% ethanol solutions for six months on the respiratory function and oxidant/antioxidant status in the cardiac mitochondria of rats of different gender and age is studied. A decrease in the rate of oxygen consumption by cardiomyocyte mitochondria under the V₂, V₃, and V₄ metabolic conditions according to Chance during the activation of the respiratory chain complexes I, I + II, and II is observed in old animals (24-month-old) compared to young (11-month-old) rats. The level of the products of lipid peroxidation (LPO) (malondialdehyde) in the cardiomyocyte mitochondria increases, whereas the activity of the antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase) decreases. Chronic alcoholization of 24-month-old rats of both genders results in a more pronounced decline in the activity of respiratory function of the cardiac mitochondria, disintegration of respiration and oxidative phosphorylation, reduced activity of antiradical protection enzymes, and an increase in the level of LPO products compared to younger rats.

The purpose of the study is to test the hypothesis stating that the functional characteristics of bone marrow cells (BMCs), such as the proliferation rate and the focus of differentiation, etc., are determined not so much by the age of animals as by some specificities in the microenvironment of the BMCs. To test this hypothesis, two techniques to change the microenvironment are used—in vivo (induction of liver fibrosis in young and old animals) and in vitro (transferal of BMCs isolated from young and old animals of both control groups and groups with fibrosis into the same standard culturing system). It is found that these particular forms of fibrosis induced by administering copper sulfate (CuSO₄) or carbon tetrachloride (CCl₄) have different effects on the ratios between BMC types of young and old animals. For example, whereas the relative number of morphologically identifiable cell types decreases for young rats, irrespective of the particular inducer of liver fibrosis, this process is accompanied for old animals by an increase in identifiable cell types in the case of CuSO₄-induced liver fibrosis and does not change when liver fibrosis is induced by CCl₄. The proliferative activity of BMCs isolated from old animals and transferred into the in vitro culture exceeds this activity for young rats. This can be explained by the higher (by 167%) content of lymphocytes in the bone marrow of old animals, as well as by the specific composition and characteristics of the microenvironment of their BMCs.

Age-dependent neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson’s disease, are characterized by a group of pathomorphological signs, such as neuronal death in certain brain structures, gliosis, and iron accumulation. However, literature data confirm that these signs can also be observed in normal (physiological) aging. The aim of the study is to evaluate qualitative and quantitative morphochemical changes in neurons and neuroglia in the human striatum in physiological aging, as well as changes in the localization of iron(II) compounds. It is found that neuronal cell bodies become significantly smaller in size at older ages, as compared with mature years, although the density of their distribution does not differ; the distribution density of total neuroglia and astrocytes, however, becomes higher at older ages. In addition, accumulations of iron(II) compounds are diagnosed along the vascular walls and inside the cytoplasm of neurons and glial cells. The indicators of physiological aging obtained in this research may serve as a basis for comparative studies of neurodegenerative processes in normal and pathological aging and for the pathomorphological diagnosis of age-associated neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson’s disease.

Melatonin is subcutaneously administered in a single dose of 1.2 μg to 129/Sv mice at days 3, 5, and 7 after birth, and the mice are observed until natural death. In adult males, a decrease in the body weight and a reduction of the contribution of lung lesions detected during postmortal autopsy to mortality are detected. In adult females, an increase in the proportion of mice with impaired estrous cycle at the later stages of life and an acceleration of the mortality associated with uterine hemangioma are observed with the absence of any effect of melatonin on the body weight. Changes in the frequency of detection of other tumors are multidirectional: there is a decrease in the frequency in males and an increase in females. The age of death of the last 25% and 10% of males increases, while in females it decreases. An analysis of the complete survivorship curves using the Gompertz model does not reveal changes in the rate of aging and initial mortality sufficient to go beyond the limits determined by the artifact component of the Strehler–Mildvan correlation between these parameters. In general, the tendencies noted in males and females are multidirectional: favorable and unfavorable, respectively. Melatonin is contraindicated for pregnant and nursing women and children under 18 years old. The gender specificity of the effects of melatonin, apparently, should be considered when assessing the feasibility of its prescription to these categories.

Bariatric surgery (BS), including sleeve gastrectomy (SG), gastric bypass (GB), and ileal transposition (IT), is one of the approaches currently used for the correction of metabolic disturbances in type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2) with obesity. However, the efficiency of these approaches and their impact on hypothalamic signaling and hormonal status in severe forms of DM2 without obesity remain poorly characterized. The aim of this work is to study the effect of IT, SG, and GB on insulin, leptin, ghrelin, and glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) levels in the blood and on the expression of the genes encoding the main components of the hypothalamic signaling systems in rats with a decompensated form of DM2 induced by a high-fat diet (three months) and a single low dose of streptozotocin (25 mg/kg, two months after the start of the diet). Pronounced hyperglycemia, impaired glucose tolerance, a decrease in the glucose-stimulated GLP-1 level, a slight decrease in the insulin and leptin levels, and a slight increase in the ghrelin level are detected in diabetic rats. Expression of genes encoding the GLP-1 receptor, the orexigenic agouti-related peptide (AgRP), and phosphotyrosine phosphatase 1B and SOCS3, the negative regulators of the leptin and insulin pathways, is increased in the hypothalamus. IT in diabetic rats leads to a reduction of glucose levels 120 min after glucose loading, an increase of basal and glucose-stimulated GLP-1 levels, and normalization of the expression levels of the phosphotyrosine phosphatase 1B, SOCS3, AgRP, and GLP-1 receptor genes, which is indicative of restoration of the hypothalamic signaling responsible for the control of energy metabolism and insulin sensitivity. Glucose tolerance is improved in the case of SG and GB, and an increase in the basal and glucose-stimulated GLP-1 levels is demonstrated in the case of SG, but no significant effects on the expression of the hypothalamic genes are observed in SG and GB. Thus, IT is the most efficient bariatric surgical intervention among those studied for the treatment of severe DM2 forms without obesity.

This paper analyzes the prevalence and intensity of smoking and its correlation with other risk factors of coronary artery disease among patients with chronic coronary artery disease aged 60 years and over living in the extreme North on the basis of ethnicity, age, and gender. A dependence of smoking on age is observed in non-indigenous patients. Smoking is less prevalent among women compared to men and among long-livers in comparison with the elderly and senile age. High intensity and long history of smoking are revealed in both ethnic groups of male patients. The average smoking history of smokers at the time of the survey is more than 50 years, and that of former smokers more than 30 years. High smoking index (SI) of more than 25 pack-years is observed in both ethnic groups. SI of more than 25 pack-years is 1.5 times more common in non-indigenous patients compared to the group of Yakuts. The highest SI is observed in the group of patients under 75 years. The higher the smoking index in non-indigenous smoking patients, the lower their HDL cholesterol levels regardless of the place of birth and the length of stay in the extreme North. The analysis reveals the correlation of smoking with other risk factors: blood lipids, arterial pressure (AP), body mass index (BMI), and abdominal obesity (AO), as well as the dependence of myocardial infarction on the smoking history and the smoking index value. Smoking cessation leads to lower blood pressure and BMI and promotes higher HDL cholesterol levels.

The article analyzes the structure and dynamics of disability due to coronary heart disease in the Russian Federation among the retirement-age population in the period 2006–2017. The prevalence of retirees in the disability structure in all years of the study is revealed. Their total number is large, 2.3 million people over 12 years, and is constantly decreasing in dynamics. The level of disability in this age group is high; the average annual level is 61.5 per 10 000 people of the corresponding age; in the first years of the study it is much less than the level of middle-aged disabilities, but in recent years these indicators differ slightly. The structure of disability at retirement age has been formed since 2010 by people repeatedly recognized as disabled.

The article analyzes the structure of forensic medical examinations of persons older than working age and its change during the period of improving social and economic conditions in the country. Persons whose causes of death are determined by forensic medical examination are considered as a deviant group of people who did not adapt to changing socio-cultural conditions and to age changes. This is manifested in the causes and circumstances of death (external causes, death at home without witnesses, death on street or in hospital without examination). The information on 72 324 forensic examinations of elderly residents in the Nizhny Novgorod oblast for 2003–2017 is analyzed. It is done in terms of sex, residency in the oblast center or in rural areas, and age group (advanced age: 60–74 years for men and 55–74 years for women; senile age: 75–84 years; age of longevity: 85 years and older). It is shown that the size of the deviant group of retirees is increasing, and this increase is not a consequence only of the population aging. The contribution of loneliness to the formation of the deviant group exceeds the contribution of socioeconomic disadvantages: no correlation is found between the frequency of forensic examinations and the mortality from causes related to alcohol; from 2003 to 2017, the share of external causes of death and the proportion of corpses taken for examination from the street decreased. The structure of external and somatic causes of death of persons older than working age that are established during forensic medical research is determined by age, place of residence, as well as social and economic situations in the oblast, which changed over the period studied in direction of reducing differences.