卷 6, 编号 1 (2016)

This paper briefly analyzes the quality of cause-specific mortality statistics at old ages in Russia. Two aspects were the focus of the work: the regional differences in approaches for choosing the underlying cause of death and the comparison of the Russian coding practice with the practices of several other European countries. The results of the study indicate that there are certain problems with the quality of cause-of-death coding at old ages in Russia. No unified approach to coding deaths caused by senility is used at the subnational level, which leads to the distortion of the regional cause-specific mortality structures. Furthermore, for many groups of causes Russian death rates are much lower than those in European countries. This peculiarity is caused by the specificity of the Russian cause-of-death coding practice, which results in underestimating the mortality from certain causes at old ages.

The mechanisms that underlie the impairment of coordination of the circadian system relatively to external and internal zeitgebers are discussed in the second part of this review. The main strategic approaches to the prevention of manifestations of aging-related circadian disruption are analyzed with special emphasis on the role of photoperiodism (the primary factor) and that of secondary entraining factors. Bright light therapy, the use of melatonin and other chronobiotics, maintenance of the rhythm of body temperature, and a daily regimen of physical activity and nutrition are considered with a focus on the opportunities for enhancement of the efficiency of each method using a personalized approach and on the novel advantages that are provided by combining these methods.

The fallacy of using a neuroemulator only once or with a small number of iterations (p ≤ 50) to solve the group-separation problem (a binary classification problem) in a five-dimensional phase space has been demonstrated using the example of the parameters of five active components (of the 14 that were registered) of the state vector of the cardiorespiratory system in Khanty (indigenous people of Yugra, Russia) women from three age groups. The necessity of repeating the neuroemulator-based solution of the binary classification problem at least 1000 times has been demonstrated: in this case, the most significant diagnostic features, x_i, could be identified with a precision of two significant fraction digits that are most relevant for the diagnostics of the aging rate (finding a solution of the system-synthesis problem in gerontology).

This review describes the expression of neuroendocrine and immune signaling molecules in human endometrial cells under normal and pathological conditions and during aging. Human endometrial cells synthesize estrogen, progesterone, estradiol, progestin, cell-adhesion molecules (integrins α1β1, α4β1, αVβ3, L-selectin, E-cadherin, and MUC1), growth factors (TGF, EGF, HB-EGF, and IGF), cytokines (IL-1, IL-2, INF-α, IL-12, CXCL10, CXCL11, and CXCR3), various immune-cell markers (CD68, CD105, CD163, CD16, CD56, CD4, and CD8), and heat-shock proteins (HSP60, HSP70, HSP90, VEGF, and MMP). Aberrations in their expression levels underlie such socially significant diseases as endometriosis, endometrial cancer, and infertility. Thus, investigation of neuroendocrine and immune interactions among endometrial cells can be used for the purposes of drug development, differential diagnostics of endometrial cancer, and increasing the efficacy of in vitro fertilization.

Male Wistar-Kyoto rats received intracerebral transplantation of syngeneic mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) at 22–24 months of age. The cognitive function of these animals was tested and the microvasculature density, tissue blood-flow rate, and oxygen saturation of mixed blood in the cortical microvasculature were measured in the sensorimotor cortex of the contralateral brain hemisphere under standard conditions, after norepinephrine application, and in global ischemia 3 weeks after cell transplantation. Rats at 2–3 and 22–24 months of age were used as the control groups. MSC transplantation had a positive impact on microcirculation in the cerebral cortex of old animals: deterioration of the vascular bed was prevented and the level of oxygen saturation of blood in the microvasculature was elevated; therefore, the tolerance of animals to the spasm of pial arterioles and global cerebral ischemia was increased, although aging-related decline of cognitive functions was not alleviated.

Delirium is a common of stroke complication that aggravates the patient’s prognosis. The aim of this study was to identify the groups that are at risk of developing delirium among elderly patients with acute stroke and assess the diagnostic value of the 4-A test in identifying delirium in this category of patients. In total, 73 patients were included in the study; 33 of them (45%) had the symptoms of delirium, according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV (DSM-IV). Delirious patients had more severe neurological deficit and more prominent chronic changes in the brain on CT images; they also had more frequently positive primitive reflexes and a higher erythrocyte sedimentation rate. All six patients with pneumonia were delirious. The Russian version of the 4-A test demonstrated good psychometric properties. Thus, the risk of developing delirium in elderly patients in the acute period of stroke is increased in cases of severe strokes, in the presence of chronic changes in the brain according to CT and clinical examination, and inflammatory complications. The targeted screening of patients with the indicated risk factors using tools such as 4-AT will allow delirium to be identified more efficiently and quickly in its early stages in elderly patients with acute stroke.

The increasing prevalence of sarcopenia dictates the need to develop effective strategies for its prevention. Mimetics of caloric restriction, including the antidiabetic biguanide metformin (MF), are considered as promising geroprotectors, which comprehensively affect the processes of aging. The evaluation of the ability of MF to influence the signs of sarcopenia in senescence-accelerated OXYS rats under treatment with MF (100 or 300 mg/kg, daily, with feed) at the age of 19–24 months, when the signs of sarcopenia are already present, was performed. The effects of MF on the muscular strength of the rats and the structural and functional parameters of skeletal muscle were investigated using light microscopy. It was shown that the drug slowed the age-related atrophy of muscle bundles due to slowing the necrosis of the individual fibers, suppressed sclerotic changes in skeletal muscle and hypertrophy of connective tissue of the perimysium with a greater effect on the endomysium, and significantly improved the blood supply and metabolism in the fibers. As a result of MF treatment, qualitative characteristics and quantitative parameters for the structure of skeletal muscle of OXYS rats came close to that of Wistar rats, leading to an increase of muscle strength of the rats and the absence of the characteristic senile weight loss.