Analysis of syphilis incidence in the Republic of Mordovia

Objectives to study the syphilis morbidity rate in the population of the Republic of Mordovia in years 20152017, to determine the age, sex and social patterns of morbidity. Material and methods.The subject of the analysis was the data of the official annual report on sexually transmitted infectious diseases, and contagious skin diseases in the Republic of Mordovia in 20152017. Results.In 2017 the syphilis morbidity comprised 21.1 per 100k (total of 171 cases), this result is 2.8% lower than in 2016 (21.7 per 100k). In general, the morbidity rate remains 1.5 times higher than overage in Russia. Despite the positive dynamics, the preconditions for the further prevalence of syphilis among the population remain. Conclusion.Additional measures are required, aimed at raising the general cultural level and health education of the population, regarding to the safe sexual behavior, especially among people of fertile age

Genetics of psycho-emotional well-being: genome-wide association study and polygenic risk score analysis

BackgroundPsycho-emotional well-being is essential for living a life of satisfaction and fulfillment. However, depression and anxiety have become the leading mental health issues worldwide, according to the World Health Organization. Both disorders have been linked to stress and other psychological factors. Their genetic basis remains understudied.MethodsIn 2020–2021, the psycho-emotional well-being of 30,063 Russians with no known psychiatric history was assessed using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) for general mental health and the HADS subscale A (anxiety) for anxiety. Following the original instructions, an anxiety score of ≥11 points was used as the anxiety threshold. A genome-wide association study was performed to find associations between anxiety and HADS/HADS-A scores using linear and logistic regressions based on HADS/HADS-A scores as binary and continuous variables, respectively. In addition, the links between anxiety, sociodemographic factors (such as age, sex, and employment), lifestyle (such as physical activity, sleep duration, and smoking), and markers of caffeine and alcohol metabolism were analyzed. To assess the risk of anxiety, polygenic risk score modeling was carried out using open-access software and principal component analysis (PCA) to simplify the calculations (ROC AUC = 89.4 ± 2.2% on the test set).ResultsThere was a strong positive association between HADS/HADS-A scores and sociodemographic factors and lifestyle. New single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with genome-wide significance were discovered, which had not been associated with anxiety or other stress-related conditions but were located in genes previously associated with bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, or emotional instability. The CACNA1C variant rs1205787230 was associated with clinical anxiety (a HADS-A score of ≥11 points). There was an association between anxiety levels (HADS-A scores) and genes involved in the activity of excitatory neurotransmitters: PTPRN2 (rs3857647), DLGAP4 (rs8114927), and STK24 (rs9517326).ConclusionOur results suggest that calcium channels and monoamine neurotransmitters, as well as SNPs in genes directly or indirectly affecting neurogenesis and synaptic functions, may be involved in the development of increased anxiety. The role of some non-genetic factors and the clinical significance of physiological markers such as lifestyle were also demonstrated

PRAGMATIC MARKERS IN THE ASPECT OF COMMUNICATIVE ALIGNMENT

The article presents a model of communicative alignment in pragmatic markers (PM) use in Russian everyday dialogical communication. The main objectives are to check whether speakers coordinate their linguistic behavior not just with the use of lexemes or grammar forms or constructions, but also with PMs and how this actually works. We suppose that the use of PM by one of the speakers in the dialogue may increase the chances that the same PM will be used by the other speaker. In a Russian speech corpus “One Day of Speech” there were found 57 macro-episodes of communication where the PM koroche / koroche govorya was used by multiple speakers (46 episodes with 2 speakers using the PM, 11 – with 3 speakers). The analysis of PM use applying the system of quantitative parameters, worked out by the authors, has enabled them to note, that medium frequency of PM use rises when the number of speakers increases. PM used by speaker 1 is repeated by speaker 2, thus inducing speaker 3 to use the same PM, which influences the speech of the first two speakers respectively. The data analysis allows us to conclude that the original hypothesis of alignment in PMs has been proved for the marker we studied

The effect of induced emotional states on the magnitude of cross-modal correspondence effect

Cross-modal correspondence effect (i.e., facilitated processing of congruent stimuli from different modalities) occurs not only when simple multi-modal sensory stimuli are processed together, but also during their simultaneous processing with words with emotional and spatial connotations. We tested a hypothesis that the magnitude of cross-modal correspondence effect, arising from concurrent processing of basic sensory and verbal stimuli, is differentially modulated by individual’s emotional stat

Cytoprotective Activity of Polyamines Is Associated with the Alternative Splicing of RAD51A Pre-mRNA in Normal Human CD4+ T Lymphocytes

Physiological polyamines are ubiquitous polycations with pleiotropic biochemical activities, including regulation of gene expression and cell proliferation as well as modulation of cell signaling. They can also decrease DNA damage and promote cell survival. In the present study, we demonstrated that polyamines have cytoprotective effects on normal human CD4+ T lymphocytes but not on cancer Jurkat or K562 cells. Pretreatment of lymphocytes with polyamines resulted in a significant reduction in cells with DNA damage induced by doxorubicin, cisplatin, or irinotecan, leading to an increase in cell survival and viability. The induction of RAD51A expression was in response to DNA damage in both cancer and normal cells. However, in normal cells, putrescin pretreatment resulted in alternative splicing of RAD51A and the switch of the predominant expression from the splice variant with the deletion of exon 4 to the full-length variant. Induction of RAD51A alternative splicing by splice-switching oligonucleotides resulted in a decrease in DNA damage and cell protection against cisplatin-induced apoptosis. The results of this study suggest that the cytoprotective activity of polyamines is associated with the alternative splicing of RAD51A pre-mRNA in normal human CD4+ T lymphocytes. The difference in the sensitivity of normal and cancer cells to polyamines may become the basis for the use of these compounds to protect normal lymphocytes during lymphoblastic chemotherapy

The Study of Viral RNA Diversity in Bird Samples Using De Novo Designed Multiplex Genus-Specific Primer Panels

Advances in the next generation sequencing (NGS) technologies have significantly increased our ability to detect new viral pathogens and systematically determine the spectrum of viruses prevalent in various biological samples. In addition, this approach has also helped in establishing the associations of viromes with many diseases. However, unlike the metagenomic studies using 16S rRNA for the detection of bacteria, it is impossible to create universal oligonucleotides to target all known and novel viruses, owing to their genomic diversity and variability. On the other hand, sequencing the entire genome is still expensive and has relatively low sensitivity for such applications. The existing approaches for the design of oligonucleotides for targeted enrichment are usually involved in the development of primers for the PCR-based detection of particular viral species or genera, but not for families or higher taxonomic orders. In this study, we have developed a computational pipeline for designing the oligonucleotides capable of covering a significant number of known viruses within various taxonomic orders, as well as their novel variants. We have subsequently designed a genus-specific oligonucleotide panel for targeted enrichment of viral nucleic acids in biological material and demonstrated the possibility of its application for virus detection in bird samples. We have tested our panel using a number of collected samples and have observed superior efficiency in the detection and identification of viral pathogens. Since a reliable, bioinformatics-based analytical method for the rapid identification of the sequences was crucial, an NGS-based data analysis module was developed in this study, and its functionality in the detection of novel viruses and analysis of virome diversity was demonstrated

Damages of Cardiovascular System at Mucopolysaccharidosis Type I: Clinical Cases

Background. Cardiac involvement in patients with mucopolysaccharidosis (MPS) type I, or Hurler syndrome, has various phenotypes.Clinical Case Description. In the first case symptoms were indicative of acute severe heart failure which was confirmed by laboratory and instrumental diagnostic methods. Left heart chambers dilatation and left ventricular hypocontractility were revealed on echocardiography. Atypical disease course with no improvement on multicomponent therapy of heart failure let us to think about metabolic disease, so we confirmed it with tandem mass spectrometry and molecular genetic testing. Therefore this led to timely enzyme replacement therapy onset and allogeneic bone marrow transplantation that positively affect the disease outcome. The second case showed classic course of MPS I. Its clinical signs such as musculoskeletal and ENT-organ manifestations allowed us to diagnosis and later confirm it by tandem mass spectrometry and molecular genetic testing at the age of 3. The cardiac pathology presented by mitral valve leaflets thickening and 2nd degree regurgitation has been diagnosed later. In our view, early treatment onset should slow down the progression of heart damage.Conclusion. Several clinical variants of cardiac pathology at MPS I are presented. The need of constant cardiovascular system monitoring in children with MPS I is shown. It is also mentioned that cardiac pathology can be the first manifestation of the disease

Novel aminochromone derivative inhibits tumor growth on xenograft model of lung cancer in mice

2-Amino-4H-chromene derivatives possess anticancer property proved on different in vivo and in vitro models of malignancies such breast, nasopharyngeal, bladder, ovary carcinomas, astrocytoma, and osteosarcoma. We assumed it might be effective to apply one of the derivatives as promising approach to lung carcinoma treatment. to evaluate how novel 4-aryl substituted 2-amino-4H-chromene derivative AX-554 impacts tumor growth and progression, as well as possible mechanisms for anticancer effect development on in vivo patient-derived heterotopic xenograft model of lung carcinoma in mice. This was an experimental in vivo study. 40 nu/nu BALB/c female mice were randomly allocated into four equal groups: Intact, control, reference, and main group. Animals of three latter groups were ingrafted with human-derived lung adenocarcinoma. Antitumor and antimetastatic action of AX-554 novel aminochromone derivative as a substance were studied. Mice survival was registered. Kinase of anaplastic lymphoma (ALK), tubulin Beta-3 (TUBB3), and c-mesenchymal-epithelial transition (MET) concentrations in the prime tumor nodes homogenates were determined by quantitative enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Dannet's parametric criterion and the nonparametric exact Fisher test were used. The normality of the distribution was determined using ANOVA. The survival curve was analyzed using Gehan's criterion with the Yates's correction. Aminochromone derivative possesses an inhibitory effect on human lung adenocarcinoma transplanted into nu/nu BALB/c female mice, as well as significant antimetastatic activity. About 50 mg/kg/day AX-554 intragastric course increases animals' life expectancy of more than 3.3 times when compared with the control and induces remission in 60% of cases. The anticancer effect of the derivative is due to anti-ALK-mediated activation of tumor cells apoptosis and suppression TUBB3-dependent cell proliferation

ON THE QUESTION OF THE SAFETY OF A 4-ALKYL-SUBSTITUTED COMPOUND WITH ANTI-TUMOUR ACTION

The aim was to investigate the acute toxicity of the AX-554 compound following its intragastric administration, as well as to determine the effective cytotoxic concentration and dose of this preparation.Materials and methods. The study was performed using 76 nonlinear white laboratory mice of both sexes weighing 18–22 g, 150 male mice of C57BL/6 line and LCC tumour cell culture. The acute toxicity of the AX-554 4-alkyl-substituted compound in the form of granulated pellet mass was studied following its intragastric administration, with the results being analysed according to Litchfield and Wilcoxon. The effective dose of the substance was determined using a syngeneic tumour model in C57Bl/6 male mice with inoculated Lewis lung carcinoma. The effective concentration of the compound was determined in a tumour cell culture.Results. Our study of the acute toxicity of AH-554 after its intragastric administration in the form of granulate tablet mass have confirmed AH-554 to be a non-toxic substance. In doses ranging from 21.2 to 384 mg/kg, AH-554 is observed to suppress tumour growth in mice with syngeneic lung carcinoma at a level from 20 to 90%, with the highest therapeutic dose exceeding the minimum effective one by more than 18 times. This pattern is also observed when AH554 is applied in the culture of tumour cells. The results of this study can be used for developing a pharmaceutical based on the AH-554 compound.Conclusion. The AH-554 compound, 2-amino-4H-chromene derivative, is characterized by an optimal safety profile due its low toxicity and a wide range of anti-tumour action