THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PSYCHOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ATTITUDE TO THE DISEASE, COPING BEHAVIOR OF PATIENTS WITH ISCHEMIC HEART DISEASE, AND THEIR COGNITIVE STATUS

The paper presents the study of the relationship between the attitude to the disease, coping behavior of patients with coronary heart disease prior to coronary bypass grafting (CABG), and indicators of cognitive status. Bekhterev Institute Personality Questionnaire, Ways of Coping Behavior test by R. Lazarus, Mini-Mental State Examination scale, Frontal Dysfunction Battery test, and Clock- Drawing test were used in the study. The sample included 132 patients. The results of study show that in patients with coronary artery disease prior to CABG the most frequently observed type of attitude to the disease is either the harmonious type or a combination of harmonious and ergopathic types. Confrontation, Distancing, and Problem Solution Planning were identified as the preferred coping strategies. Correlation analysis revealed positive associations between cognitive status and harmonious, ergopathic, and hypochondriac types of attitude to the disease, and negative associations between cognitive status and anosognostic and sensitive types of attitude to the disease. Furthermore, positive correlations between cognitive status and Confrontation, Self-control, Responsibility taking, Problem Solution Planning, Positive revaluation coping strategies and negative correlations between cognitive status and Distancing and Escape-avoidance coping strategies were found. The results of this study will help to improve the level of diagnostic and rehabilitation psychological care of patients with coronary artery disease in preparation for CABG

Key parameters for size- and shape-controlled synthesis of vaterite particles

Calcium carbonate (CaCO3) has attracted scientific attention due to its essential role in both inorganic and bioorganic chemistry. Vaterite is the least thermodynamically stable CaCO3 polymorph and has elicited great interest as an advanced biomaterial for tissue engineering, drug delivery, and a broad range of personal care products. Numerous methods of vaterite particle synthesis with different sizes and morphologies, have highlighted the submicron porous particles of spherical or ellipsoidal shape as the most useful ones. In this regard, the current study is aimed at development of a reliable method for synthesis of such structures. Herein, submicron vaterite partitles are synthesized by dropwise precipitation from saturated sodium carbonate and calcium chloride solutions in the presence of ethylene glycol while manipulating the concentration ratios of reagents. We demonstrate that our novel technique named "dropwise precipitation" leads to changing calcium concentrations in the reaction solution at each moment affecting the crystallization process. The proposed technique allows routine obtainment of vaterite particles of a required shape, either spherical or ellipsoidal, and a controlled size in the range from 0.4 to 2.7 mu m and (0.4 x 0.7) to (0.7 x 1.1) mu m, respectively. The key parameters influencing the size, shape, and percent of vaterite fraction for synthesized CaCO3 particles are discussed

Detection of Rare Objects by Flow Cytometry: Imaging, Cell Sorting, and Deep Learning Approaches

Flow cytometry nowadays is among the main working instruments in modern biology paving the way for clinics to provide early, quick, and reliable diagnostics of many blood-related diseases. The major problem for clinical applications is the detection of rare pathogenic objects in patient blood. These objects can be circulating tumor cells, very rare during the early stages of cancer development, various microorganisms and parasites in the blood during acute blood infections. All of these rare diagnostic objects can be detected and identified very rapidly to save a patient’s life. This review outlines the main techniques of visualization of rare objects in the blood flow, methods for extraction of such objects from the blood flow for further investigations and new approaches to identify the objects automatically with the modern deep learning methods

Targeted Therapy for Glomerulonephritis Using Arterial Delivery of Encapsulated Etanercept

Complex immunosuppressive therapy is prescribed in medical practice to patients with glomerulonephritis to help them overcome symptoms and prevent chronic renal failure. Such an approach requires long-term systemic administration of strong medications, which causes severe side effects. This work shows the efficiency of polymer capsule accumulation (2.8 ± 0.4 µm) containing labeled etanercept (100 μg per dose) in the kidneys of mice. The comparison of injection into the renal artery and tail vein shows the significant superiority of the intra-arterial administration strategy. The etanercept retention rate of 18% and 8% ID in kidneys was found 1 min and 1 h after injection, respectively. The capsules were predominantly localized in the glomeruli after injection in mice using a model of acute glomerulonephritis. Histological analysis confirmed a significant therapeutic effect only in animals with intra-arterial administration of microcapsules with etanercept. The proposed strategy combines endovascular surgery and the use of polymer microcapsules containing a high molecular weight drug that can be successfully applied to treat a wide range of kidney diseases associated with glomerular pathology

“Smart” Polylactic Acid Films with Ceftriaxone Loaded Microchamber Arrays for Personalized Antibiotic Therapy

Bacterial infections are a severe medical problem, especially in traumatology, orthopedics, and surgery. The local use of antibiotics-elution materials has made it possible to increase the effectiveness of acute infections treatment. However, the infection prevention problem remains unresolved. Here, we demonstrate the fabrication of polylactic acid (PLA) “smart” films with microchamber arrays. These microchambers contain ceftriaxone as a payload in concentrations ranging from 12 ± 1 μg/cm2 to 38 ± 8 μg/cm2, depending on the patterned film thickness formed by the different PLA concentrations in chloroform. In addition, the release profile of the antibiotic can be prolonged up to 72 h in saline. At the same time, on the surface of agar plates, the antibiotic release time increases up to 96 h, which has been confirmed by the growth suppression of the Staphylococcus aureus bacteria. The efficient loading and optimal release rate are obtained for patterned films formed by the 1.5 wt % PLA in chloroform. The films produced from 1.5 and 2 wt % PLA solutions (thickness—0.42 ± 0.12 and 0.68 ± 0.16 µm, respectively) show an accelerated ceftriaxone release upon the trigger of the therapeutic ultrasound, which impacted as an expansion of the bacterial growth inhibition zone around the samples. Combining prolonged drug elution with the on-demand release ability of large cargo amount opens up new approaches for personalized and custom-tunable antibacterial therapy

Patterned Drug-Eluting Coatings for Tracheal Stents Based on PLA, PLGA, and PCL for the Granulation Formation Reduction: In Vivo Studies

Expandable metallic stent placement is often the only way to treat airway obstructions. Such treatment with an uncoated stent causes granulation proliferation and subsequent restenosis, resulting in the procedure’s adverse complications. Systemic administration of steroids drugs in high dosages slows down granulation tissue overgrowth but leads to long-term side effects. Drug-eluting coatings have been used widely in cardiology for many years to suppress local granulation and reduce the organism’s systemic load. Still, so far, there are no available analogs for the trachea. Here, we demonstrate that PLA-, PCL- and PLGA-based films with arrays of microchambers to accommodate therapeutic substances can be used as a drug-eluting coating through securely fixing on the surface of an expandable nitinol stent. PCL and PLA were most resistant to mechanical damage associated with packing in delivery devices and making it possible to keep high-molecular-weight cargo. Low-molecular-weight methylprednisolone sodium succinate is poorly retained in PCL- and PLGA-based microchambers after immersion in deionized water (only 9.5% and 15.7% are left, respectively). In comparison, PLA-based microchambers retain 96.3% after the same procedure. In vivo studies on rabbits have shown that effective granulation tissue suppression is achieved when PLA and PLGA are used for coatings. PLGA-based microchamber coating almost completely degrades in 10 days in the trachea, while PLA-based microchamber films partially preserve their structure. The PCL-based film coating is most stable over time, which probably causes blocking the outflow of fluid from the tracheal mucosa and the aggravation of the inflammatory process against the background of low drug concentration. Combination and variability of polymers in the fabrication of films with microchambers to retain therapeutic compounds are suggested as a novel type of drug-eluting coating

In Vitro Bioeffects of Polyelectrolyte Multilayer Microcapsules Post-Loaded with Water-Soluble Cationic Photosensitizer

Microencapsulation and targeted delivery of cytotoxic and antibacterial agents of photodynamic therapy (PDT) improve the treatment outcomes for infectious diseases and cancer. In many cases, the loss of activity, poor encapsulation efficiency, and inadequate drug dosing hamper the success of this strategy. Therefore, the development of novel and reliable microencapsulated drug formulations granting high efficacy is of paramount importance. Here we report the in vitro delivery of a water-soluble cationic PDT drug, zinc phthalocyanine choline derivative (Cholosens), by biodegradable microcapsules assembled from dextran sulfate (DS) and poly-l-arginine (PArg). A photosensitizer was loaded in pre-formed [DS/PArg]4 hollow microcapsules with or without exposure to heat. Loading efficacy and drug release were quantitatively studied depending on the capsule concentration to emphasize the interactions between the DS/PArg multilayer network and Cholosens. The loading data were used to determine the dosage for heated and intact capsules to measure their PDT activity in vitro. The capsules were tested using human cervical adenocarcinoma (HeLa) and normal human dermal fibroblast (NHDF) cell lines, and two bacterial strains, Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus and Gram-negative Escherichia coli. Our results provide compelling evidence that encapsulated forms of Cholosens are efficient as PDT drugs for both eukaryotic cells and bacteria at specified capsule-to-cell ratios

Effect of pulsed laser parameters on photoacoustic flow cytometry efficiency in vitro and in vivo

Photoacoustic flow cytometry is one of the most effective approaches to detect "alien" objects in the bloodstream, including circulating tumor cells, blood clots, parasites, and emboli. However, the possibility of detecting high-amplitude signals from these objects against the background of blood depends on the parameters of the laser pulse. So, the dependencies of photoacoustic signals amplitude and number on laser pulse energy (5–150 μJ), pulse length (1, 2, 5 ns), and pulse repetition rate (2, 5, 10 kHz) for the melanoma cells were investigated. First, the PA responses of a melanoma cell suspension in vitro was measured to directly assess the efficiency of converting laser light into an acoustic signal. After it the same dependence with the developed murine model based on constant rate melanoma cell injection into the animal blood flow was tested. Both in vivo and in vitro experiments show that signal generation efficiency increases with laser pulse energy above 15 μJ. Shorter pulses, especially 1 ns, provide more efficient signal generation as well as higher pulse rates. A higher pulse rate also provides more efficient signal generation, but also leads to overheating of the skin. The results show the limits where the photoacoustic flow cytometry system can be effectively used for detection of circulating tumor cells in undiluted blood both for in vitro experiment s and for in vivo murine models

Detection of melanoma cells in whole blood samples using spectral imaging and optical clearing

Most cancer deaths are associated with metastases resulting from the spread of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from the primary tumor to vital organs. The existing methods for detection of CTCs as markers of metastasis progression are time consuming with several steps of sample processing, including red blood cell removal, labeling, immunomagnetic capture and isolation, which can lead to loss of CTCs. Here we introduce a method for detection and identification of CTCs using spectral absorption imaging of melanoma cells and optical clearing of whole blood samples. Verification of this approach was performed using phantoms of human melanoma cells and suspensions of mouse melanoma cells of line B16F10 alone and in mixture with blood. A method for improving detection sensitivity has been demonstrated applying optical clearing of mouse blood using biocompatible chemical agents. The findings suggest that the proposed diagnostic platform has the potential to detect quickly CTCs in whole blood samples from patients with melanoma