May Measurement Month 2018: a pragmatic global screening campaign to raise awareness of blood pressure by the International Society of Hypertension

Aims Raised blood pressure (BP) is the biggest contributor to mortality and disease burden worldwide and fewer than half of those with hypertension are aware of it. May Measurement Month (MMM) is a global campaign set up in 2017, to raise awareness of high BP and as a pragmatic solution to a lack of formal screening worldwide. The 2018 campaign was expanded, aiming to include more participants and countries. Methods and results Eighty-nine countries participated in MMM 2018. Volunteers (≥18 years) were recruited through opportunistic sampling at a variety of screening sites. Each participant had three BP measurements and completed a questionnaire on demographic, lifestyle, and environmental factors. Hypertension was defined as a systolic BP ≥140 mmHg or diastolic BP ≥90 mmHg, or taking antihypertensive medication. In total, 74.9% of screenees provided three BP readings. Multiple imputation using chained equations was used to impute missing readings. 1 504 963 individuals (mean age 45.3 years; 52.4% female) were screened. After multiple imputation, 502 079 (33.4%) individuals had hypertension, of whom 59.5% were aware of their diagnosis and 55.3% were taking antihypertensive medication. Of those on medication, 60.0% were controlled and of all hypertensives, 33.2% were controlled. We detected 224 285 individuals with untreated hypertension and 111 214 individuals with inadequately treated (systolic BP ≥ 140 mmHg or diastolic BP ≥ 90 mmHg) hypertension. Conclusion May Measurement Month expanded significantly compared with 2017, including more participants in more countries. The campaign identified over 335 000 adults with untreated or inadequately treated hypertension. In the absence of systematic screening programmes, MMM was effective at raising awareness at least among these individuals at risk

Особенности клинической манифестации субкомпенсированного дисбактериоза кишечника кошек при оценке эффективности его коррекции

Formation and reproduction of gut microbiome begins at birth, while change in its composition depends mainly on various genetic, nutritional and environmental factors. The article considers the features of clinical manifestation of subcompensated intestinal dysbiosis in cats in assessing the effectiveness of its treatment. The studies were carried out on the basis of Department of Veterinary Medicine, RUDN University, and the clinical work was conducted at private veterinary clinics: ‘Avettura’, ‘Epiona’, ‘In the World with Animals’. Cats were selected for the experiment as they arrived at the initial appointment at veterinary clinics. The diagnosis of suspected intestinal dysbacteriosis was made considering anamnesis, clinical examination, and microbiological tests. The severity of intestinal dysbacteriosis was assessed on the results of clinical and laboratory studies. During the research, clinical and diagnostic approaches for subcompensated intestinal dysbacteriosis in cats were improved. Furthermore, effective ways of its treatment were developed. For subcompensated intestinal dysbacteriosis, administration of ‘Lactobifadol’ probiotic, ‘Vetelakt’ prebiotic and ‘Azoksivet’ immunomodulator showed the greatest therapeutic effect, which led to an overall clinical improvement in 5.50 days. Therapeutic efficacy of B 3 regimen was also clearly evidenced by the positive changes in intestinal microbiota and hematological blood parameters during the pharmacorrection. Improvement of clinical diagnostic approaches, prognosis of intestinal dysbiosis of varying severity and treatment effectiveness in cats require will allow to study intestinal dysbiotic disorders in other animal speciesФормирование и размножение микробиома кишечника начинается с рождения, в то время как изменение его состава зависит главным образом от различных генетических, пищевых и экологических факторов. Приведены особенности клинической манифестации субкомпенсированного дисбактериоза кишечника кошек при оценке эффективности его коррекции. Исследования проведены на базе департамента ветеринарной медицины Российского университета дружбы народов, а клиническая часть работы выполнена на базе частных клиник ветеринарной медицины: «Аветтура», «Эпиона», «В мире с животными». Кошек в эксперимент подбирали по мере их поступления на первичный прием в ветклиники. Диагноз при подозрении на дисбактериоз кишечника ставили комплексно с учетом данных анамнеза, клинического осмотра, а также микробиологических исследований. Оценку степени тяжести дисбактериоза кишечника осуществляли на основании проведенных клинико-лабораторных исследований. В ходе исследования усовершенствованы клинико-диагностические подходы при субкомпенсированном дисбактериозе кишечника у кошек, а на основании этого разработаны эффективные пути его коррекции. Показано, что при субкомпенсированном дисбактериозе кишечника назначение пробиотика «Лактобифадола» в комплексе с пребиотиком «Ветелакт» и иммуномодулятором «Азоксивет» показывает наибольший терапевтический эффект, что приводит к общему клиническому улучшению уже на 5,5 сутки. О терапевтической эффективности схемы В3 наглядно свидетельствует также позитивная динамика содержимого микробиоты кишечника и гематологических показателей крови в процессе проведения фармакокоррекции. Совершенствование клинико-диагностических подходов и прогнозирование при дисбактериозе кишечника у кошек различной степени тяжести, а также оценка эффективности его коррекции создают предпосылки для дальнейшего изучения дисбиотических нарушений кишечного тракта у других видов животных

Лечение кошек при холангиогепатите

Acute bacterial cholangiohepatitis of cats is a common disease associated with the inflammation of bile ducts and liver parenchyma, characterized by development of a pronounced hepatodepressive syndrome (hypoalbuminemia), cytolysis (increase in serum activity of alanine and asparagine transaminase), cholestasis (increase in serum concentration of bilirubin, cholesterol, activity of alkaline phosphatase and gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase), intoxication, dehydration, mesenchymal- inflammatory and pain syndromes. The aim of the research was to study the effectiveness of treatment for acute bacterial cholangiohepatitis in cats with average severity of the pathology course. According to inclusion and exclusion criteria, the study included a cohort of cats (n = 12) with acute bacterial cholangiohepatitis. Clinical, hematological, ultrasonographic, statistical methods of investigation were used in this work. For sick cats with medium severity form of cholangiohepatitis, when administered as a complex therapy the combination of marbofloxacin, metronidazole, ursodeoxycholic acid, cyancobolamine, tocopherol acetate, infusion therapy also had a good therapeutic effect, which was accompanied by improved clinical and laboratory performance. In the blood of cats with cholangiohepatitis, in the background of intensive therapy, there was a significant decrease in white blood cell count, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and in serum, there was an increase in albumin concentration, reduction of creatinine, aminotransferase activity, alkaline phosphatase, gamma- glutamyltranspeptidase, lipase.Острый бактериальный холангиогепатит кошек представляет собой чрезвычайно распространенную патологию, связанную с воспалением паренхимы печени и желчных протоков, характеризующуюся развитием гепатодепрессивного синдрома (гипоальбуминемии), цитолиза (повышение активности аспарагиновой и аланиновой трансаминазы в сыворотке крови), холестаза (повышение сывороточной концентрации билирубина, холестерина, активности гамма-глутамилтранспептидазы и щелочной фосфатазы), интоксикации, дегидратации, мезенхимально-воспалительного и болевого синдромов. Цель исследования - изучить эффективность лечения кошек с острым бактериальным холангиогепатитом при средней степени тяжести течения патологии. Согласно критериям включения и исключения в исследование проводили на группе кошек (n = 12) с острым бактериальным холангиогепатитом. Использовали клинические, гематологические, ультразвуковые, статистические методы исследования. У больных кошек при средней форме холангиогепатита при назначении в составе комплексной терапии комбинация метронидазола, марбофлоксацина, урсодезоксихолевой кислоты, токоферола ацетата, цианкоболамина при инфузионном введении оказывала хороший терапевтический эффект, что сопровождалось улучшением клинико-лабораторных показателей. В крови кошек с холангиогепатитом на фоне интенсивной терапии наблюдалось достоверное снижение количества лейкоцитов, скорости оседания эритроцитов, а в сыворотке крови - повышение концентрации альбумина, снижение активности аминотрансферазы, гамма-глутамилтранспептидазы, щелочной фосфатазы, липазы, концентрации креатинина

Зараженность мышевидных грызунов лесных массивов Белгородской области иксодовыми клещами

Rodents are one of the largest groups of existing mammals and number more than 2,270 known species, which is almost 42 % of the total biodiversity of worldwide-distributed mammals (except Antarctica and some islands). They are well adapted to various habitats and are known to live alongside people and livestock complexes. The purpose of the study was to study infestation of mice with ixodid ticks in forests of the Belgorod region adjacent to livestock and poultry farms. The study was carried out in 2019—2022. The extensiveness of mice infestation was observed in Sylvaemus sylvaticus species, which was 13.26 % higher (P < 0.05) than in Sylvimus flavicollis, and 24.33 % higher (P < 0.01) than in Apodemus agrarius. The intensity of infestation with preimaginal (larvae and nymphs) stages of Ixodes ricinus ticks had wide fluctuations depending on the type of synanthropic rodent. Thus, the highest intensity was noted in Sylvaemus sylvaticus mice, which was 8.73 and 13.56 % higher (P < 0.001) compared to Sylvimus flavicollis and Apodemus agrarius mice, respectively. The maximum infestation of male synanthropic mouse species was 31 ticks in Sylvaemus sylvaticus, 19 ticks in Sylvimus flavicollis, and 9 ticks in Apodemus agrarius. The intensity of infestation in synanthropic mice was the highest in the summer months (from July to August) and decreased slightly in autumn. In autumn, 41.2 % of the examined rodents were infested with ticks, the predominant species was Ixodes ricinus (larvae). Larvae and nymphs of Ixodes ricinus ticks were more often attached to rodents in the head area (mainly on the ears) — 82 %, less often on other parts of the body — 18 %. A smaller number of ticks were present on neck, body, legs, sometimes parasites were found on tail.Грызуны — одна из самых больших групп существующих млекопитающих, известно более 2270 видов, что составляет почти 42 % общего биоразнообразия млекопитающих, имеющих всемирное распространение (за исключением Антарктиды и некоторых островов). Они хорошо приспособлены к различным средам обитания и, как известно, чаще всего сосуществуют вблизи людей и животноводческих комплексах при их глобальном расселении. Цель исследования — изучить зараженность иксодовыми клещами мышевидных грызунов лесных массивов Белгородской области, прилегающих к животноводческим и птицеводческим комплексам и фермам. Исследование выполняли с 2019 по 2022 гг. Экстенсивность инвазии мышевидных грызунов, обнаруженных в лесных массивах вблизи сельскохозяйственных комплексов и ферм Белгородской области, наблюдалась нами на мышах вида Sylvaemus sylvaticus, что на 13,26 % больше (Р < 0,05) от зараженности вида Sylvimus flavicollis, и на 24,33 % более (Р < 0,01) от экстенсивности инвазии по виду мышей Apodemus agrarius. Интенсивность инвазии по преимагинальным (личинкам и нифам) стадиям клещей Ixodes ricinus имела широкие колебания в зависимости от вида синантропного грызуна. Так, наибольшим данный показатель был отмечен нами по виду мышей Sylvaemus sylvaticus, что на 8,73 % больше (Р < 0,001) от вида Sylvimus flavicollis и на 13,56 % больше от вида мышей Apodemus agrarius. Максимальная зараженность самцов синантропных видов мышей составила 31 особь по виду Sylvaemus sylvaticus, 19 особей клещей по виду Sylvimus flavicollis и 9 паразитов по виду Apodemus agrarius. Интенсивность инвазии синантропных мышей была самой высокой в летние месяцы (с июля по август) и несколько снижалась осенью. Осенью 41,2 % исследованных грызунов были поражены клещами, при этом преобладали личинки Ixodes ricinus. Личинки и нимфы иксодовых клещей вида Ixodes ricinus чаще были прикреплены в области головы грызунов (преимущественно на ушах) — 82 %, реже на других частях тела — 18 %. Меньшее количество клещей было подкреплено на шее, туловище, лапках, иногда обнаруживали паразитов на хвосте мышей

Evolutionarily conserved gene expression patterns for affective disorders revealed using cross-species brain transcriptomic analyses in humans, rats and zebrafish

Abstract Widespread, debilitating and often treatment-resistant, depression and other stress-related neuropsychiatric disorders represent an urgent unmet biomedical and societal problem. Although animal models of these disorders are commonly used to study stress pathogenesis, they are often difficult to translate across species into valuable and meaningful clinically relevant data. To address this problem, here we utilized several cross-species/cross-taxon approaches to identify potential evolutionarily conserved differentially expressed genes and their sets. We also assessed enrichment of these genes for transcription factors DNA-binding sites down- and up- stream from their genetic sequences. For this, we compared our own RNA-seq brain transcriptomic data obtained from chronically stressed rats and zebrafish with publicly available human transcriptomic data for patients with major depression and their respective healthy control groups. Utilizing these data from the three species, we next analyzed their differential gene expression, gene set enrichment and protein–protein interaction networks, combined with validated tools for data pooling. This approach allowed us to identify several key brain proteins (GRIA1, DLG1, CDH1, THRB, PLCG2, NGEF, IKZF1 and FEZF2) as promising, evolutionarily conserved and shared affective ‘hub’ protein targets, as well as to propose a novel gene set that may be used to further study affective pathogenesis. Overall, these approaches may advance cross-species brain transcriptomic analyses, and call for further cross-species studies into putative shared molecular mechanisms of affective pathogenesis

Acute behavioral and Neurochemical Effects of Novel N-Benzyl-2-Phenylethylamine Derivatives in Adult Zebrafish

Hallucinogenic drugs potently affect brain and behavior and have also recently emerged as potentially promising agents in pharmacotherapy. Complementing laboratory rodents, the zebrafish (Danio rerio) is a powerful animal model organism for screening neuroactive drugs, including hallucinogens. Here, we test a battery of ten novel N-benzyl-2-phenylethylamine (NBPEA) derivatives with the 2,4- and 3,4-dimethoxy substitutions in the phenethylamine moiety and the -OCH3, -OCF3, -F, -Cl, and -Br substitutions in the ortho position of the phenyl ring of the N-benzyl moiety, assessing their acute behavioral and neurochemical effects in the adult zebrafish. Overall, substitutions in the Overall, substitutions in the N-benzyl moiety modulate locomotion, and substitutions in the phenethylamine moiety alter zebrafish anxiety-like behavior, also affecting the brain serotonin and/or dopamine turnover. The 24H-NBOMe(F) and 34H-NBOMe(F) treatment also reduced zebrafish despair-like behavior. Computational analyses of zebrafish behavioral data by artificial intelligence identified several distinct clusters for these agents, including anxiogenic/hypolocomotor (24H-NBF, 24H-NBOMe, and 34H-NBF), behaviorally inert (34H-NBBr, 34H-NBCl, and 34H-NBOMe), anxiogenic/hallucinogenic-like (24H-NBBr, 24H-NBCl, and 24H-NBOMe(F)), and anxiolytic/hallucinogenic-like (34H-NBOMe(F)) drugs. Our computational analyses also revealed phenotypic similarity of the behavioral activity of some NBPEAs to that of selected conventional serotonergic and antiglutamatergic hallucinogens. In silico functional molecular activity modeling further supported the overlap of the drug targets for NBPEAs tested here and the conventional serotonergic and antiglutamatergic hallucinogens. Overall, these findings suggest potent neuroactive properties of several novel synthetic NBPEAs, detected in a sensitive in vivo vertebrate model system, the zebrafish, raising the possibility of their potential clinical use and abuse