Osteoarthritis: A contemporary view of the problem, the possibilities of therapy and prospects for further research

Osteoarthritis is a chronic degenerative disease characterized by the destructive changes in the articular cartilage, synovitis, subchondral bone sclerosis and osteophyte formation. Today it is the most common joint disease and one of the main causes of disability of elderly people. This review provides an overview of advances in understanding of osteoarthritis etiology, pathogenesis, histopathology, as well as the results of up-to-date research of the molecular mechanisms underlying this heterogeneous age-related disease at the clinical and fundamental levels. The article is devoted to a comprehensive review of the osteoarthritis problem, compiled considering the classical understanding of morphological changes, clinical picture, diagnostic methods, and current therapy protocols, supplemented by the modern trends of world research with the prospect of further development and implementation of the latest therapeutic methods, such as nerve growth factor-inhibitors, fibroblast growth factor-18 and stem cells treatments

Liver manifestation associated with COVID-19 (Literature review)

The World Health Organization (WHO) named the 2019-nCoV virus on January 12, 20201. Subsequently, in a short period of time, Novel Coronavirus Infected Pneumonia (NCIP) spread around the world, and on January 30, 2020, the WHO declared NCIP an international public health emergency2. On February 11, 2020, it was renamed Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)3. Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which has been described as a form of the beta coronavirus cluster, is the cause of the pandemic and has 79.6% sequence identity with SARS-CoV4. COVID-19 is generally a self-limiting disease, but it can also be fatal: China's death rate is around 2.3 percent5, from 5.8 percent in Wuhan to 0.7 percent in the rest of China6. The proportion of serious or fatal infections that can be attributed to specific infected populations may vary by country and region. A certain percentage of deaths occurred in elderly patients or comorbid conditions (obesity, hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, chronic lung disease and cancer)5-8. These results were also found in critically ill patients referred to the intensive care unit, indicating that adequate liver oxygen supply is provided by compensatory mechanisms, including in cases of severe respiratory failure during COVID-19 disease9-17

Blood coagulation and beyond:Position paper from the Fourth Maastricht Consensus Conference on Thrombosis

The 4th Maastricht Consensus Conference on Thrombosis (MCCT), included the following themes: Theme 1: The "coagulome" as a critical driver of cardiovascular disease Blood coagulation proteins also play divergent roles in biology and pathophysiology, related to specific organs, including brain, heart, bone marrow and kidney. Four investigators shared their views on these organ-specific topics. Theme 2: Novel mechanisms of thrombosis Mechanisms linking factor XII to fibrin, including their structural and physical properties, contribute to thrombosis, which is also affected by variation in microbiome status. Virus infections associated-coagulopathies perturb the hemostatic balance resulting in thrombosis and/or bleeding. Theme 3: How to limit bleeding risks: insights from translational studies This theme included state of the art methodology for exploring the contribution of genetic determinants of a bleeding diathesis; determination of polymorphisms in genes that control the rate of metabolism by the liver of P2Y12 inhibitors, to improve safety of antithrombotic therapy. Novel reversal agents for direct oral anticoagulants are discussed. Theme 4: Hemostasis in extracorporeal systems: how to utilize ex vivo models? Perfusion flow chamber and nanotechnology developments are developed for studying bleeding and thrombosis tendencies. Vascularised organoids are utilized for disease modeling and drug development studies. Strategies for tackling extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) associated coagulopathy are discussed. Theme 5: Clinical dilemmas in thrombosis and antithrombotic management Plenary presentations addressed controversial areas, ie thrombophilia testing, thrombosis risk assessment in hemophilia, novel antiplatelet strategies and clinically tested factor XI(a) inhibitors,both possibly with reduced bleeding risk. Finally, Covid-19 associated coagulopathy is revisited.</p