Acute kidney injury in COVID-19: are kidneys the target or just collateral damage? A comprehensive assessment of viral RNA and AKI rate in patients with COVID-19.

Purpose Of Review: To investigate the possible effects of severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) on kidney function and assess the rate of viral ribonucleic acid (RNA) shedding/detection in urine.

Recent Findings: Most of the research on the topic suggests that for the moment our ability to estimate whether SARS-CoV-2 is a direct causative agent in acute kidney injury (AKI) or whether it has a cytokine storm effect is limited. During our prospective assessment of 333 patients with COronaVIrus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) it was found that frequency of AKI of 9.

Matrix Metalloproteinases MMP-2 and MMP-9 Occupy a New Role in Severe Preeclampsia.

Introduction: Preeclampsia (PE) is a life-threatening condition for the mother, the fetus, and the newborn. Matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) participate in the two primary stages of PE: remodeling of blood vessels at the stage of placental formation and the development of hypertension due to damage to the basement membrane of blood vessels. The object of the present study was to reveal the role of MMP-2 and MMP-9 in the development of severe preeclampsia.

The alternative complement pathway in ANCA-associated vasculitis: further evidence and a meta-analysis.

We compared the common pathway components C3a, C5a and membrane attack complex (MAC), also known as C5b-9, and the alternative pathway components factor B and properdin in patients with ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) and healthy controls, and conducted a meta-analysis of the available clinical evidence for the role of complement activation in the pathogenesis of AAV. Complement components were evaluated in 59 patients with newly diagnosed or relapsing granulomatosis with polyangiitis or microscopic polyangiitis and 36 healthy volunteers. In 28 patients, testing was repeated in remission.

Diagnostic Value of Combinatorial Markers in Colorectal Carcinoma.

Blood-based tests have been shown to be an effective strategy for colorectal cancer (CRC) detection in screening programs. This study was aimed to test the performance of 20 blood markers including tumor antigens, inflammatory markers, and apolipoproteins as well as their combinations. In total 203 healthy volunteers and 102 patients with CRC were enrolled into the study.

[Vasculotoxicity of Chemotherapy: Assessment оf Endothelial Dysfunction Biomarkers' Levels in Gastric Cancer Patients].

Aim To evaluate dynamics of biomarkers for endothelial dysfunction (ED), including endothelin-1 (ET-1) and von Willebrand factor (VWF) in patients with stomach cancer (adenocarcinoma) before and after polychemotherapy (PCT); to compare these results with respective values in healthy volunteers and patients with cardiovascular diseases (CVD); to study correlations of the ED biomarkers with indexes of instrumental evaluation of endothelial dysfunction.Material and methods The study included 75 participants, including 25 healthy volunteers (control group), 25 patients with documented CVDs (arterial hypertension + ischemic heart disease), and 25 patients of the main group with histologically documented stage II-IV stomach cancer (adenocarcinoma) who received different courses of PCT with platinum-based agents (oxaliplatin, cisplatin) and fluoropyrimidines (5 fluorouracil, capecitabin). Laboratory measurement of ED biomarkers, computerized nailfold video capillaroscopy (CNVC), and finger laser photoplethysmography (PPG) (methods for noninvasive evaluation of vascular wall and ED), electrocardiography, 24-h ECG Holter monitoring, and echocardiography (EchoCG) were performed for all patients of the main group prior to PCT and within one months after the last course completion.

[Relevant aspects of identification and interpretation of the glycated hemoglobin research findings.].

The article contains the literature review on laboratory criteria of detection and monitoring of the progression of the disease in patients with the diagnosis of diabetes mellitus. It also covers the issues of methodical approaches to the identification of glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c). The findings of author's researches of glycated hemoglobin in 149 patients have been given within the framework of comparison of two methodical approaches and comparison of the results with the subsequent classification of the received data.

[Hepcidin and its relationship with inflammation in old and older patients with anemia of chronic disease associated with CHF].

Background: Reported levels of hepcidin, the major regulator of systemic iron homeostasis in CHF patients, are controversial. Relationship of hepcidin with inflammation markers, which are typically increased in CHF, is understudied; this issue is practically unstudied in old and older CHF patients.

Aim: To study the role of hepcidin in development of anemia of chronic disease (ACD) and the association of hepcidin with inflammation in old and older CHF patients.

[The results of application of the rapid quantitative assay for fatty acid-binding protein at the onset of acute coronary syndrome].

Fatty acid-binding protein (FABP) appearing in blood within a few hours of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is a marker of myocardial necrosis. We estimated the diagnostic value of rapid immunochromatographic test for FABP in patients with ACS and compared it with other cardiomarkers: troponin 1 (Tn1), myoglobin and creatin phosphokinase-MB (CPK-MB). The study included 100 patients aged 61.

[The assessment of the state of the immune system in the patients presenting with bronchial asthma and concomitant diseases of the nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses].

The objective of the present investigation was to study the influence of diseases of the nasal cavity (NC) and paranasal sinuses (PNS) concomitant with bronchial asthma (BA) on the development of peculiar features of the patients' immune status. Phenotypic characteristics of the main lymphocyte subpopulations from peripheral blood of 101 patients were obtained by means of flow cytometry with the use of fluorescein isocyanate- or phycoerythrin-labeled monoclonal antibodies. Special emphasis was laid on the elucidation of characteristics of humoral and cell-mediated immunity in the patients presenting with BA and concomitant NC and PNS diseases and their comparison with the respective parameters in the patients with isolated lesions in the upper respiratory tract (allergic rhinitis and polypous rhinosinusitis) and lower respiratory tract (bronchial asthma).

[Endothelial dysfunction and renal lesion in obesity].

The subjects of the study were 29 men (mean age 37.7+/-9.3 years) suffering from abdominal obesity without carbohydrate exchange disturbances or signs of chronic renal diseases.

[Development of renal affection in obese patients].

Aim: To characterize mechanisms, early markers and clinical signs of renal damage in obesity.

Material And Methods: The trial covered 29 males aged under 50 years (mean age 37.7+/-9.

[The role of interleukins in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis].

There is now doubt today that inflammation plays one of the key roles in the development of atherosclerosis. Numerous data demonstrate a connection between acute cardiovascular complications and laboratory signs of inflammation. There is a connection between signs of inflammation and an unfavorable prognosis in cardiovascular patients.

[Thyroid-stimulating hormone receptor antibodies in the differential diagnosis of toxic goiter].

The production of stimulating thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) receptor antibodies (TSHR-Ab) whose level measurement has come into clinical use underlies the pathogenesis of Graves'disease (GD). This paper deals with the diagnostic and differentially diagnostic value of measurement of TSHR-Ab levels using two first-generation techniques (with heterological TSH): radioreceptor assay ("CIS bio international", France) and enzyme immunoassay ("Medizym" T.R.

[Acute coronary syndrome without elevation of the ST segment: prognostic significance of determining the levels of troponin I and CPK-MBmass].

Aim: To assess diagnostic and prognostic role of CPK-MBmass and troponin I(TnI) in patients with acute coronary syndrome without persistent ST segment elevation (ACS).

Material And Methods: Standard laboratory and device tests, measurements of CPK-MBmass and TnI levels at admission, 12 and 24 hours after hospitalization were performed in 51 ACS patients (33 men, 18 women, mean age 63 +/- 8.2 years).

[Comparative analysis of serum analyte level measurements by commercial diagnostic kits from four manufacturers (Alkor-Bio, Roche, Diagnostic Products Corporation-DCP, and Bayer Corporation)].

Hydrocortisone, progesterone, testosterone, triiodothyronine, thyroxine, chorionic gonadotropin, prolactin, alpha-fetoprotein, luteinizing, follicle-stimulating, and thyrotropic hormones were measured in human sera and in Lyphochek Immunoassay Plus Control reference sera (Bio-Rad Laboratories, USA) using 4 commercial kits (Alkor Bio Inc. and Roche, automated analyzer Roche Cobas Core; DPC, automated analyzer Immulite; Bayer, automated analyzer ACS:180). Coordination and correlation between these kits was observed, the coordination decreasing in the series Alkor Bio/Bayer, Alkor Bio/Roche, and Alkor Bio/DPC.

The diurnal rhythm of adrenocorticotropic hormone secretion in the assessment of the adequacy of replacement therapy in primary chronic adrenal failure.

Utilization of the daily rhythm of ACTH secretion was assessed as a measure of the adequacy of replacement therapy in primary chronic adrenal failure (PCAF: Addison's disease) with glucocorticoids (GC) by assaying plasma ACTH by radioimmunoassay every 4 h for one day in three groups of patients. Patients of group 1 had PCAF (n = 14) and received replacement therapy consisting of prednisolone (5 mg at 09:00 and 2.5 mg at 14:00) and group 2 patients received dexamethasone (0.

[Clinico-laboratory algorithms for assessing the functional activity of the thyroid gland].

Three diagnostic algorithms making use of automated chemiluminescent analyzers are proposed for evaluation of the thyroid function, depending on the clinical situation. Laboratory criteria of hypothyrosis and thyrotoxicosis therapy monitoring are discussed. Main variants of disagreement between clinical data and values of thyrotropic hormone and free T4 are presented.

[Cytokines and extracellular matrix in experimental glomerulopathies].

An acute stage of both immune (nephrotoxic nephritis) and non-immune (puromycin-aminonucleoside nephrosis) damage is characterized by an affected area infiltration with mononuclear leucocytes which produce cytokines that control mesangial cells proliferation and their production of the extracellular matrix components. This mononuclear infiltration is very intensive in the immune kidney damage and rather weak in the non-immune damage. Accumulation of the extracellular matrix in a chronic stage of puromycin-aminonucleoside nephrosis is very slight against the background of a weak mononuclear infiltration of the kidney glomeruli.

[Visceral lesions in alcoholism].

Rich clinical material has been gained on carbohydrate and lipid metabolisms, cardiovascular, hepatic, pancreatic, gastric parameters in chronic alcoholics. Functional and morphological changes correlated with duration of chronic alcoholism. No definite relationship existed between the stage of alcoholism and alterations in laboratory and instrumental findings in the course of abstinence syndrome.

[Topical diagnosis of pancreatic insulinomas].

Diagnosis of pancreatic insulinomas has been performed. Celiacography appeared to be the most efficient diagnostic method (more than 50% of sensitivity). Intraoperative ultrasound testing, that have been done in 16 patients, managed to make a topical diagnosis with a high accuracy and to evaluate relation of a tumor with portal vessels and pancreatic duct that is very important in choosing a proper surgical technique.

Results of pancreatic blood shunting into the systemic blood flow in insulin-dependent diabetics.

A new surgical method of treating patients with unstable insulin-dependent diabetes (IDD) has been developed--that of surgically shunting pancreatic blood into the systemic blood flow with the purpose of creating a more optimal interaction of subcutaneously administered insulin and pancreas-secreted glucagon. The long term results of the operation depend on the patency of a splenorenal anastomosis. This has been studied by following up 137 patients over periods from half a year to three years.

[Effects of a number of cytokines on the proliferation of mesangial cells and the production of extracellular matrix in anti-GBM nephritis].

The interaction of IL-1 and TNF alpha in the autolous phase of anti-GBM nephritis was studied. The influx of mononuclear leukocytes into the glomerulus and high cytokine levels induced a decrease in mesangial cell proliferation and an increase in extracellular matrix production. The methylprednisolone suppression of mononuclear leukocyte infiltration caused the autocine cytokine secretion of mesangial cells.

[The endocrine status of men with lupus nephritis].

Renal function was assessed in 8 males at reproductive age suffering from lupus nephritis (LN). Normal renal function was registered in 5 patients, hypofunction in 3 males. Endocrinological examinations (evaluation of secondary sexual characters, of hypophyseal and sex hormone profile, sexological questionnaires, spermograms) failed to distinguish significant differences between SLE males and renal patients without SLE suffering from hypogonadism (13 males with uremic hypogonadism, 10 males with azoospermia induced by cytostatics).