Changes in plasma bradykinin concentration and citric acid cough threshold at high altitude.

Objective: Altitude-related cough is a troublesome condition of unknown etiology. Inhaled tussive agents are used to quantify cough, and the citric acid cough threshold has been shown to fall on ascent to altitude. Cough can occur in patients taking angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors due to stimulation of airway sensory receptors by increased levels of bradykinin.

Increased prevalence of group A β-hemolytic streptococcus among an ethnic population in Kyrgyzstan detected by the rapid antigen detection test.

The incidence of rheumatic fever (RF) has markedly increased in the last 10 years in Kyrgyzstan. Therefore, investigating the prevalence of group A β-hemolytic streptococcus (GABHS), which is the cause of RF, in the Kyrgyzstan population is crucial. We studied 189 subjects: 59 children [29 with RF and/or rheumatic heart disease (RHD)] and 130 adults (15 with RHD).

[Cardiac function in secondary defect of interatrial septum and effects of its correction by Amplatzer occluder].

Aim: To study with impulse-wave Doppler and impulse-wave tissue Doppler investigation left and right ventricular (LV, RV) function in two age groups of patients suffering from an interatrial septum defect (ISD) before and two years after transcatheter correction.

Material And Methods: 34 patients (20 females and 14 males) with secondary ISD aged 5 to 67 years were divided into two groups by age. Group 1 consisted of 11 patients aged under 16 years (mean age 10.

Acclimatization to high altitude in the Tien Shan: a comparative study of Indians and Kyrgyzis.

Objective: To study the changes in pulmonary function of human male volunteers from 2 different populations: Indians and Kyrgyzis before and after ascent to 3,200 m and during a 4-week stay at that altitude.

Methods: Ten healthy soldiers of the Indian army (22-25 years of age) and 10 Kyrgyzis recruits (19-20 years of age), height and weight matched, were volunteers in this study. Their pulmonary functions were evaluated at baseline (Bishkek, 760 m); on days 2, 13, and 25 at a mountain clinic at Tuya Ashuu pass (3,200 m) in the northern Tien Shan Range; and on return to Bishkek.

Autofluorescence of low-density lipoproteins modified as a result of autooxidation.

Autooxidation of low-density lipoproteins during incubation at 37 degrees C was accompanied by accumulation of LPO products, decrease in UV autofluorescence (FUV), and increase in autofluorescence in the visible band (FVIS). The degree of low-density lipoprotein modification was estimated by calculating the FVIS/FUV ratio. A positive correlation was revealed between this ratio and concentration of thiobarbituric acid-reactive LPO products (r=0.

[Analysis of the amount of plasma cholesterol and triglycerides in patients with coronary heart disease].

Fluorescence technique was used to study the time course of changes in the amount of blood cholesterol and triglycerides (C+TG) in 43 patients with Q- and non-Q-wave myocardial infarction (MI) on days 1, 2, 3, and 10 of the disease, in 82 patients with chronic coronary heart disease (CHD), and in 43 apparently healthy donors. Within the first 3 days of the disease, the level of C+TG in the patients with acute MI (AMI) was significantly lower than that in the patients with chronic CHD and in the donors. By day 10 of their hospital stay, the level of lipids in patients with AMI increased and reached the levels observed in the control group.

Noninvasive and invasive evaluation of pulmonary arterial pressure in highlanders.

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate Doppler echocardiography for the detection of pulmonary hypertension in high-altitude inhabitants. In total, 60 (55 male) patients aged 18-71 yrs were recruited from an ECG screening programme applied to 1,430 inhabitants living at an altitude of 2,500-3,600 m in Kyrgyzstan. Of these, 44 met ECG criteria for right ventricular hypertrophy.

[Remodeling of the heart after transcatheter repair of the secondary interatrial defect with amplatzer occluder].

Aim: To ascertain the effects of transcatheter repair of the secondary interatrial defect (IAD) with Amplatzer occluder on heart remodeling in respect to the patient's age.

Material And Methods: Transcatheter repair of the secondary IAD was made in 64 patients. Two groups were formed by the patients' age: group 1--age under 16 years (mean age 9 +/- 0.

[Effect of theophylline on respiratory function in patients with chronic obstructive lung disease].

The purpose of the investigation was to study the effects of small (200-mg) and mean (600-mg) daily doses of theophylline on respiratory function and the quality of life in patients with chronic obstructive lung disease during its relatively long-term therapy. By the end of the third month of therapy, dyspnea ameliorated and life quality increased in both groups of patients receiving both small and mean doses of theophylline. This was accompanied by the improved parameters of bronchial patency.

[I/D relationship between polymorphism of ACE gene and progression of chronic glomerulonephritis].

Aim: To study prevalence of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) gene polymorphism and its correlation with ACE level in Kyrgyz population suffering from chronic glomerulonephritis (CGN); to ascertain CGN progression and survival with reference to the genotype of ACE gene.

Material And Methods: The above parameters were investigated in 76 CGN patients (mean age 34.1 +/- 1.

Phosphodiesterase type 5 and high altitude pulmonary hypertension.

Background: This study explored phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE5) inhibition as a strategy for treating high altitude pulmonary arterial hypertension (HAPH).

Methods: 689 subjects (313 men) of mean (SD) age 44 (0.6) years living above 2500 m were screened for HAPH by medical examination and electrocardiography, and 188 (27%) met the criteria for right ventricular hypertrophy.

Prevalence of cardiac beta-myosin heavy chain gene mutations in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a frequent, autosomal-dominant cardiac disease and manifests predominantly as left ventricular hypertrophy. Mutations in the cardiac beta-myosin heavy chain gene (MYH7) are responsible for the disease in about 30% of cases where mutations were identified. We clinically evaluated a large group of 147 consecutive HCM patients from three cardiology centers in Germany, Poland, and Kyrgyzstan according to the same protocol.

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy-related beta-myosin mutations cause highly variable calcium sensitivity with functional imbalances among individual muscle cells.

Disease-causing mutations in cardiac myosin heavy chain (beta-MHC) are identified in about one-third of families with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). The effect of myosin mutations on calcium sensitivity of the myofilaments, however, is largely unknown. Because normal and mutant cardiac MHC are also expressed in slow-twitch skeletal muscle, which is more easily accessible and less subject to the adaptive responses seen in myocardium, we compared the calcium sensitivity (pCa(50)) and the steepness of force-pCa relations (cooperativity) of single soleus muscle fibers from healthy individuals and from HCM patients of three families with selected myosin mutations.

[Ethnic differences in apolipoprotein B levels in hyperlipidemia in Russian and Kirghiz populations].

Aim: To evaluate the levels of apolipoprotein B (apo-B) and coronary heart disease (CHD) risk factors in Russians and the Kirghiz with primary hyperlipidemia (PHL).

Material And Methods: Lipid spectrum of the blood (LDLP and HDLP cholesterol, total cholesterol, triglycerides), apo-B, CHD risk factors were studied in 60 Russian and 75 Kirghis patients with PHL aged 28 to 67 years (mean age 50.0 +/- 7.

Effects of intermittent exposure to high altitude on pulmonary hemodynamics: a prospective study.

Chronic alveolar hypoxia due to disease or low atmospheric pressure at high altitude results in the development of hypoxic pulmonary hypertension. The effects of intermittent hypoxia on pulmonary hemodynamics in healthy men have not been studied. We aimed to investigate, prospectively, pulmonary hemodynamics in workers commuting between an elevation of 3700 and 4200 m (4-week working shift) and lowland, below 500 m (4 weeks of holiday).

Serial changes in nasal potential difference and lung electrical impedance tomography at high altitude.

Recent work suggests that treatment with inhaled beta(2)-agonists reduces the incidence of high-altitude pulmonary edema in susceptible subjects by increasing respiratory epithelial sodium transport. We estimated respiratory epithelial ion transport by transepithelial nasal potential difference (NPD) measurements in 20 normal male subjects before, during, and after a stay at 3,800 m. NPD hyperpolarized on ascent to 3,800 m (P < 0.

Characterization of high-altitude pulmonary hypertension in the Kyrgyz: association with angiotensin-converting enzyme genotype.

Previous studies have suggested a genetic component in susceptibility to hypoxia-induced pulmonary hypertension. We therefore estimated the prevalence of high-altitude pulmonary hypertension (HAPH) in a Kyrgyz population and whether the insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphism of the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) gene associates with HAPH. An electrocardiographic survey of 741 highlanders demonstrated electrocardiogram signs of cor pulmonale in 14% of subjects.

Systematic analysis of the regulatory and essential myosin light chain genes: genetic variants and mutations in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) can be caused by mutations in genes encoding for the ventricular myosin essential and regulatory light chains. In contrast to other HCM disease genes, only a few studies describing disease-associated mutations in the myosin light chain genes have been published. Therefore, we aimed to conduct a systematic screening for mutations in the ventricular myosin light chain genes in a group of clinically well-characterised HCM patients.

Changes in surface charge of low-density lipoproteins during oxidative modification.

The negative surface charge of low-density lipoproteins increased during their oxidative modification induced by autooxidation at 37 degrees C. The degree of changes depended on the time of autooxidation: the surface charge remained practically unchanged after short-term oxidation (6-h incubation), but then progressively increased and after 24-h oxidation it 2-fold surpassed the initial level. Long-term incubation of low-density lipoproteins in the presence of EDTA inhibiting lipid peroxidation did not change their surface charge.

The Eurasian heartland: a continental perspective on Y-chromosome diversity.

The nonrecombining portion of the human Y chromosome has proven to be a valuable tool for the study of population history. The maintenance of extended haplotypes characteristic of particular geographic regions, despite extensive admixture, allows complex demographic events to be deconstructed. In this study we report the frequencies of 23 Y-chromosome biallelic polymorphism haplotypes in 1,935 men from 49 Eurasian populations, with a particular focus on Central Asia.

Sildenafil inhibits hypoxia-induced pulmonary hypertension.

Background: This study investigated the effect of the phosphodiesterase 5 inhibitor sildenafil on the pulmonary vascular response to hypoxia in humans and mice.

Methods And Results: In a randomized, double-blind study, sildenafil 100 mg or placebo was given orally to 10 healthy volunteers 1 hour before breathing 11% O(2) for 30 minutes. Pulmonary artery pressure (PAP) was measured with an indwelling right heart catheter.

The quality of sleep and periodic breathing in healthy subjects at an altitude of 3,200 m.

The medical risks of travel and stay at high altitude are well known. Many more people travel for recreation to lower but still significant altitudes. To investigate the quality of sleep and sleep-related breathing disorders (SRBD) at that altitude we performed full polysomnography in nine young volunteers at lowland (760 m above sea level) on the first and sixth night after ascent to 3,200 m.

[Quality of sleep and periodic breathing in healthy individuals working at an altitude of 3700 meters].

We performed full polysomnography (PSG) in 7 healthy miners of Kyrghyz origin (mean age 25 +/- 6 years) working in 2 weeks shifts at Kumtor gold mines at the elevation of 4200 m. They slept in comfortable dormitories situated at 3700 m. To avoid acute mountain sickness all subjects received acetazolamide 3 x 0.

[Three week stay at a height of 3700-4200 m. causes mild pulmonary hypertension in healthy men].

High altitude hypoxia leads to development of hypoxic pulmonary hypertension. We studied 27 healthy caucasian subjects aged 24 to 59 years, mean 41.6 +/- 9 y, working on 4 week shifts at the Kumtor gold mines at the altitude of 3700-4200 m.