Photocrosslinking of hyaluronic acid-based hydrogels through biotissue barriers.

Photocrosslinkable hydrogels based on hyaluronic acid are promising biomaterials high in demand in tissue engineering. Typically, hydrogels are photocured under the action of UV or blue light strongly absorbed by biotissues, which limits prototyping under living organism conditions. To overcome this limitation, we propose the derivatives of well-known photosensitizers, namely chlorin , chlorin and phthalocyanine, as those for radical polymerization in the transparency window of biotissues.

Venous Thromboembolism at Low Risk of Recurrence in Young Women: Stress and Violence Associated with Recurrence. An International Case-Control Study.

Background:  In young women with venous thromboembolism (VTE) related to weak transient risk factors, it remains unknown whether stress levels and intimate partner violence (IPV) are associated with recurrence. The VTE-WEAK study aims to investigate the association between perceived stress and IPV with a recurrence of VTE in women with a first episode of VTE due to combined oral contraceptives, pregnancy-puerperium, minor trauma/fracture, brief surgery, infection or brief immobility, and not using antithrombotic prophylaxis.

Material And Methods:  We performed a multicenter, international, observational, retrospective study on women referred for thrombophilia screening who were subsequently monitored.

Prevalence of abnormal left ventricular global longitudinal strain by speckle tracking echocardiography and its prognostic value in patients with COVID-19.

Importance: Although cardiac injury is a known complication of COVID-19 infection, there is no established tool to predict cardiac involvement and in-hospital mortality in this patient population.

Objective: To assess if left ventricular global longitudinal strain (LV-GLS) can detect cardiac involvement and be used as a risk-stratifying parameter for hospitalised patients with COVID-19.

Main Outcomes And Measures: In-hospital mortality.

Stress Biomarkers Transferred Into the Female Reproductive Tract by Seminal Plasma Are Associated with ICSI Outcomes.

This study aimed to determine whether male stress is related to seminal stress biomarkers and pregnancy achievement in women exposed to their partner's seminal plasma (SP) in the intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) cycle. In this pilot prospective study, 20 couples undergoing ICSI, as well as 5 fertile sperm donors and 10 saliva donors, were investigated. Women were exposed to their partner's SP via unprotected sexual intercourse during the ICSI cycle and intravaginal application on the day of ovum pick-up (Day-OPU).

Intimate partner violence as a risk factor for venous thromboembolism in women on combined oral contraceptives: An international matched case-control study.

Background: Intimate partner violence (IPV) targeting women is probably underestimated during a woman's lifetime. Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a multifactorial disease associated with haemostasis-activating conditions. Minor injuries can trigger VTE.

Epigenetics of the far northern Yakutian population.

Background: Yakuts are one of the indigenous populations of the subarctic and arctic territories of Siberia characterized by a continental subarctic climate with severe winters, with the regular January average temperature in the regional capital city of Yakutsk dipping below - 40 °C. The epigenetic mechanisms of adaptation to such ecologies and environments and, in particular, epigenetic age acceleration in the local population have not been studied before.

Results: This work reports the first epigenetic study of the Yakutian population using whole-blood DNA methylation data, supplemented with the comparison to the residents of Central Russia.

Macrophages derived from LPS-stimulated monocytes from individuals with subclinical atherosclerosis were characterized by increased pro-inflammatory activity.

Objective: Atherosclerosis is characterized by chronic inflammation in the vascular wall. Currently the violation of immune tolerance of innate immune cells is considered as a possible mechanism of chronification of inflammation. The aim of this study is to assess the inflammatory activity and tolerance of monocytes and macrophages in subclinical atherosclerosis.

Upconversion Nanoparticles Intercalated in Large Polymer Micelles for Tumor Imaging and Chemo/Photothermal Therapy.

Frontiers in theranostics are driving the demand for multifunctional nanoagents. Upconversion nanoparticle (UCNP)-based systems activated by near-infrared (NIR) light deeply penetrating biotissue are a powerful tool for the simultaneous diagnosis and therapy of cancer. The intercalation into large polymer micelles of poly(maleic anhydride-alt-1-octadecene) provided the creation of biocompatible UCNPs.

Photoluminescent Scaffolds Based on Natural and Synthetic Biodegradable Polymers for Bioimaging and Tissue Engineering.

Non-invasive visualization and monitoring of tissue-engineered structures in a living organism is a challenge. One possible solution to this problem is to use upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) as photoluminescent nanomarkers in scaffolds. We synthesized and studied scaffolds based on natural (collagen-COL and hyaluronic acid-HA) and synthetic (polylactic-co-glycolic acids-PLGA) polymers loaded with β-NaYF:Yb, Er nanocrystals (21 ± 6 nm).

Natural and Synthetic Polymer Scaffolds Comprising Upconversion Nanoparticles as a Bioimaging Platform for Tissue Engineering.

Modern biocompatible materials of both natural and synthetic origin, in combination with advanced techniques for their processing and functionalization, provide the basis for tissue engineering constructs (TECs) for the effective replacement of specific body defects and guided tissue regeneration. Here we describe TECs fabricated using electrospinning and 3D printing techniques on a base of synthetic (polylactic-co-glycolic acids, PLGA) and natural (collagen, COL, and hyaluronic acid, HA) polymers impregnated with core/shell β-NaYF:Yb,Er/NaYF upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) for in vitro control of the tissue/scaffold interaction. Polymeric structures impregnated with core/shell β-NaYF:Yb,Er/NaYF nanoparticles were visualized with high optical contrast using laser irradiation at 976 nm.

Combined oral contraceptive-associated venous thromboembolism revealing an antiphospholipid syndrome: International retrospective study of outcomes.

Introduction: Limitations in the data used to define thromboprophylaxis for patients with antiphospholipid antibodies (aPLAbs) and thrombosis include uncertainties after an initial provoked venous thromboembolic event (VTE). We aimed to study such cases associated with combined oral contraceptive (COC) intake.

Methods: We retrospectively analysed thrombotic outcomes after a first COC-associated VTE and positive aPLAbs, with a low risk HERDOO2 score, on low-dose aspirin (LDA) secondary thromboprophylaxis, seen from 2010 to 2021 in 3 tertiary referral centres, one in France and 2 in Russia.

New Cysteine-Containing PEG-Glycerolipid Increases the Bloodstream Circulation Time of Upconverting Nanoparticles.

Upconverting nanoparticles have unique spectral and photophysical properties that make them suitable for development of theranostics for imaging and treating large and deep-seated tumors. Nanoparticles based on NaYF crystals doped with lanthanides Yb and Er were obtained by the high-temperature decomposition of trifluoroacetates in oleic acid and 1-octadecene. Such particles have pronounced hydrophobic properties.

Pregnancy after Combined Oral Contraceptive-Associated Venous Thromboembolism: An International Retrospective Study of Outcomes.

Background:  Few data are available on thrombotic outcomes during pregnancy and puerperium occurring after an initial provoked venous thromboembolic (VTE) event.

Objectives:  To describe thrombotic outcomes during pregnancy after a first combined oral contraceptive (COC)-associated VTE and the factors associated with recurrence.

Methods:  This was an international multicentric retrospective study on patients referred for thrombophilia screening from January 1, 2010 to January 1, 2021 following a first COC-associated VTE, including women with neither inherited thrombophilia nor antiphospholipid antibodies and focusing on those who had a subsequent pregnancy under the same thromboprophylaxis treatment.

Pregnancy complications in G20210A mutation carriers associated with high prothrombin activity.

Objective: To study the association between high activity of Factor II (prothrombin) in blood plasma with G20210A mutation and the development of great obstetrical syndromes.

Material And Methods: A prospective clinical cohort study was conducted on 290 pregnant women (average age 31.7 ± 4.

Magnetization of Ultraviolet-Reduced Graphene Oxide Flakes in Composites Based on Polystyrene.

This work presents our study results of the magnetization of multilayer UV-reduced graphene oxide (UV-rGO), polymer matrix (polystyrene), and a conjugated composite based on them. The mesoscopic structure of the composites synthesized in this work was studied by such methods as X-ray diffraction, SEM, as well as NMR-, IR- and Raman spectroscopy. The magnetization of the composites under investigation and their components was measured using a vibrating-sample magnetometer.

The Magnetization of a Composite Based on Reduced Graphene Oxide and Polystyrene.

The use of reduced graphene oxide (r-GO) is a promising way of fabricating organic-inorganic composites with unique electrical and magnetic properties. In our work, polystyrene/r-GO composites were synthesized, in which both the components are linked together by covalent bonds. The r-GO used differs from the graphene obtained from graphite through mechanical exfoliation using the 'scotch tape' by presenting many structural defects.

[Significance of evaluation of CD69 expression by peripheral blood lymphocytes for predicting pregnancy outcome in women with recurrent pregnancy loss].

The aim of this work was to characterize phenotypically peripheral blood T- and NK lymphocytes expressing an early marker of activation, CD69, and assess the significance of CD69 expression for predicting pregnancy outcome in women with idiopathic reccurent pregnancy loss (IRP) before and after immunocytotherapy (ICT). The study group consisted of 36 patients with IRP who became pregnant after pre-gestational allimmunization, in 30 patients the pregnancy was prolonged to the full term and ended with the birth of a viable baby, in 6 - it was terminated before 12 weeks of gestation. In the control group, 15 fertile women outside pregnancy and 11 women at 12 weeks of physiological pregnancy were examined.

Association of CD200 expression in paternal lymphocytes with female Th1/Th2 balance and pregnancy establishment at immunotherapy of recurrent spontaneous abortion.

Problem: We hypothesized that expression of transmembrane glycoprotein CD200 on paternal lymphocytes used for pre-gestational lymphocyte immunotherapy (LIT) of recurrent spontaneous abortion (RSA) can suppress the pro-inflammatory Th1-type immunity required for successful implantation. To reveal the association between CD200 expression, female immune background after LIT, and pregnancy establishment, we have performed this work.

Method Of Study: Pre-gestational alloimmunizations were given to 37 women using paternal peripheral blood leukocytes, combined with additional alloimmunizations in case of pregnancy.

Native valve endocarditis with embolic infarcts.

Infective endocarditis caused by (NM) is a very rare manifestation of invasive meningococcal disease with only a few cases described in the literature. We report a case of a native mitral valve endocarditis caused by NM in a 61-year-old female without meningitis. Our case highlights the importance of considering NM as one of the causative organisms of infective endocarditis, even in the absence of meningitis.

Immunoendocrine Markers of Stress in Seminal Plasma at IVF/ICSI Failure: a Preliminary Study.

We have previously shown that high level of seminal interleukin (IL)-18 is positively associated with a greater risk of pregnancy failure in women exposed to their partners' seminal plasma (SP) during the in vitro fertilization (IVF)/intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) cycle. Since IL-18 and IL-1β considered to be the key immune markers of stress, here we ask whether their increase in SP may be due to the stress experienced by men engaged in the IVF programs. Therefore, we correlated seminal IL-18 with IL-1β and both cytokines with the seminal steroids, whose increase indicates the activation of neuroendocrine stress response systems.

Lymphocyte Activation in the Development of Immune Tolerance in Women with Recurrent Pregnancy Loss.

Association between lymphocyte activation and formation of immune tolerance, as well as pregnancy outcome, in the case of immunocytotherapy (ICT) was studied in women with idiopathic recurrent pregnancy loss (IRPL). The content and phenotypic characteristics of activated T lymphocytes and NK cells were investigated in the peripheral blood of IRPL patients with different pregnancy outcomes (pregnancy prolongation to the full term and habitual miscarriage). The fraction of activated cells in the subpopulation of cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CD3CD8/CD3CD8CD69) before ICT was significantly lower in women who lost the pregnancy.

Clinical and laboratory manifestations of the prothrombin gene mutation in women of reproductive age.

Research Objective: To research the association of prothrombin (factor II) activity given the prothrombin G20210A mutation carriage with its clinical manifestations as thrombotic complications.

Materials And Methods: A prospective clinical cohort study of 290 women of reproductive age was conducted. Two cohort groups were identified: the study group of 140 patients with prothrombin mutation G20210A genotype and the control group of 150 women with G20210G genotype.

The Link Between Seminal Cytokine Interleukin 18, Female Circulating Regulatory T Cells, and IVF/ICSI Success.

Seminal plasma (SP) is thought to be a crucial factor which affects the expansion of regulatory T cells (Tregs) in female reproductive tract during embryo implantation. We propose that seminal transforming growth factor (TGF) β1 is responsible for local accumulation of circulating Tregs, which manifests as changes in Treg frequency in peripheral blood, whereas seminal interleukin (IL) 18 interferes with TGF-β1-dependent cellular reactions. The purpose of the present study is to determine whether the frequency of circulating Tregs is associated with the levels of seminal cytokines and pregnancy establishment in women exposed to partner's SP during in vitro fertilization (IVF)/intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) cycle.