Functional Tests of the Abdominal Wall Muscles in Normal Subjects and in Patients with Diastasis and Oblique Inguinal Hernias in a Pilot Study.

Objectives: To identify typical patterns of abdominal wall muscle activation in patients with diastasis recti and inguinal hernias compared to controls during the Valsalva maneuver, voluntary coughing, and physical activity.

Methods: The study included 15 subjects: 5 with diastasis recti, 4 with inguinal hernias, and 6 healthy controls. The functions of rectus abdominis (RA) and external oblique (OE) muscles were measured by surface electromyography (sEMG).

Simultaneous bilateral angioplasty and stenting for carotid stenosis - a single center experience.

Carotid artery stenosis is responsible for up to 12% of all ischemic strokes. The prevalence of bilateral carotid artery stenosis is nearly 8-39% among patients with stroke, and its management is still controversial. This study aimed to report the treatment results of bilateral carotid artery stenosis with simultaneous bilateral angioplasty and stenting (sbCAS) in a single institution during the last 10 years.

High incidence of venous thrombosis in patients with moderate-to-severe COVID-19.

Increasing evidence suggests that COVID-19 may be associated with venous thromboembolism, and much data exists regarding high incidence of venous thrombosis in critical COVID-19 patients. However, evidence on this complication in less severe patients is not widely available. The aim of this study was to investigate the incidence of deep-vein thrombosis (DVT) in patients with moderate-to-severe COVID-19, to assess the prevalence of DVT with duplex ultrasound, and to compare patients with DVT and those without it using lung computerized tomography (CT), clinical information and lab data.

[CHANGES IN THE BRAIN TESTOSTERONE METABOLISM AND SEXUAL BEHAVIOR IN MALE RATS PRENATALLY EXPOSED TO METHYLDOPA AND STRESS].

The changes of aromatase and 5α-reductase activities were studied in preoptic area (POA) and medial basal hypothalamus of 10-days-old and sexual behavior in 3-month-old male offsprings of rats exposed daily to noradrenaline antagonist methyldopa (400 mg/kg per os) 30 minutes prior to 1-hour immobilization during the last week of pregnancy (from 15th to 21st day). Prenatal stress caused aromatase activity lowering in the POA of developing brain and feminization (appearance of lordosis) and demasculinization of sexual behavior (prolongation of latent periods to the first mounting and first intromission as well as of the first ejaculation and postejaculation refractory period) in young male offspring. Oral methyldopa used prior to pregnant females stressing prevented early effect of prenatal stress on aromatase activity in the POA and normalized the male sexual behavior in young male rats by shortening both latent period to the first ejaculation and postejaculation refractory period, and an increase of numbers of ejaculation.

[Clinical and ultrasonic predictors of postoperative complications after carotid endarterectomy].

For the period from 2007 to 2012 carotid endarterectomy was performed in 150 patients with cerebrovascular insufficiency I-IV degrees and atherosclerotic lesion of carotid arteries. Dynamic observation was performed by using of duplex scanning of brachiocephalic arteries, transcranial duplex scanning, multislice CT with contrast study of extracranial and intracranial arteries. Different degrees of vascular wall thickening of operated internal carotid artery including neo- and myointimal hyperplasia, restenosis and other complications were observed in 19 (12.

[Morphofunctional state of reproductive system of ageing male rats in case of using nanocerium].

The influence of nanocrystalline cerium dioxide (NCD, 1 and 100 mg/kg per os daily for 10 days) on morphofuctional state of reproductive system was investigated in ageing male rats. It has been established that activation of hormone-producing testicular Leydig's cells, as well as of secretory and proliferative processes in prostate, underlies the stimulating effect of NCD at a dose 1 mg/kg on hormonal function of testis and spermatogenesis of ageing male rats. NCD used at a dose 100 mg/kg had no significant effect on the assessed indices of morphofuctional state of reproductive system.

[Peculiarities of sexual behavior of female rats with hyperandrogenia in pubertal and postpubertal periods].

The parameters of female and male sexual behavior in 3- and 6- month old female rats which were exposed to an androgen excess (subcutaneous implantation of Silastic capsules containing 5 mg of crystalline testosterone) from the beginning of pubertal period (at the age of 35 days), or within postpubertal period (at the age of 4 months). Hyperandrogenia in pubertal period had no effect on female sexual behavior formation, but it led to appearance of male behavior components in 100% of animals. In female rats which were implanted with testosterone capsules in postpubertal period, sexual disturbances were more pronounced and were characterized by masculinization and defeminization, which was due to a higher degree of androgenic saturation.

[Surgical treatment of hemodynamically significant kinking of internal carotid arteries].

38 patients with different forms of vascular cerebral insufficiency, caused by kinking and atherosclerotic changes of internal carotid arteries were operated on. Various types of reconstructive operation on extracranial carotid arteries were performed. The color duplex ultrasound scanning and computed tomography proved to be highly informative noninvasive means for detecting carotid pathology in patients with vascular cerebral insufficiency.

[The dynamics of hormonal changes in female rats exposed to chronic stress and androgen excess during pubescence].

The dynamics of blood plasma corticosterone, testosterone and androstenedione levels and their reaction to acute stress (30 min immobilization) in 35-, 40- and 45-day old female rats exposed to chronic stress (daily 30-min immobilization from 35th to 45th day of life) and/or to excess of exogenous androgens (implantation of capsules with testosterone to 33-day old animals) during pubescence was studied. Both control and experimental females in all age groups responded to acute stress by significant elevation of blood plasma corticosterone levels. At the end of the chronic stress session, the extent of adrenals activation in response to acute dosed stress was lowered in androgenized 45-day old females and increased gradually in stressed ones.

[Effect of chronic stress during puberty on the reproductive system of female rats with experimental hyperandrogenicity].

Effects of chronic stress (daily 30-min immobilization) on 35-45 days of life and its combination with androgenization (implantation of testosterone-containing capsules on 33rd day of life) on reproductive system of 2.5 month old female rats were studied. The term of sexual maturation, estrous cycles regularity and structure, blood plasma levels of testosterone, progesterone and androstenedione as well as ovarian histology were examined.

[The risk factors and predictors of the clinically significant progression of atherosclerosis in patients with chronic lower extremity ischemia].

Aim: To define the risk factors and predictors of atherosclerosis progression leading to clinical worsening in patients with chronic lower extremity ischemia (CLEI).

Subjects And Methods: Two hundred and forty patients with lower extremity arterial (LEA) atherosclerosis were examined. All the patients underwent color duplex ultrasound scanning of the great arteries supplying blood to the brain and LEA.

[Enhancing effect of androgen receptor antagonist on gonadotropic inductors of ovulation in rats with polycystic ovaries].

Hormonal indices, phase pattern of estrous cycles, and histological structure of the ovaries were studied in female rats with polycystic ovaries caused by subcutaneous implantation of Silastic capsules with testosterone after consecutive treatment with non-steroid antiandrogen, flutamide (flutafarm), urinary FSH (menopur) and HCG (choragon). It was shown that while the plasma testosterone level was increased, administration of the drugs in subtherapeutical doses interrupted persistent diestrus, renewed estrous cycle, gonadal and uterine weights, induced appearance of postovulatory luteal bodies and restored fertility. Therefore, antiandrogen potentiation of pharmnnaco-dynamic effect of the gonadotropins with regard to their ability to ovulation induction was found out.

[Calcium-dependent mechanisms of stress disorders and noradrenergic responses of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal system in neonatally androgenized female rats].

The effects of neonatal administration ofverapamil, a calcium L-type channel blocker, on the stress and noradrenergic responses of hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis in adult female rats with anovulatory syndrome induced by neonatal androgenization have been studied. There was no adrenocortical response to an acute stress nor noradrenaline infusion in the 3rd brain ventricle in females with persistent estrus. Verapamil pretreatment completely restored the adrenocortical responses to normal level.

Prenatal dexamethasone prevents early and long-lasting neuroendocrine and behavioral effects of maternal stress on male offspring.

The hypothesis on the mediating role of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) hormone secretion in neuroendocrine, neurochemical and behavioral alterations generated by prenatal stress in male rat offspring was tested in this study with dexamethasone (Dex) used for suppression of HIPA stress responses. Pregnant dams were being restrained daily for 1 h over the last week of gestation. In male offspring this resulted in attenuation of sex-specific pattern of the protein fractions (on the 5th postnatal day), steroid aromatase activity (on the 10th postnatal day) in the brain preoptic area, and in a decrease of male copulatory behavior, hypothalamic noradrenaline and plasma corticosterone responses to an acute stress, an increase in HPA responses to noradrenergic stimulation and other effects in adulthood.

[Peculiarities of stress-reactivity of hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal system in prenatally stressed rats exposed to dexamethasone].

The protective effect of dexamethasone, a synthetic agonist of glucocorticoids, on the functional activity of hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal system (HPAS) in adult offspring in both genders whose mothers were subject to immobilization stress in last trimester of pregnancy, has been studied. Dexamethasone treatment prior to stressing pregnant rats prevented the manifestations of injuring effect of prenatal stress on HPAS activity in adult male offspring. The post-stressor changes in hypothalamic noradrenaline content and corticosterone level in blood plasma, as well as GABAA and GABA, receptors activity, did not differ from normal indices.

Neuroendocrine disorders in adult rats treated prenatally with hydrocortisone acetate.

We investigated the effects of hydrocortisone acetate administered to pregnant rats over the last gestational week on some neuroendocrine characteristics in adult female and male offspring. Prenatal glucocorticoid eliminated sex dimorphism of the neurons nuclei volumes in the medial preoptic area and the suprachiasmatic nuclei. There was no elevation of blood plasma corticosterone level after noradrenaline infusion into the third brain ventricle in experimental males; meanwhile, in females adrenocortical response was augmented.

[Peculiarities of atherosclerotic damage of brachiocephalic arteries in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus].

The state of vascular bed of brachiocephalic arteries was studied by the method of color duplex scanning in 250 patients (116 men and 134 women) with atherosclerosis of various vascular basins which in 62 of them took place at the background of type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM). Two hundred five patients had atherosclerosis of brachiocephalic arteries, 45 patients without atherosclerotic plaques in carotid arteries comprised control group. Mean age of patients was 65.

Left ventricle diastolic function in the patients after coronary arteries bypass graft combined with left ventricle aneurismectomy according to tissue doppler imaging: one year follow-up.

Aim: To evaluate left ventricle (LV) diastolic function dynamics in patients after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) after combined operation of coronary artery bypass graft with LV aneurismectomy (CABG + AE) according to the results of tissue Doppler imaging (TDI).

Methods: Forty patients after AMI underwent Doppler echocardiography (EchoCG) with TDI and M-mode colour-flow imaging before and in 3 and 12 months after CABG + AE. Mitral annulus (MA) TDI with velocity indices was performed in 4 segments of LV.

[Sex characteristics of neuroendocrine effects of prenatal exposure to exogenous glucocorticoids].

The effects of hydrocortisone acetate treatment of rats during the last gestational week on neurochemical and morphological characteristics of the brain in early postnatal and mature offspring were studied. Disappearance of sexual differences both in aromatase and 5alpha-reductase activities and noradrenaline concentration in the preoptic area in 10-day old rats was found. Meanwhile a sexual dimorphism in serotonin metabolism emerged.

[Kuttner's inflammatory tumor (sialadenosis of submandibular salivary glands). Case report].

A clinical case of a observation over the patient with Kuttner's inflammatory tumor is described. Quick and complete curative effect was achieved after the use of one course of hyperbaric oxygenotherapy.

Opioids are responsible for neurochemical feminization of the brain in prenatally stressed male rats.

Objectives: To study the role of opioids in early postnatal changes of the hypothalamic testosterone metabolism and catecholamine content underlying feminizing effect of prenatal stress on male sexual behavior in rats.

Material And Methods: 10 day-old male and female offspring from mothers given naltrexone prior to daily 1-hour restraint during the last gestational week were used in the study. Aromatase and 5 alpha-reductase activities, noradrenaline and dopamine contents in the brain preoptic area and medial basal hypothalamus were studied by thin layer chromatography, radiometric and spectrofluorimetric techniques.

Early postnatal effects of prenatal exposure to glucocorticoids on testosterone metabolism and biogenic monoamines in discrete neuroendocrine regions of the rat brain.

We investigated the effects of hydrocortisone acetate and dexamethasone administered to pregnant rats during the last gestational week on sexual differentiation of testosterone metabolism and biogenic monoamine contents and turnover in the discrete brain regions in 10-day-old offspring. In the preoptic area, sex-dependent differences in aromatase activity were attenuated by prenatal glucocorticoids. Prenatal dexamethasone but not hydrocortisone acetate caused the inversion of sexual dimorphism of 5alpha-reductase activity in the preoptic area.

Participation of endogenous opioids in pathogenesis of early neuroendocrine manifestations of prenatal stress syndrome.

We studied sex dimorphism in the content of norepinephrine and activity of enzymes involved in testosterone metabolism in the preoptic hypothalamic area of 10-day-old rats. Prenatal stress eliminated sex-related differences in these indices. These disturbances were absent in rats subjected to prenatal stress under conditions of opioid receptor blockade with naltrexone.

[Hypertensive crises: classification and current management].

Data of current literature concerning with hypertensive emergencys and urgencies is presented. Hypertensive emergencys is a heterogeneous group of clinical states, caused or complicated by arterial hypertension, that require prompt blood pressure lowering to reduce morbidity and preserve life. The currently available choices for parenteral therapy of hypertensive emergencies and for oral therapy of hypertensive urgencies in selected groups of patients are extensively reviewed.