Oxidized cell-free DNA as a stress-signaling factor activating the chronic inflammatory process in patients with autism spectrum disorders.

Background: Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are known to be associated with an inflammatory process related to immune system dysfunction. This study's aim was to investigate the role of cell-free DNA in chronic inflammatory process in ASD patients.

Methods: The study included 133 ASD patients and 27 healthy controls.

NADPH Oxidases and Their Role in Atherosclerosis.

The current view on atherosclerosis positions it as a multifactorial disorder that results from the interplay between lipid metabolism disturbances and inflammatory processes. Oxidative stress is proven to be one of the initiating factors in atherosclerosis development, being implicated both in the inflammatory response and in atherogenic modifications of lipoproteins that facilitate lipid accumulation in the arterial wall. The hallmark of oxidative stress is the elevated level of reactive oxygen species (ROS).

[Perspectives of cell therapy for myocardial infarction and heart failure based on cardiosphere cells].

Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. In recent years, researchers are attracted to the use of cell therapy based on stem cell and progenitor cells, which has been a promising strategy for cardiac repair after injury. However, conducted research using intracoronary or intramyocardial transplantation of various types of stem/progenitor cells as a cell suspension showed modest efficiency.

Cellular Mechanisms of Human Atherogenesis: Focus on Chronification of Inflammation and Mitochondrial Mutations.

Atherosclerosis is one of the most common diseases of the cardiovascular system that leads to the development of life-threatening conditions, such as heart attack and stroke. Arthrosclerosis affects various arteries in the human body, but is especially dangerous in the arteries alimenting heart and brain, aorta, and arteries of the lower limbs. By its pathophysiology, atherosclerosis is an inflammatory disease.

Serum and fecal profiles of aromatic microbial metabolites reflect gut microbiota disruption in critically ill patients: a prospective observational pilot study.

Background: High serum levels of certain aromatic microbial metabolites (AMM) are associated with severity and mortality in critically ill patients. Omics-based studies suggest gut dysbiosis and reduced microbiome diversity in critical conditions. However, the landscape of gut microbial metabolites is still to be outlined, not to mention the interplay correlation between the metabolome and gut microbiome in critically ill patients.

The role of sialic acids in the initiation of atherosclerosis.

Atherosclerosis is a major cause of disease-related mortality around the globe. The main characteristic of the disease is an accumulation of plaque on the arterial wall and subsequent erosion or rupture of some plaques. Atherosclerosis often leads to cardiovascular disease and such acute complications as myocardial infarction or ischemic stroke due to thrombus formation.

Survey for Assessment of a Person's Legal Consciousness: Development and Preliminary Validation.

The results of the development and preliminary assessment of the psychometric properties of the questionnaire of legal consciousness of a person are presented. Theoretical justification is given for the structure of the questionnaire containing six subscales. One scale relates to the individual's awareness of constitutional rights and freedoms, enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Constitution of the Russian Federation (personal, economic, political, cultural and social rights).

Current Advances in the Diagnostic Imaging of Atherosclerosis: Insights into the Pathophysiology of Vulnerable Plaque.

Atherosclerosis is a lipoprotein-driven inflammatory disorder leading to a plaque formation at specific sites of the arterial tree. After decades of slow progression, atherosclerotic plaque rupture and formation of thrombi are the major factors responsible for the development of acute coronary syndromes (ACSs). In this regard, the detection of high-risk (vulnerable) plaques is an ultimate goal in the management of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular diseases (CVDs).

Clinical Effectiveness of a Combination of Black Elder Berries, Violet Herb, and Calendula Flowers in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: The Results of a Double-Blinded Placebo-Controlled Study.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a multifactorial disease, in which systemic inflammation plays a key role. This 6-month randomized double-blinded placebo-controlled study evaluates the possible effect of natural preparation Inflaminat on clinical symptoms of COPD, indicators of respiratory function, and exacerbation frequency in 60 patients with moderate severity of COPD. Inflaminat is a combination of natural ingredients black elder ( L.

Perioperative Dexmedetomidine Supplement Decreases Delirium Incidence After Adult Cardiac Surgery: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Controlled Study.

Objective: Conflicting data exist on the effect of dexmedetomidine on delirium. For the present study, a randomized trial was performed to investigate the effect of perioperative dexmedetomidine on the rate of postoperative delirium after cardiac surgery.

Design: A randomized controlled trial.

Oxidative Stress and Antioxidants in Atherosclerosis Development and Treatment.

Atherosclerosis can be regarded as chronic inflammatory disease affecting the arterial wall. Despite the recent progress in studying the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis, some of the pathogenic mechanisms remain to be fully understood. Among these mechanisms is oxidative stress, which is closely linked to foam cells formation and other key events in atherosclerosis development.

Lipid-based gene delivery to macrophage mitochondria for atherosclerosis therapy.

Atherosclerosis with associated cardiovascular diseases remains one of the main causes of disability and death worldwide, requiring development of new solutions for prevention and treatment. Macrophages are the key effectors of a series of events involved in atherogenesis, such as inflammation, plaque formation, and changes in lipid metabolism. Some of these events were shown to be associated with mitochondrial dysfunction and excessive mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) damage.

Neurodegenerative Diseases Associated with Mitochondrial DNA Mutations.

Mitochondrial dysfunction underlies several human chronic pathologies, including cardiovascular disorders, cancers and neurodegenerative diseases. Impaired mitochondrial function associated with oxidative stress can be a result of both nuclear and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations. Neurological disorders associated with mtDNA mutations include mitochondrial encephalomyopathy, chronic progressive external ophthalmoplegia, neurogenic weakness, and Leigh syndrome.

Immune-Inflammatory Responses in Atherosclerosis: The Role of Myeloid Cells.

Inflammation plays a key role in the initiation and progression of atherosclerosis and can be caused by multiple agents, including increased concentration of circulating low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol. Areas of the arterial wall affected by atherosclerosis are enriched with lymphocytes and dendritic cells (DCs). Atherosclerotic plaques contain a variety of proinflammatory immune cells, such as macrophages, DCs, T cells, natural killer cells, neutrophils and others.

Family ratings of ICU care. Is there concordance within families?

Purpose: To examine heterogeneity of quality-of-care ratings within families and to examine possible predictors of concordance.

Materials And Methods: We examined two aspects of agreement within families: response similarity and the amount of exact concordance in responses in a cohort of Danish ICU family members participating in a questionnaire survey (the European Quality Questionnaire: euroQ2).

Results: Two hundred seventy-four family respondents representing 122 patients were included in the study.

MicroRNAs as Potential Biomarkers in Atherosclerosis.

Atherosclerosis is a complex multifactorial disease that, despite advances in lifestyle management and drug therapy, remains to be the major cause of high morbidity and mortality rates from cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) in industrialized countries. Therefore, there is a great need in reliable diagnostic/prognostic biomarkers and effective treatment alternatives to reduce its burden. It was established that microRNAs (miRNAs/miRs), a class of non-coding single-stranded RNA molecules, can regulate the expression of genes at the post-transcriptional level and, accordingly, coordinate the cellular protein expression.

Gene- and Disease-Based Expansion of the Knowledge on Inborn Errors of Immunity.

The recent report of the International Union of Immunological Societies (IUIS) has provided the categorized list of 354 inborn errors of immunity. We performed a systematic analysis of genes and diseases from the IUIS report with the use of the OMIM, ORPHANET, and HPO resources. To measure phenotypic similarity we applied the Jaccard/Tanimoto (J/T) coefficient for HPO terms and top-level categories.

The role of mitochondria in cardiovascular diseases related to atherosclerosis.

Atherosclerosis is a complex disorder that involves several mechanisms of pathogenesis tightly related to each other: lipid accumulation, inflammation and structural changes in the arterial wall. The main source of lipids accumulating in the arterial wall is low-density lipoprotein (LDL) atherogenically modified by desialylation or oxidation. Oxidized LDL can be produced as a result of enhanced generation of reactive oxygen species by mitochondria during oxidative stress.

Serum Levels of Mitochondrial and Microbial Metabolites Reflect Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Different Stages of Sepsis.

Mechanisms of mitochondrial dysfunction in sepsis are being extensively studied in recent years. During our study, concentrations of microbial phenolic acids and mitochondrial metabolites (succinic, α-ketoglutaric, fumaric, itaconic acids) as indicators of sepsis and mitochondrial dysfunction, respectively, are measured by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) in the blood of critically ill patients at the early and late stages of documented sepsis. The increase in levels of some phenylcarboxylic (phenyllactic (PhLA), -hydroxyphenylacetic (-HPhAA), -hydroxyphenyllactic (-HPhAA)) acids (PhCAs), simultaneously with a rise in levels of mitochondrial dicarboxylic acids, are mainly detected during the late stage of sepsis, especially succinic acid (up to 100-1000 µM).

Microextraction of aromatic microbial metabolites by packed hypercrosslinked polystyrene from blood serum.

The article is devoted to the application of modern sample preparation technique - microextraction by packed sorbent (MEPS) - in conjunction with non-conventional type of sorbent - hypercrosslinked polystyrene, that was investigated for the first time in this work. Their combination was used to extract phenylcarboxylic acid-type aromatic microbial metabolites from serum samples of a healthy volunteer with following derivatization and GC-MS detection. As barrel insert and needle for MEPS with hypercrosslinked polystyrene is not produced, we designed a device to imitate the commercial MEPS system with packed granular biporous hypercrosslinked polystyrene.

Pneumonia: host susceptibility and shared genetics with pulmonary function and other traits.

Pneumonia is a common and severe infectious lung disease. Host genetics, together with underlying medical and lifestyle conditions, determine pneumonia susceptibility. We performed a secondary analysis of the results of two genome-wide studies for pneumonia in 23andMe participants (40 600 cases/90 039 controls) (Tian et al.

The Atherogenic Role of Circulating Modified Lipids in Atherosclerosis.

Lipid accumulation in the arterial wall is a crucial event in the development of atherosclerotic lesions. Circulating low-density lipoprotein (LDL) is the major source of lipids that accumulate in the atherosclerotic plaques. It was discovered that not all LDL is atherogenic.

Conformational Distortions of the Red Blood Cell Spectrin Matrix Nanostructure in Response to Temperature Changes .

The spectrin matrix is a structural element of red blood cells (RBCs). As such, it affects RBC morphology, membrane deformability, nanostructure, stiffness, and, ultimately, the rheological properties of blood. However, little is known about how temperature affects the spectrin matrix.

Induction of decay accelerating factor and membrane cofactor protein by resveratrol attenuates complement deposition in human coronary artery endothelial cells.

The involvement of complement activation in various forms of cardiovascular disease renders it an important factor for disease progression and therapeutic intervention. The protective effect of resveratrol against cardiovascular disease via moderate red wine consumption has been established but the exact mechanisms are still under investigation. The current study utilised human coronary artery endothelial cells (HCAECs) in order to assess the extent to which the protective effect of resveratrol, at concentrations present in red wine, can be attributed to the upregulation of complement regulatory proteins through heme-oxygenase (HO)-1 induction.