Doklady Biochemistry and Biophysics最新文献

The aim of the study was to investigate the features of the clinical picture of the disease in patients with ACPA–negative and ACPA-positive variants of rheumatoid arthritis.

The study included patients with a reliable diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) according to the criteria of ACR/EULAR 2010. Depending on the ACPA values, two groups of patients were recruited: ACPA-positive and ACPA-negative, comparable in gender, age, duration of the disease, and therapy. The nature of the onset and course of the disease and the activity of RA were evaluated (according to the DAS28, SDAI, CDAI indices).

The study involved 79 patients with ACPA-negative variant of RA and 79 ACPA-positive patients. The age of patients (Me [IR] (in years)) with the ACPA(–) variant was 52 [39; 62]; with the ACPA(+) variant, 54 [42; 62]; the duration of the disease (in months) was 59 [23; 122] and 48 [17; 84], respectively.

In ACPA(+) patients, a higher disease activity was determined (by the indices DAS 28crp, DAS28esr, SDAI, CDAI), higher values of C-reactive protein and erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and a greater number of painful and swollen joints (p < 0.05).

According to the localization of the involved joints, arthritis of the proximal interphalangeal, metacarpal, wrist and shoulder joints was more often determined in ACPA(+) patients.

Systemic manifestations of RA at the time of examination and in the anamnesis were statistically significantly more common in ACPA(+) (32.9%) than in ACPA(–) (17.7%) patients. Of the systemic manifestations, rheumatoid nodules were more common in ACPA(+) patients, whereas a tendency to a higher frequency of neuropathy, sclerites, and episcleritis was revealed in ACPA(–) patients.

. In patients with ACPA(–) subtype, clinical signs of joint damage and the inflammatory component are less pronounced compared to ACPA(+). However, the mixed picture of manifestation, the less “bright” course of the disease, the absence of characteristic immunological biomarkers necessitate long-term and careful monitoring of this group of patients. At the same time, the subjective severity of the disease and dysfunction due to ankylosing joints do not differ from the ACPA(+) variant of RA.

The composition of fatty acids in the muscle tissue of the unique Central Asian carp-like fish, Potanin Altai osman Oreoleuciscus potanini, was studied for the first time. The populations of these fish in the reservoirs of the semiarid zone (Durgun and Taishir) during the period of their formation are considered. It was shown that the content of eicosapentaenoic (EPA) and docosahexaenoic (DHA) acids in O. potanini corresponds to the median of this value in the order Cypriniformes. It was established that the basis of the food web of the herbivorous form of this species consists of microalgae (diatoms, Euglena and, possibly, chrysophytes), as well as bacteria. At the same time, the levels of bacterial biomarkers, 15-17BCFA and 17:0 were significantly higher in fish in the Durgun reservoir, whereas the level of EPA (diatom biomarker) in O. potanini was higher in the Taishir reservoir. The established higher values of the heavy nitrogen isotope content in the muscles of O. potanini from the Taishir reservoir are most likely associated with the yet unformed benthic communities and with the incomplete diversification of the riverine form of the Potanin Altai osman into lacustrine forms.

Fundamental aspects in the evolution of nematodes parasitizing woody plants are reviewed. (1) Nematode faunal lists of natural refugia are useful to predict the risks of opportunistic pathogens becoming true pathogens in the forest and park communities. (2) Nematode composition in natural refugia gives a chance to identify nematode antagonists of insect vectors of dangerous fungal and nematode infections, which can be potentially used as the biological agents for woody plants’ protection. (3) Dauers in the ancestors of wood-inhabiting nematodes played a role as a survival stage in the detritus decomposition succession, and they later acquired the functions of dispersal and adaptations for transmission using insect vectors. (4) When inspecting wilted trees, it is necessary to use dauers for diagnostics, as sexually mature nematodes may be absent in tree tissues. (5) Plant parasitic nematodes originated from members of the detritus food web and retained a detritivorous phase in the life cycle as a part of the propagative generation. (6) Vectors in the life cycles of plant parasitic nematodes are inherited from the ancestral detritivorous nematode associations, rather than inserted in the dixenic life cycle of the ‘nematode–fungus–plant’ association. (7) Despite the significant difference in the duration of the nematode–tree and nematode–vector phases of the life cycle, the actual parasitic nematode specificity is dual: firstly to the vector and secondly to the natural host plant (as demonstrated in phytotests excluding a vector).

We performed a detailed ultrastructural reconstruction of the “passive” miracidium of Derogenes varicus Muller, 1784 , a species from the Hemiurata group. The miracidium is highly miniaturized and simplified in comparison with the “active” miracidia. For the first time we elucidated the nature of the spines on the surface of the hemiuroid larva: they are derivatives of the epithelial plates. The anterior end of the larva is equipped with three epithelial plates that bear both spines and cilia. The major part of the miracidial surface is formed by the tegument. The nervous and excretory systems of the D. varicus miracidium are extremely reduced. Single undifferentiated cell comprises the germinal material of the miracidium. We discuss the trends of evolution of hemiuroid miracidia that are associated with the transition to passive strategy of infection.

The giant tegument nuclei of the acanthocephalans of the classes Archiacanthocephala and Palaeacanthocephala are fragmented at the final stage of cystacanthus formation in the intermediate host, but remain connected with each other during later life. It can be assumed that the fragments of each giant tegument nucleus are united with each other to form an independent network that ensures the vital activity of the tegument, the volume of which increases many times during the period of intensive growth of the parasite in the definitive host.

Metacestode infestation of Semibalanus balanoides (L., 1767) and Balanus crenatus Bruguiеre, 1789, collected in the Barents and White Seas and in the northern part of the Sea of Okhotsk in 2020 and 2021, respectively, was studied. A total of 313 S. balanoides from Mogilnaya Bay of Kildin Island (Barents Sea) and isolated mature wrinkled barnacles B. crenatus, two and four specimens from the Pechora Sea and Kandalaksha Bay of the White Sea, respectively, were examined in 2020. Metacestodes Fimbriarioides intermedia (Fuhrmann, 1913) (Cyclophyllidea, Hymenolepididae) were found in 1.0 ± 0.6% of S. balanoides in the Barents Sea with an invasion intensity (I. I.) of 2–5 specimens, and in one of two B. crenatus from the Pechora Sea (I. I. 15 specimens). For the first time, in both B. crenatus from the Pechora Sea, taken from the valves of the mussel Mytilus edulis, metacestodes Microsomacanthus sp. I (I. I. 13 and 20 specimens) with proboscis hooks 38–41 (39.4 ± 0.1) µm long and blades of 9.5–11 (10.7 ± 0.1) µm were obtained. One of four B. crenatus from the Kandalaksha Bay was infected with another Microsomacanthus sp. II (I. I. 19 specimens) with proboscis hooks 44.0–49.5 (45.7 ± 0.5) µm long and blades 14.0–16.0 (14.8 ± 0.07) µm long. A total of 362 S. balanoides were collected and dissected in Gizhiginskaya Bay of the northern part of the Sea of Okhotsk in 2021, of which 8.0 ± 1.4% were infected with F. intermedia metacestodes (I. I. 1–19 specimens). Study results of the infestation of S. balanoides on the Koni-Pyagin coast of the Sea of Okhotsk (according to the collections of 2006–2007) were supplemented and clarified. Description of metacestodes and the taxonomic affiliation of cysticercoids Microsomacanthus spp. are given.

This work presents the results of studying the molecular characteristics of parasitic tapeworms Echinococcus canadensis. The helminths were discovered during the autopsy of a wolf (Canis lupus Linnaeus, 1758) killed by hunters in the Kirov oblast in 2021. A molecular phylogenetic study was performed by analyzing the sequence of a fragment of the first subunit of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase gene (CoxI). It was found that the detected echinococci belong to the G10 genotype of E. canadensis, which is common in wolves in the northern territories of the Holarctic. We discovered four positions at which the substitutions characteristic only of this genotype are revealed. A substitution at one of the positions that is characteristic exclusively for the representatives of the G10 genotype found in Russia and Finland was also discovered.

The objective of the study was to identify different phenotypes of overweight in women with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) based on body mass index (BMI) and serum leptin levels, as well as to determine the frequencies of various metabolic disorders, hypertension, and cardiovascular complications (CVCs) in individual phenotypes. The study included 50 women with RA and 46 with SLE aged 18 to 65 years without a history of diabetes and fasting hyperglycemia. In all patients, the concentration of leptin was determined by ELISA, the concentration of insulin was determined by electrochemiluminescence analysis, and the HOMA-IR index was calculated. Hyperleptinemia was diagnosed at leptin concentrations > 11.1 ng/mL; insulin resistance (IR), at HOMA-IR values ≥ 2.77. Three main phenotypes of overweight were distinguished: “classic” (BMI ≥ 25 kg/m² + hyperleptinemia), “healthy” (BMI ≥ 25 kg/m², without hyperleptinemia), “hidden” or “latent” (BMI < 25 kg/m² + hyperleptinemia), as well as “normal weight” (BMI < 25 kg/m², without hyperleptinemia). Patients with RA and SLE were similar in age (p = 0.4), disease duration (p = 0.2) and BMI (p = 0.5). Hyperleptinemia was found in 46% of women with RA and in 74% of women with SLE (p = 0.005), and IR was found in 10 and 22% of patients, respectively (p = 0.2). The “classic” phenotype of overweight was diagnosed in 30%, “healthy” in 8%, and “hidden” in 16% of cases with RA and in 44%, 0%, and 30% of cases with SLE, respectively. IR was found in 3% and hypertension in 6% of patients with “normal weight.” With the “classic” phenotype, IR (29%) and hypertension (66%) were more common than with “normal weight” (p < 0.01 in all cases); with the “hidden” phenotype, significant differences were obtained only in hypertension frequency (45%; p = 0.0012), but not IR (18%). Three out of four women with a history of cardiovascular complications suffered from “classic” overweight, and one patient had a “normal weight.” In women with SLE up to 65 years of age, the frequency of hyperleptinemia, but not IR, is higher than in patients with RA. In both diseases, the “classic” overweight phenotype is most common. In RA, a “hidden” phenotype was detected less often than in SLE, at the same time, a “healthy” phenotype is not characteristic of SLE. The frequency of metabolic disorders and hypertension is low with the “normal weight” and “healthy” phenotype, high with the “classic” phenotype, and intermediate with the “hidden” phenotype.

Biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (bDMARDs) can have different effects on various clinical manifestations of ankylosing spondylitis (AS). Data on the effects of interleukin 17 inhibitors (IL17-i) on uveitis in AS continue to accumulate. Objective: to evaluate the effect of IL17-i therapy on the course of uveitis in AS. The study involved 73 patients with AS (New York criteria, 1984), who received IL17-i (57—secukinumab (SEC), 22—netakimab (NTK)) for at least 1 year. The average age of patients at the time of inclusion in the study was 41.93 ± 8.95 years, the average duration of AS was 10.75 ± 6.22 years. There were 40 men (56.7%) and 33 women (43.3%) among the patients. HLA-B27 was detected in 62/73 (85%), coxitis in 58 (79%), enthesitis in 63 (86.3%), peripheral arthritis in 57 (78%), psoriasis in 7 (9.5%), and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in 3 (4.1%) patients; in 6 (8.2%) patients, the disease started before the age of 16; 19 (26%) patients had at least one episode of uveitis during the course of the disease. The rates of uveitis was estimated by comparing the number of incidences per 100 patient-years before the start of bDMARDs therapy and during IL17-i using. The incidence rate of uveitis before the start of bDMARDs therapy for all patients was 8.3 per 100 pt-years (95% CI 0.065–0.107), during IL17-i therapy— 9.2 per 100 pt-years (95% CI 0.06–0.15), p = 0.72. The incidence rate of uveitis among patients who used SEC was 10.1 per 100 pt-years (95% CI 0.079–0.13) before the start of bDMARDs therapy and 9.4 per 100 pt-years (95% CI 0.05-0.15), p = 0.74 during SEC therapy. The incidence rate of uveitis among patients who used NTK was 4.8 per 100 pt-years (95% CI 0.028–0.08) before the start of bDMARDs therapy and 7.1 per 100 pt-years (95% CI 0.019–022), p = 0.3 during the NTK therapy. For patients with a history of uveitis, the incidence rate of uveitis was 22.5 per 100 pt-years (95% CI 0.18–0.28) before the start of therapy with bDMARDs and 29.1 per 100 pt-years (95% CI 0.18–0.43), p = 0.29 during IL17-i therapy. Occurrences of uveitis were observed in 4 of 57 patients (7%) during SEC therapy and in 1 of 25 (4%) patients during the NTK therapy. One case of new-onset uveitis was recorded during the using of SEC. There were no significant differences in the incidence rates of uveitis during IL17-i therapy compared with non-biological therapy. IL17-i therapy have not demonstrated a significant effect on the course of uveitis in AS in the study group.