Peptidergic correction of behavior in adult progeny of albino rats exposed to acute hypoxia during early organogenesis

Physical development, spontaneous behavior, and training capacity were evaluated in adult progeny of albino rats exposed to acute hypobaric hypoxia on days 9–10 of gestation, corresponding to the early organogenesis period. Prenatal hypoxia caused delayed behavioral disorders, which were more pronounced in females born from mothers with low resistance to hypoxia. Therapeutic intranasal administration of Pro-Gly-Pro peptide in a dose of 1 mg/kg to rat pups on days 13–15 of life completely prevented the negative consequences of acute prenatal hypoxia in adult females and leveled virtually all negative consequences, except delayed physical development, in males. __________ Translated from Byulleten’ Eksperimental’noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 142, No. 7, pp. 38–41, July, 2006     

The role of hyperbaric oxygenation in combined treatment of acute pyelonephritis

Hyperbaric oxygenation (HBO) was used in combined treatment of 66 patients with acute pyelonephritis. In 29 of them with primary pyelonephritis it was a part of conservative treatment. In 37 patients with secondary pyelonephritis HBO was applied postoperatively. A HBO course comprised 8-10 sessions under pressure 2.0-2.4 atm for 60 min. It was found that frequency of surgical interventions in HBO administration reduced by 36.2%. Postoperative HBO administration decreased hospital stay by 16.9%. Mechanisms of HBO positive action operate through attenuation of systemic inflammatory reaction and polyorganic insufficiency 1.62 and 2.9-fold, respectively, decline of intoxication in growing glomerular filtration rate and improvement of renal hemodynamics. Moreover, HBO promotes recovery of the immune status. In experiment on 40 white rats with acute pyelonephritis HBO decreased inflammation in renal tissue.     

Cystic lesions of the retrorectal space

Cysts of the retrorectal space comprise a heterogeneous group of rare lesions. Most develop from embryological remnants and include tailgut cysts, dermoid cysts, rectal duplication cysts, anal canal duplication cysts, sacrococcygeal teratomas and anterior meningocoele. Tailgut cyst is the most common cyst of developmental origin, usually presenting as a multilocular cystic mass with mucoid content and lined by multiple epithelial types. Compared with tailgut cysts, rectal duplication cysts display all layers of the large bowel wall including a well-defined muscularis propria. Retrorectal cysts of non-developmental origin are far less common and represent lesions that either infrequently involve the retrorectal space or undergo extensive cystic change. This review provides an overview of the various histological types of cystic lesions of the retrorectal space, divided into cysts of developmental origin and those of non-developmental origin. A practical pathological and multidisciplinary approach to diagnosing these lesions is presented.     

Ectotherm mitochondrial economy and responses to global warming

Temperature is a key abiotic factor affecting ecology, biogeography, and evolution of species. Alterations of energy metabolism play an important role in adaptations and plastic responses to temperature shifts on different time scales. Mitochondrial metabolism affects cellular bioenergetics and redox balance making these organelles an important determinant of organismal performances such as growth, locomotion, or development. Here I analyze the impacts of environmental temperature on the mitochondrial functions (including oxidative phosphorylation, proton leak, production of reactive oxygen species(ROS), and ATP synthesis) of ectotherms and discuss the mechanisms underlying negative shifts in the mitochondrial energy economy caused by supraoptimal temperatures. Owing to the differences in the thermal sensitivity of different mitochondrial processes, elevated temperatures (beyond the species- and population-specific optimal range) cause reallocation of the electron flux and the protonmotive force (Δp) in a way that decreases ATP synthesis efficiency, elevates the relative cost of the mitochondrial maintenance, causes excessive production of ROS and raises energy cost for antioxidant defense. These shifts in the mitochondrial energy economy might have negative consequences for the organismal fitness traits such as the thermal tolerance or growth. Correlation between the thermal sensitivity indices of the mitochondria and the whole organism indicate that these traits experience similar selective pressures but further investigations are needed to establish whether there is a cause-effect relationship between the mitochondrial failure and loss of organismal performance during temperature change.     

Imaging of non-parabolic velocity profiles in converging flow with optical coherence tomography

The optical coherence tomography method was explored for two-dimensional flow mapping of a highly scattering fluid in flow with complex geometry. Converging flow (capillary entry) with 4:1 constriction was used for demonstration of non-invasive and remote methods of mapping varying velocity profiles. Downstream of the geometry was scanned with approximately 10 x 10 x 10 microm3 spatial resolution and structural imaging of the lumen and images of one particular velocity were acquired. Stable concave, blunted and parabolic profiles are obtained at different distances of the inlet length. Application of the technique for the blood circulation is also discussed.