Articular cartilage is constantly exposed to high loads. Wearing out of joints due to aging, as well as their poor functioning, is a common problem leading to a significant decline in the quality of human life. Lubricin is one of the main components of the biological lubrication system, it is a surface-active mucinous glycoprotein, which plays an important role in cartilage integrity. Its main function is to protect the cartilage surfaces from excessive friction – a necessary condition for maintaining the health of mammal joints. Moreover, lubricin has growth-regulating properties, it participates in the maturation of the subchondral bone and prevents cell adhesion. Although the molecule of lubricin was discovered almost half a century ago, there is still not much data available. The molecule has a great potential in medical applications. Studying lubricin can help solve problems caused by joint diseases, such as osteoarthritis. This review presents up-to-date information about structural and functional features of lubricin, its role in maintaining the integrity of articular cartilage, which can serve as a basis for the development of chondroprotectors or as a material to improve existing joint prostheses.

Dental implantation is a method widely used in dental practice, based on the process of osseointegration – the formation of a strong connection between the inserted implant and the bone tissue. The use of these implants has a number of problems with the osseointegration process associated primarily with the development of pathogenic microflora and possible damage. To combat these difficulties, various materials are being developed for coating implants with the addition of bioactive elements, which reduce the possibility of infection by pathogenic microorganisms, as well as increase strength, improve osseointegration and biocompatibility of implants with bone tissue. The most effective coatings at the moment are hydroxyapatite and calcium triphosphate, using such bioactive elements as growth factors and components of the bone matrix, as well as chitosan, silver and gold salts. When using dental implants, monitoring of osseointegration is necessary to minimize bone loss, and fluoroscopy is the most suitable method for this. The state of the environment has a strong impact on the health of citizens. Volgograd has a high level of environmental pollution, which directly affects the frequency of diseases, including diseases of the oral cavity and teeth. According to the statistics of people visiting dental hospitals, the values in the Krasnoarmeyskiy region exceed, while the number of implants installed per year in this region is low and amounts to 1500, while in the Voroshilovskiy region, with the number of patients being half as much, the number of implants is more than 1000 all associated with the increased use of surgical services for the extraction of teeth in the area. Key words: dental implantation, osseointegration, ecology, environmental pollution, health level.

Osteoarthritis is one of the most common degenerative joint diseases. The study of the causes of its occurrence and development is relevant to this day. The lack of data on the causes of its occurrence and development complicates the treatment process. It is known that with the development of this disease, the proliferation of chondrocytes in the articular cartilage progresses at different stages, but the mechanism of this process is poorly understood. An increase in proliferation leads to a sharp increase in the process of autophagy, which in turn affects a decrease in the lubricating function of both cartilage and synovial fluid, which leads to an irreversible stage of joint degeneration. The problem of reducing the viscoelastic properties of cartilage can be solved by introducing natural chondroprotectors, one of which is surfactant proteins. To study the proliferative properties, a research work was carried out, during which osteoarthritis was experimentally simulated in Wistar rats by introducing a solution of medical talc. This led to a decrease in the lubricating function of the synovial fluid and an increase in the number of chondrocytes. However, when using a lubricant based on a substance containing surfactant proteins, the lubricating function of the synovial fluid improved, which contributed to the restoration of cartilage in osteoarthritis.

Dental implantation is a fairly popular method of restoring a lost tooth, which has clear advantages, such as durability, strength, no additional load on adjacent teeth, as well as the external naturalness and aesthetics of the implant. However, despite the latest developments in this area, the problem of osseointegration success remains, and the factors of its impairment are still not limited only to the dentist’s mistake. In this regard, it is necessary to study in detail the signaling molecules of the “implant-bone” system to track the correctness of the course of every osseointegration stage, and possibly control them. This article presents a functional model with information on the effect of signaling protein molecules on osteogenic cells with a detailed action description of each signaling molecule in each osseointegration subprocess. Based on the data collected here, in subsequent studies, it will be possible to predict the success, quality, and intensity of osseointegration. A detailed analysis of the data presented here can help minimize dental implantation failure. In the future, it is necessary to study the possibility of influencing the osseointegration process by changing the expression or suppression of individual signaling molecules. It is important that such therapy can minimize the impact of non-compliance with the doctor’s recommendations by the patient on the process of osseointegration. Thus, another huge layer of reasons for possible implant rejection will disappear.