Study Objective: To determine, based on data from examination of apparently healthy subjects, parameter reference values for 18F-DOPA positron emission tomography (PET) of the brain. Study Design: This was a prospective study. Materials and Methods: Apparently healthy subjects (n = 33) underwent 18F-DOPA PET of the brain using a Discovery PET/CT 600 scanner. Data were processed using standard statistical methods. The Shapiro-Wilk test was used to test data distribution for normality, and Pearson and Spearman covariance and correlation matrices were calculated. The key components were analyzed to assess combined scattering (explained variance). Study Results: For absolute parameters, the following reference levels were determined for radioactivity concentration (median [1st quartile; 3rd quartile]): 2.24 [2.02; 2.80] kBq/mL in the right putamen, 2.26 [2.02; 2.75] kBq/mL in the left putamen, 2.11 [1.78; 2.55] kBq/mL in the right caudate nucleus (CN), 2.01 [1.74; 2.49] kBq/mL in the left caudate nucleus, and 0.81 [0.71; 1.00] and 0.81 [0.74; 1.02] kBq/mL in the right and left occipital cortices (OC), respectively. For relative parameters, the following reference values were determined (mean ± standard deviation): 2.66 ± 0.52 for the right corpus striatum/OC, 2.68 ± 0.53 for the left corpus striatum/OC, 2.36 ± 0.48 for the right CN/OC, 2.34 ± 0.47 for the left CN/OC, 1.09 ± 0.21 for the right corpus striatum/CN, and 1.11 ± 0.21 for the left corpus striatum/CN. Conclusion: The paper presents reference values for radioactivity concentration in 18F-DOPA PET of the brain. This is the first report of such data. Keywords: neurodegenerative disorders, dopamine metabolism, population norm.

Relevance. The COVID-19 pandemic has once again shown how important it is to follow the principles of evidence-based medicine in etiopathogenetic therapy. Treatment of COVID-19 and its complications, carried out on the basis of individual publications, in fact, having the status of a series of clinical cases, as a rule, did not bring the desired result. Objective: to study the safety of transfusion of single-group hyperimmune plasma of convalescents containing a high titer of antibodies to the RBD domain of the S-protein SARS-CoV-2 in patients with moderate and severe forms of COVID-19 in the framework of a prospective comparative clinical study. Results. It was found that after plasma transfusion of convalescents to patients in a severe and extremely severe condition on the day of the start of mechanical ventilation or being on mechanical ventilation, the 30-day mortality rate was 60%, which did not differ from the lethality of the control group, which included 70 completed cases in which mechanical ventilation was performed. (57.9%). On the contrary, the mortality rate in moderate and severe patients who received plasma while on spontaneous breathing was significantly lower than the average hospital mortality in our hospital (4.3% and 6.73%, respectively), and also significantly lower than the mortality in the control group receiving non-immune plasma (10.0%). When transfusing anticoid plasma, the most frequently observed adverse events were allergic reactions in the form of urticaria and a febrile non-hemolytic reaction. A serious adverse event in the form of non-cardiogenic pulmonary edema has been reported once. Conclusions. 1. Convalescent plasma prescribed to patients with severe COVID-19 who are on mechanical ventilation does not affect the outcome of the disease. 2. Convalescent plasma prescribed to patients with moderate and severe COVID-19 who are on spontaneous respiration significantly reduces hospital mortality in these patients. 3. Transfusion of convalescent plasma can cause serious adverse events, therefore, when prescribing plasma therapy, it is necessary to weigh the risk of mortality from disease progression and the potential risks from plasma transfusion in each case.

No abstract

No abstract

Background. Parkinson’s disease (PD) is one of the common neurodegenerative diseases. Several genes are known (SNCA, PARK2, PINK1, PARK7 (DJ-1) and LRRK2), mutations in which have a pathological significance in the development of monogenic PD; association with PD of other genes (for example, UCHL1, ATP13A2) requires further study. It is also known, that GBA gene is associated with an increased risk of PD developing.Aim. Analysis of mutations and polymorphisms in the PARK2, PINK1, SNCA, ATP13A2, PARK7, LRRK2, UCHL, GCH1 and GBA genes in patients with PD from Krasnoyarsk region.Material and methods. The 60 patients with sporadic and familial forms of PD were included in the study. The SALSA MLPA Holland P051 and P052 kits («MRC Amsterdam», The Netherlands) were used to detect deletions and duplications in the PARK2, PINK1, SNCA, ATP13A2, PARK7, LRRK2, UCHL, GCH1 genes, as well as point mutations A30P in the SNCA gene and G2019S in the LRRK2 gene. Analysis of the GBA gene was carried out by Senger sequencing.Results. None of the 60 patients had mutations that were searched with the SALSA MLPA Holland P051 and P052 kits. 6 different mutations in the GBA gene were found in 9 out of 60 patients with PD. L444P («severe» PD — associated mutation) — in two patients, D409H («severe» PD — associated mutation) — in one patient, T369M (polymorphism, possibly associated with PD) — in two patients, E326K (polymorphism, possibly associated with PD) — in one patient, V460V (synonymous variant, which is part of the composition of the complex RecNcil mutation (p.L444P; p.A456P; p.V460V) associated with PD) — in two patients and variant C.*92g>A (3’ — UTR polymorphism, possibly associated with PD) — in one patient. Two patients had compound heterozygous carriers of two variants.Conclusion. This paper presents the genetic analysis results of the PD associated genes among patients from the Krasnoyarsk region. No mutations were detected in the PARK2, PINK1, SNCA, ATP13A2, PARK7, LRRK2, UCHL and GCH1 genes. Genetic variants analysis of the GBA gene showed similar frequency in the patients from the Krasnoyarsk region as in European populations.