No abstract

The deficiency of alpha-1 protease inhibitor, or alpha-1-antitrypsin (A1AT), predisposes to chronic lung diseases and extrapulmonary pathology. Besides classical manifestations, such as pulmonary emphysema and liver disease, alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency (A1ATD) is also known to be associated with granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA or Wegener's granulomatosis). The aim of our study was to evaluate the frequency of allelic isoforms of A1AT and their clinical significance among GPA patients. Detailed clinical information, including Birmingham Vasculitis Activity Score (BVAS), incidence of lung involvement, anti-proteinase 3 (PR3) antibodies concentrations, and other laboratory data were collected in 38 GPA patients. We also studied serum samples obtained from 46 healthy donors. In all collected samples A1AT phenotyping by isoelectrofocusing (IEF) and turbidimetric A1AT measurement were performed. Abnormal A1AT variants were found in 18.4% (7/38) of cases: 1 ZZ, 4 MZ, 2 MF, and only 1 MZ in control group (2%). The mean A1AT concentration in samples with atypical A1AT phenotypes was significantly lower (P = 0.0038) than in normal A1AT phenotype. We found that patients with abnormal A1AT phenotypes had significantly higher vasculitis activity (BVAS) as well as anti-PR3 antibodies concentration. We conclude that A1AT deficiency should be considered in all patients with GPA.

Concentrations of kappa FLC can help to define the prognosis of MS early at the disease course. Although low concentrations of FLC do not exclude a severe disease phenotype, patients with high K-FLC concentrations are at greater risk for faster MS progression, probably, due to impaired reparation of neural tissue. Measurement of FLC concentrations can be used to determine a therapeutic tactics in patients with MS.

The article studies the biophysical characteristics of biochemical modifications of uromodulin in case of urolithiasis as a factor reducing the colloidal stability of urine and decrease factor of threshold of solubility of salts and/or exceeding their concentration above the threshold of solubility.The role of urease-positive microorganisms increasing the concentration of ammonium ions and, by this, initiating polymerization of uromodulin and crystallogenesis was demonstrated.

The Fas/FasL system is known to play a central role in maintaining peripheral self-tolerance and tissue homeostasis of the organism [12, 18]. Fas-mediated apoptosis is induced by binding of the Fas(CD 95/APO-l/TNFRSF6)-receptor to the Fas(CD 95L/CD 178/TNFSF6)-ligand on the respective cells [24]. Triggering of the expression of cell surface Fas receptors (Fas) regulates the elimination of autoreactive T- and B-lymphocytes by apoptosis. It is known that impaired activation of Fas-mediated apoptosis in individual subpopulations of T-cells plays an important role in the pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). The main key point in the development of T1DM is resistance to apoptosis of activated autoreactive T-lymphocytes, which migrate from the bloodstream to the pancreas and take an active part in β-cells destruction. Аt the present time, most of the results on the study of Fas-mediated apoptosis in T1DM were obtained in experiments in vitro [11, 18, 31]. There is no doubt that in vivo autoimmune pathological changes are more profound, and extrapolation of the results obtained in the experiment to the organism is not always valid. Тhereby, it seems relevant to evaluate the efficiency of Fas-mediated apoptosis of T-lymphocytes in the blood of patients with T1DM, depending on the compensation phase and the duration of the disease. In the article, the markers of Fas-mediated apoptosis of peripheral blood lymphocytes in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus and individuals with high risk of T1DM development have been studied. The surface expression of Fas in individual subpopulations of T-lymphocytes was еvaluated. The inhibition of Fas-mediated apoptosis of autoreactive CD 95+-cells by soluble Fas-receptor was detected in patients with decompensation of T1DM. In compensation phase of T1DM Fas-mediated apoptosis of lymphocyte was successfully realized via the soluble Fas ligand (sFasL). The increased level of soluble FasL was revealed in compensation phase of T1DM and in individuals with high risk of T1DM development. This probably has a protective value, since the soluble FasL is involved in the removal of the peripheral blood autoreactive CD 95+-cells.