Comorbidity, a co-incidence of several disorders in an individual, is a common phenomenon. Their development is governed by multiple factors, including genetic variation. The current study was set up to look at associations between isolated and comorbid diseases of bronchial asthma and hypertension, on one hand, and single nucleotide polymorphisms associated with regulation of gene expression (eQTL), on the other hand. A total of 96 eQTL SNPs were genotyped in 587 Russian individuals. Bronchial asthma alone was found to be associated with rs1927914 (TLR4), rs1928298 (intergenic variant), and rs1980616 (SERPINA1); hypertension alone was found to be associated with rs11065987 (intergenic variant); rs2284033 (IL2RB), rs11191582 (NT5C2), and rs11669386 (CARD8); comorbidity between asthma and hypertension was found to be associated with rs1010461 (ANG/RNASE4), rs7038716, rs7026297 (LOC105376244), rs7025144 (intergenic variant), and rs2022318 (intergenic variant). The results suggest that genetic background of comorbidity of asthma and hypertension is different from genetic backgrounds of both diseases manifesting isolated.

Variable Sex Radiochemical plant Plutonium plant Plutonium plantSublimate plant

He-Ne laser irradiation (0.01-6 J/cm3) of the blood and neutrophile suspension in vitrowas shown to modulate reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in healthy donors. Intravascular laser irradiation of the blood (5 mW, 30 minutes, daily) of the patients with chronic gastric ulcer during first 5 days resulted in increasing stimul-induced ROS production in patients with the low initial chemiluminescence response and its decreasing in patients with the high initial chemiluminescence response

Purpose: To date, only a few studies have examined long-term health risks of exposures in the uranium processing industry and reported contradictory results, necessitating further research in this area. This is the first description of a cohort of $65,000 uranium processing workers (20.6% women) of the Siberian Group of Chemical Enterprises (SGCE) in Seversk, Russia, first employed during 1950-2010. Methods: SGCE is one of the largest and oldest uranium processing complexes in the world. SGCE workers at the Radiochemical, Plutonium, Sublimate and Enrichment plants were exposed to a combination of internal and external radiation, while workers at the Support Facility were primarily exposed to non-radiation factors. Results: Mean cumulative gamma-ray dose based on individual external dosimetry was 28.3 millisievert. About 4,000 workers have individual biophysical survey data that could be used for estimation of organ doses from uranium. SGCE workers were followed up for mortality and cancer incidence during 1950-2013 (vital status known for 80.8% of workers). The SGCE computerized database contains information on the results of regular medical examinations, and on smoking, alcohol and other individual characteristics. Conclusions: The SGCE cohort is uniquely suited to examine long-term health risks of exposures to gamma-radiation and long-lived radionuclides in uranium processing workers.