In the present study we have investigated the association of three single nucleotide polymorphisms in glutathione peroxidase (GPx) genes GPX1 rs1050450 (P198L), GPX3 rs2070593 (G930A) and GPX4 rs713041 (T718C) with the risk of cerebral stroke (CS) in patients with essential hypertension (EH). A total of 667 unrelated EH patients of Russian origin, including 306 hypertensives (the EH-CS group) who suffered from CS and 361 people (the EH-CS group) who did not have cerebrovascular accidents, were enrolled in the study. The variant allele 718C of the GPX4 gene was found to be significantly associated with an increased risk of CS in hypertensive patients (odds ratio (OR) 1.53, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.23-1.90, P adj ¼0.0003). The prevalence of the 718TC and 718CC genotypes of the GPX4 gene was higher in the EH-CS group than the EH-alone group (OR¼2.12, 95%CI 1.42-3.16, P adj ¼0.0018). The association of the variant GPX4 genotypes with the increased risk of CS in hypertensives remained statistically significant after adjusting for confounding variables such as sex, body mass index (BMI), blood pressure and antihypertensive medication use (OR¼2.18, 95%CI 1.46-3.27, P¼0.0015). Multiple logistic regression analysis did not reveal any interaction between various combinations of GPX1, GPX3 and GPX4 genotypes regarding the risk of CS in patients with EH. The study demonstrated for the first time that the C718T polymorphism in the 3¢-untranslated region of the GPX4 gene could be considered as a genetic marker of susceptibility to CS in patients with EH.

Oxidative stress resulting from an increased amount of reactive oxygen species and an imbalance between oxidants and antioxidants has been implicated in pathogenesis of cerebral stroke. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between common polymorphisms of glutathione S-transferase M1, T1, and P1 genes and risk of stroke in hypertensive individuals. A total of 667 unrelated Russian individuals with hypertension, including 306 hypertensives who suffered from cerebral stroke and 361 hypertensives who did not have cerebrovascular accidents, were recruited for the study. The deletion polymorphisms of GSTM1 and GSTT1 genes and polymorphism Ile105Val of the GSTP1 gene were genotyped by a multiplex polymerase chain reaction and restriction analyses, respectively. No differences in GSTM1 and GSTP1 genotype distributions between the cases and controls have been observed. The null GSTT1 genotype was found to be associated with increased risk of cerebral stroke after Bonferroni correction and adjusting for confounding variables such as gender, blood pressure, body mass index, and antihypertensive medication use (odds ratio 1.51 95 % CI 1.09-2.07, P = 0.01). The present study was the first to show the association of null genotype of the GSTT1 gene with increased risk of cerebral stroke.

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The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic announced by the World Health Organization in March 2020 has brought new tasks to the medical community that require immediate solutions. Recent studies have shown that invasive aspergillosis associated with coronavirus infection caused by COVID-19 often aggravates the course of the disease and leads to death. The article presents a clinical case of acute invasive aspergillosis in a COVID-19 patient with chronic somatic pathology but no risk factors for developing invasive pulmonary aspergillosis. The disease was progressing rapidly and led to a fatal outcome.Conclusion. In the case presented, invasive pulmonary aspergillosis was diagnosed with the help of histological examination of autopsy material.

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