In recent years, the application of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) has been recognized as a promising method for treatment of different diseases associated with inflammation and sclerosis, which include nephrotuberculosis. The aim of our study is to investigate the effectiveness of MSCs in the complex therapy of experimental rabbit kidney tuberculosis and to evaluate the effect of cell therapy on the reparative processes. Methods: To simulate kidney tuberculosis, a suspension of the standard strain Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv (10⁶ CFU) was used, which was injected into the cortical layer of the lower pole parenchyma of the left kidney under ultrasound control in rabbits. Anti-tuberculosis therapy (aTBT) was started on the 18th day after infection. MSCs (5 × 10⁷ cells) were transplanted intravenously after the start of aTBT. Results: 2.5 months after infection, all animals showed renal failure. Conducted aTBT significantly reduced the level of albumin, ceruloplasmin, elastase and the severity of disorders in the proteinase/inhibitor system and increased the productive nature of inflammation. A month after MSC transplantation, the level of inflammatory reaction activity proteins decreased, the area of specific and destructive inflammation in kidneys decreased and the formation of mature connective tissue was noted, which indicates the reparative reaction activation.

Introduction. Melatonin and serotonin can influence certain aging processes in the ovaries. The main melatonin receptors are represented by types MT1 and MT2. The goal of investigation. Here, we evaluated the expression of genes and synthesis of MT1 and MT2 receptors, as well as serotonin synthesis in the ovaries during ontogenesis. Methods. We analyzed histological material obtained from the ovaries of infants, women of younger and older reproductive age, premenopausal, menopausal, and postmenopausal women. For the analysis of MT1 and MT2 receptors and serotonin expression and synthesis, RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry were used. Results. We found that the synthesis of serotonin, as well as MT1 and MT2 receptors in the ovaries significantly decrease in ontogenesis. The sharpest drop in these molecules was observed in samples obtained from one-year-old infants, as well as from pubescent girls and menopausal women. A statistically significant 2.3–7.6-fold decrease in the expression of MTNR1A and MTNR1B genes in the ovaries was also observed in one-year-old infants, in adolescents, and in middle-aged women. Conclusions. These data are crucial to understanding the fundamental mechanisms of aging of the female reproductive system and the search for molecules predicting its aging.

Introduction. In order to exclude the difficulties arising in the course of traditional surgical interventions in the scope of substitutional urethroplasty, in recent years, alternative materials have been developed using tissue engineering. This study is devoted to the development of new tissue-engineered constructions for urethroplasty using cells of different tissue origins and biopolymers, which is an urgent problem of modern medicine. Aim. Experimental provision of a rationale for the possibility of using tissue-engineered constructions to replace urethral defects. Methods and materials. Two-staged, experimental, controlled study. Dedicated to the development of tissue-engineered constructions (TEC) based on biopolymers seeded with mesenchymal stem cells or buccal epithelial cells. The prepared TECs were implanted into the rabbits urethra wall in a acute trauma model. Comparison of the results of the TECs usage with the gold standard buccal urethraplasty was carried out. Results. Urethrography showed similar results in all groups of animals, regardless the type of implanted material. No urethral patency was found, and confocal microscopy of urethral cryosections revealed the presence of nanoparticle-labeled mesenchymal stem cells / buccal epithelium cells with signs of their differentiation in the urothelial direction in the mucous layer. Conclusion. The possibility of using tissue-engineered constructions based on biopolymers containing autologous mesenchymal stem cells or buccal epithelium cells for experimental substitutional urethroplasty was shown. The developed TECs can be used as an alternative to buccal urethroplasty in an experiment.

BACKGROUND: Increasing the efficiency of predicting the results of treatment of patients with bladder cancer is one of the important tasks of modern urology. AIM: Our aim was to identify and evaluate the association between the most significant clinical, morphological and immunological markers and survival of muscle-invasive bladder cancer patients treated with radical cystectomy. We also developed an algorithm for diagnosis and treatment of patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This retrospective study included 100 muscle-invasive bladder cancer patients, who underwent radical cystectomy between 1995 and 2013. The study endpoints were overall survival. RESULTS: Univariable analysis revealed that continuous (Lymphocyte-monocyte ratio), PLR (platelet-lymphocyte ratio) и NLR (neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio) were significantly associated with overall survival. On multivariable regression model analysis, continuous LMR, NLR, and PLR independently predicted both endpoints. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that the cheap and simple blood-based biomarkers may be valuable in identifying muscle-invasive bladder cancer patients treated with radical cystectomy, who are at higher risk of all-cause mortality.

Experimental and clinical studies using cell therapy are very popular. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and stem cell-derived extracellular vesicles (EV) are used as one of the components of therapy in these researches. The action of MSCs is mediated by the release of EV which play a direct role in the implementation of several important biological processes: angiogenesis, proliferation, modulation of the inflammatory process and immune response, inhibition of cellular apoptosis, etc. These properties of MSCs and stem cell-derived EV are of interest in the treatment of tuberculosis infection, because an integral part of the pathogenesis of tuberculosis is the creation of specific granulomas and the formation of fibrosis.