Metabolic syndrome currently remains one of the most pressing problems in medicine, since it makes its decisive contribution to the development of cardiovascular diseases and cerebral complications. Another important problem of modern medicine is arterial hypertension, which is one of the constituent criteria of metabolic syndrome, whose mechanism of development is due to a disruption in the work of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, the sympathoadrenal system, an increased content of pro-inflammatory cytokines, as well as an imbalance in the adipokine system. Adipose tissue now acts not just as a structure that provides our body with energy only, but now it acts as an organ of the endocrine system, producing a large number of metabolically active substances. Patients with metabolic syndrome have been found to have elevated levels of proinflammatory cytokines were increased: monocytic chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α). These cytokines are thought to be synthesised by adipose tissue macrophages and are involved in the pathogenesis of the metabolic syndrome. Oxidative stress can induce insulin resistance in adipocytes. The pathogenesis of oxidative stress in adipocytes in MS is still a mystery. This knowledge would be very useful in developing new approaches to MS therapy. Given the significant effect of chemokines in MS on the development of systemic inflammation, insulin resistance, and arterial hypertension, scientists have an important task not only to describe the actions of individual chemokines in hypertension, but also to characterize how the effect on one chemokine modulates the expression and/or function of other chemokines and their related receptors.

There are no clear clinical recommendations for the diagnosis and treatment of patients with coccygodynia, and there are still debates about the choice of the best method of diagnosis, the effectiveness of blockades, the indications for surgical treatment and the most appropriate method of surgical treatment, and the need for antibiotics.

The aim of the study is to evaluate the current state of the problem of diagnosis, conservative and surgical treatment of patients with post-traumatic coccygodynia based on the analysis of scientific publications.

Materials and methods. A review of the literature data published on the problem of diagnosis and treatment of patients with post-traumatic coccigodenia is presented. The features of the anatomical structure of the coccyx are considered. Radiation methods for the diagnosis of coccygodynia, publication materials on the evaluation of the effectiveness of conservative and surgical treatment, and methods of surgical treatment of patients with coccygodynia are presented. The indications for surgical treatment and the results of surgical treatment of patients with coccygodenia are considered.

Results. In coccygodynia, surgical treatment is indicated only in patients in whom comprehensive conservative treatment, the combined repeated blockades or radiofrequency ablation of the unpaired sympathetic ganglion are ineffective. Surgical treatment should only be carried out after the diagnosis has been precisely established, including the use of modern radiological diagnostic methods such as CT, MRI. The best method of coccyx resection is subperiosteal total proximal coccygectomy according to Key, with antibiotic therapy. The effectiveness of surgical treatment in patients with idiopathic coccygodynia is lower than in post-traumatic coccygodynia.

Conclusion. Complex conservative treatment of patients with coccygodynia in most cases leads to recovery. Steroid blockades or radiofrequency ablation of the impair ganglion prove to be effective. Surgical treatment of post-traumatic coccygodynia is indicated only in cases of resistance to complex conservative treatment and ineffectiveness of blockades. The most optimal method of surgical treatment is subperiosteal proximal complete resection of the coccyx against the background of antibiotics.

Objective: to establish age and gender patterns of changes in the ratio of spleen height to left kidney height in children and adolescents of Orenburg region according to the data of intravital imaging.

Materials and methods. Abdominal CT scans of 75 children without visible pathology were examined. The surveyed were divided into 4 age groups: early childhood, first childhood, second childhood, adolescence. The study was performed on 16-slice computed tomographs with the determination of the height of the spleen and the left kidney and calculation of the ratio of these parameters. The obtained data were subjected to variation-statistical processing with the determination of the mean value (M), standard error (m) and the reliability of differences according to the Student's t-test.

Results. It was found that the indicator of the height of the spleen among all the examined changed from 7.1±0.3 cm in the 1st group to 10.2±0.3 cm in the 4th group (p=0.001). The height of the left kidney in the 1st group was 7.6±0.1 cm and increased by the 4th group to 10.2±0.1 cm (p=0.001). The smallest value of the ratio of the height of the spleen to the height of the left kidney among girls and boys was found in children of early childhood and was 0.90±0.10 and 0.93±0.04. The maximum value of the indicator among girls was 1.05±0.08 in children of the second childhood, and among boys, 1.05±0.07 in children of first childhood.

Conclusion. There are no significant differences between the indicators of the ratio of spleen height to left kidney height, depending on age, and there are no gender differences within the group.

Objective. In the course of the research, the effect of vincamine (nootropic drug) on neurological status, as well as the activity of antioxidant enzymes and the level of their coding genes’ expression in the somatosensory cortex of rats within the model of experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE) were being studied. Relevance: the topicality of studying the mechanisms of multiple sclerosis in the early stages of its development is dictated by the need to search for markers of the disease and its therapy before the onset of its clinical manifestation.

Materials and methods. The animals’ neurological status was studied using muscular strength, balance, tenacity and traction tests. Rates of survival and the rats’ body weight were also being evaluated. The study of activity antioxidant enzymes: superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPO), and glutathione reductase (GR), as well as the expression of SOD1, GPX4, GPX6, and GSR genes was conducted on the 14th and 30th day of immunization.

Results. The percentage of vincamine-injected animals’ survival was 100% versus 87% among rats that were not injected with the nootropic drug during immunization (р<0,05) . Besides, after the injection of vincamine, a less significant decrease in body weight (р<0,01) and a less pronounced neurological deficit (р<0,05) in comparison with immunized non-injected animals were reported. The vincamine injection contributed to an increase in all studied antioxidant enzymes’ activity and the level of their genes’ expression in the somatosensory cortex.

Conclusion. Against the background of vincamine injection, a minimization of neurological deficit is being observed, probably due to a decrease in oxidative stress in the rat brain during the clinical stage of experimental allergic encephalomyellitis.

Objective. The aim of the study was to investigate the retinal expression of genes involved in the regulation of angiogenesis and endothelial barrier function after exposure of the retina to 577 nm laser light in a continuous mode in experimental conditions after intravitreal injection of VEGF165 (Vascular endothelial growth factor).

Materials and methods. The study was performed on 4-5 week old male C57BL / 6J mice. 4 groups, 5 mice in each, were formed, one animal eye was experimental and the second remained intact. The animals of the first group received intravitreal injection of phosphate-buffered saline (PBS); animals in the second, third and fourth groups received intravitreal injection of 50 ng/ml of recombinant VEGF165; in the third and fourth groups, one day after the VEGF165 intravitreal administration, laser irradiation with a wavelength of 577 nm was performed on the retina in micropulse and continuous modes, respectively. Tissue samples from animals of the first and second groups were taken 2 days after PBS and VEGF165 administration, and in animals from the third and fourth groups one day after laser exposure to the retina.

Results. Retinal expression of genes involved in the regulation of angiogenesis and endothelial barrier function as a result of retinal exposure to 577 nm laser radiation in continuous mode following intravitreal injection of VEGF165 was studied. Genes with significant changes in expression levels were identified (genes that regulate the processes of angiogenesis).

Conclusion. Understanding the mechanisms of modulation of retinal gene expression may help to identify the key regulatory factors providing therapeutic effects of laser radiation in continuous and micropulsed modes and provide the basis for future therapeutic tactics for retinal diseases.

Objective. To investigate the effect of glyprolines on the levels of initiating and effector caspases in the serum of white rats under "social" stress.

Materials and methods. The study was conducted on 90 white male rats of 6 months of age. All manipulations with animals were carried out in accordance with international and domestic requirements for working with laboratory animals. When modeling "social" stress, groups of animals with aggressive and submissive behavior were formed. Laboratory animals, taking into account the types of behavior, were divided into groups (n=10): a group of intact males (control); a group of animals exposed to" social " stress for 20 days (stress); groups of individuals who received intraperitoneal Selank (Thr-Lys-Pro-Arg-Pro-Gly-Pro), Pro-Gly-Pro, Pro-Gly-Pro-Leu at doses of 100 mcg/kg / day from the 1st day of stress exposure within a 20- day course. The effect of neuropeptides on the activity of apoptosis processes was evaluated by determining the level of initiating and effector caspases (caspase-8 and caspase-3) (ELISA Kit for Caspase-8 and ELISA Kit for Caspase-3; USA) in the blood serum of white rats by enzyme immunoassay.

Results. According to the results of the study, it was found that under conditions of "social" stress, an increase in apoptotic processes was observed, accompanied by an increase in the level of caspase-3 and caspase-8 in the blood serum of white rats. The introduction of the studied compounds against the background of stress contributed to a decrease in the level of the studied indicators, which is most likely due to the presence of antiapoptotic action in glyprolins due to inhibition of the caspase-dependent cascade of apoptosis reactions, as a result of which the destruction of cellular structures occurs by hydrolysis of nuclear lamina, cleavage of adhesive proteins, destruction of the cytoskeleton.

Conclusion. Thus, the conducted study established the presence of Thr-Lys-Pro-Arg-Pro-Gly-Pro (Selank), Pro-Gly-Pro and Pro-Gly-Pro-Leu under conditions of stress-induced antiapoptotic activity due to inhibition of the caspase-dependent cascade of apoptosis reactions.

Objective: generalization and analysis of scientific data on the component composition, pharmacological properties and standardization of senna leaves.

Materials and methods. The article provides an overview of scientific publications in the journals of the search platforms Scopus and PubMed, as well as the databases of the Russian Science Citation Index. The analysis of the range of herbal medicinal products was carried out according to the data of the State Registers of Medicines of the Republic of Belarus, the Russian Federation and the Republic of Kazakhstan using content analysis, comparison and generalization of data.

Results. In addition to the laxative effect, determined by the presence of anthracene derivatives in senna leaves, the complex of their biologically active substances has antimicrobial, hypoglycemic, antioxidant, antifungal and antitumor effects. Also, the chemical composition of the plant is represented by fatty acids, triglycerides, flavonoids, macro- and microelements. The analysis of medicinal herbal preparations based on senna leaves registered in the Russian Federation, the Republic of Belarus and the Republic of Kazakhstan has been carried out. The differences in the methods of their standardization, given in the normative documentation on quality, have been revealed. The scientific experience of using the method of high performance liquid chromatography for the determination of anthracene derivatives in senna leaves is generalized.

Conclusion. The complex of biologically active substances of senna leaves exhibits various pharmacological effects, which, possibly, will expand the range of combined preparations based on them. The use of a modern and selective method of high-performance liquid chromatography in the analysis of senna leaves is a very promising direction in the field of standardization of this type of medicinal plant material.