Morphology

BACKGROUND: Postmenopause is accompanied by several body changes, including those in the immune system. Studying the molecular pathways linking the decrease in the level of sex steroids in the postmenopausal period with immune aging is important to completely understand the pathophysiology of immune aging, which will allow for accurate identification of potential therapy targets for autoimmune, oncological, cardiovascular diseases and prevention of infectious diseases in women during the postmenopausal period.

AIM: To compare cellular immunity and cytokine profile parameters in women during perimenopause and early postmenopause.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: The single-center, cross-sectional study included 50 women aged 45–59 years of reproductive stage, perimenopause, and early postmenopause. The main subpopulations of blood cells, namely, cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CD3⁺CD8⁺), T helper cells (CD3⁺CD4⁺), NK cells (CD56⁺CD16⁺), B lymphocytes (CD3^–CD19⁺HLA^–DR⁺), and classical (CD14⁺⁺CD16^–), nonclassical (CD14^–CD16⁺⁺), and intermediate (CD14⁺CD16⁺⁺) monocytes and proinflammatory (CD86, CD80, CD40, and CX3CR1) and anti-inflammatory (CD163, CD206) markers on isolated monocyte populations were analyzed using flow cytometry (FACSCalibur; Becton Dickinson, USA). To detect blood plasma cytokines, a multiplex analysis method was used (Bio-Plex Human Cytokine Screening Panel; Bio-Rad Laboratories, USA).

RESULTS: In women, reproductive aging during the transition stage of reproductive aging from perimenopause to postmenopause is accompanied by increased monocyte-associated inflammatory reaction and humoral response, which is expressed in the redistribution of the monocyte population toward nonclassical monocytes (p=0.034) and increased level of B lymphocytes by 1.8 times (p=0.023) and significantly (p=0.022) increases levels of MCP-1, a marker associated with inflammation.

CONCLUSION: Immune system aging in both sexes is a natural process of ontogenesis, and in women, it correlates with the entry into the postmenopausal period. Hormonal background changes with the shutdown of ovarian function are naturally reflected in the composition of immune cells in the blood and the cytokine composition of its plasma.

BACKGROUND: The relevance of the morphological examination of testicular biopsies in infertile men is explained by limited information and research in this area, which is associated with limited indications for obtaining a lifetime biopsy in this nosology. The degree of pathological changes both in the Sertoli cells and testicular interstitium in the syndrome of “only Sertoli cells” (SCOS) is least studied.

AIM: To evaluate morphological changes in SCOS.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Convoluted seminal tubules with SCOS were studied in nine men with nonobstructive azoospermia by staining sections with hematoxylin and eosin and toluidine blue, and light microscopy was used to study convoluted seminal tubules with SCOS in nine men with nonobstructive azoospermia. Moreover, the number of Sertoli cells, dystrophic changes in them, thickness of the convoluted seminal tubule, and number of mast cells in the testicular interstitium were counted. Correlation analysis of the relationships between variables was also performed.

RESULTS: Mature Sertoli cells were found in 48.2% of convoluted seminal tubules, dystrophic Sertoli cells in 33.6%, and apoptotic Sertoli cells in 18.2%. The average number of Sertoli cells in one seminal tubule was 15.4 (min, 8.1; max, 19.2). The diameter of the convoluted seminal tubules averaged 33.8 (min, 23.0; max, 42.1) microns. The thickness of their shell at SCOS was on average 0.63 (min, 0.58; max, 0.69) microns. The number of mast cells in the testicular interstitium averaged 8.5±0.3 in 1 mm². A strong and inverse (r=−0.87) correlation was established between the thickness of the shell of the convoluted seminal tubule and the number of Sertoli cells, and a strong and direct (r=0.83) correlation was found between the thickness of the shell of the convoluted seminal tubule and the number of mast cells in the interstitium of the testes.

CONCLUSION: Among the studied cases, STCS is quite common in patients with nonobstructive azoospermia. The increased thickness of the shell of the convoluted seminal tubule contributes to the impaired architectonics of the hematotesticular barrier. This study revealed that mast cells exert direct effects on the wall thickness of the convoluted seminal tubule, which demonstrates the pathological effect of these cells on the permeability of the hematotesticular barrier and impaired spermatogenesis.

BACKGROUND: The choroid plexus of the brain is the source of cerebrospinal fluid and a major component of the blood–cerebrospinal fluid barrier, providing active transport of only essential substances and preventing the entry of harmful substances, including proinflammatory molecules, pathogens, and toxins. Basement membranes of the choroid plexus play a special role in the implementation of barrier functions, which underlie the choroidal epithelium and capillary endothelium, and serve as an additional filter for substances penetrating from the blood into the cerebrospinal fluid. The morphological organization of basement membranes in the villi of the human choroid plexus has not been examined extensively.

AIM: to analyze the organization of basement membranes in the villi of the human telencephalon choroid plexus by immunohistochemical detection of type IV collagen.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was performed on archival materials from the choroid plexus of the human brain (n=10; age 29–50 years) using immunohistochemical methods for detecting type IV collagen.

RESULTS: An immunohistochemical reaction using antibodies to type IV collagen showed the distribution of this protein in the subepithelial area and stroma of the choroid plexus villi. All immunopositive structures had clear contours. No reaction in the cell cytoplasm or a nonspecific background was noted. Contacts of subepithelial and subcapillary basement membranes labeled with antibodies to type IV collagen were not detected.

CONCLUSION: The results showed different organization of the basement membranes of the villi of the choroid plexus of the human brain in the subepithelial and perivascular areas. In this case, the subepithelial and perivascular components containing type IV collagen did not merge.

BACKGROUND: Preterm birth is a risk factor for the early development of cardiovascular diseases. Thus far, based on the results of clinical studies, the ultrastructural features of cardiomyocytes in adolescents and adults born prematurely can be identified. Thus, experiments aimed at studying the effects of preterm birth on the ultrastructure of cardiomyocytes in the late postnatal period of ontogenesis are relevant.

AIM: To identify the ultrastructural features of left ventricular cardiomyocytes in preterm adult rats.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was conducted on full-term (n=4, pregnancy duration 22 days) and preterm (n=4, pregnancy duration 21 days) male Wistar rats. Preterm labor was induced by mifepristone injection to pregnant rats. Preterm and full-term offspring were removed from the experiment on day 180 of the postnatal period of ontogenesis. Fragments of the left ventricle of the heart of preterm and full-term rats were used for the ultrastructural studies of the cardiomyocytes (electron transmission microscopy). Electron microphotographs of longitudinal sections of contractile cardiomyocytes were used to determine the relative areas of the nucleus, cytoplasm, myofibrils, and mitochondria.

RESULTS: The structure of the cardiomyocytes of preterm and full-term rats on postnatal day 180 was fundamentally similar. However, the relative area of the nuclei of cardiomyocytes in preterm rats was lower (p=0.02), and the relative area of the cytoplasm was higher (p=0.02) than that in full-term animals. Exclusively, in the cytoplasm of preterm rats, perinuclear swelling of the cytoplasm, thinning of myofibrils, and signs of mitochondrial damage, such as destruction of mitochondrial membranes, concentric organization of mitochondrial cristae, and dissociation of mitochondrial clusters, were observed.

CONCLUSION: Preterm birth has chronic negative effects on the ultrastructure of cardiomyocytes. The observed ultrastructural changes lead to the disruption of energy production in the cardiomyocytes in the late postnatal period of ontogenesis of preterm rats.

BACKGROUND: The study of the properties of immunotherapeutic markers is a popular and promising area in oncology. One of the most studied targets of immunotherapy is the ligand of the programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-L1). Currently, diagnostic kits for determining PD-L1 expression in tumors are manufactured overseas. To ensure the technological sovereignty of the Russian Federation in medical technologies, research with a domestic clone of PD-L1 antibodies and comparison of the results with already validated analogs are necessary.

AIM: To validate a domestic clone of an antibody to PD-L1 (PBM-1A4) , determine the relationship of the reaction with clinical and morphological parameters, and compare with clones SP142, SP263, and 22C3 in gastric cancer.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Comparative immunohistochemical analyses of different PD-L1 clones were performed on paraffin blocks of gastric adenocarcinoma surgical material from 39 patients who had not received chemotherapy, radiation, or immunotherapy preoperatively.

RESULTS: PD-L1 expression detected by the PBM-1A4 antibody clone was present in 46.2% of gastric cancer samples. Among PD-L1(PBM-1A4)-positive tumors, neoplasms of the second macroscopic type according to R. Bormann and tubular adenocarcinomas were significantly predominant. The SP142 clone showed the greatest consistency with PBM-1A4 expression (significant consistency, Cohen’s kappa = 0.67335).

CONCLUSION: Compared with the SP142 clone, the PBM-1A4 clone to PD-L1 during immunohistochemical examination on gastric adenocarcinoma material showed a close to identical immunological picture when. The data obtained appear promising for the use of the PBM-1A4 clone in the diagnosis of malignant neoplasms for patients with cancer, taking into account its economic component and accessibility.

The article describes the experience of using innovative pedagogical technologies in teaching morphological disciplines. Moreover, the experience of using innovative pedagogical technologies in teaching morphological disciplines was presented. The need for such modernization was found to be associated with the approval of the updated Federal State Educational Standards of Higher Education and the requirements for the formation of a necessary set of competencies of a future doctor. As a result of mastering the specialty program, the student should have the following competencies: systemic and critical thinking (UC 1), development and realization of project activities (UC 2), self-organization and self-development (UC 6, 7), inclusive competence (UC 9), etc. The block of general professional competencies, including diagnostic and instrumental methods of examination (GPC 4), information literacy (GPC 10), and scientific and organizational activities (GPC 11), must be developed. The use of innovative pedagogical technologies expands the possibilities of preparing students for the updated forms of external audit of their residual knowledge, helps them develop clinical thinking, and more successfully prepares them for the upcoming professional activity.

2023 marks the 125^th anniversary of the birth of Yakov Lvovich Rapoport, an outstanding Soviet pathologist, and professor who made a significant contribution to the development of medical science and left an important mark on literature and history with his frank memoirs about the “Doctors’ Plot” of 1953. The authors analyze the works of Ya.L. Rapoport, who devoted to the study of immunopathological processes in the human body, pathomorphosis, and two cardiomyopathies. The contribution of Ya.L. Rapoport to the development of new methods for diagnosing various diseases and the creation of advanced approaches to the study of pathological processes are described. Separately, the article describes the turning points in the scientist’s life. The early years of Ya.L. Rapoport’s life are interesting because of the choice between a creative career and medicine. In addition, his participation in the Great Patriotic War left a significant imprint on his life and career.