In this digest, we will tell you about Russian scientists' achievements in detecting a marker of premature cell aging in the body, what disorders Russians endured due to drug use, and about�an outbreak of swine flu in Russia.
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 06th December, 2022) In this digest, we will tell you about Russian scientists' achievements in detecting a marker of premature cell aging in the body, what disorders Russians endured due to drug use, and about�an outbreak of swine flu in Russia.
Russian scientists have found that oxidative stress, which causes aging of human cells, is characterized by a decrease in the amount of potassium ions in them, and in the future, this indicator can be used as a marker pointing to premature cell aging, the Russian education and Science Ministry told Sputnik.
The study was conducted by employees of the Institute of Cytology of the Russian academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg, with the support of the Russian Science Foundation.
Most of the tissues of the human body undergo cellular aging, the ministry said, adding that this happens when a cell, for some reason, has exhausted its ability to reproduce. Premature cell aging can also cause stress. Usually, the body's immune system destroys aging cells. However, with aging or in the case of some disorders, not all of these cells are removed from the tissues. Their accumulation contributes to the overall aging of the body and the development of various diseases, including cancer. Therefore, scientists want to know what phenomena may indicate cell aging.
"We subjected human endometrial cells to oxidative stress, which causes premature aging. Next, these cells were used to understand how aging affects the amount and transport of intracellular cations � potassium and sodium, which are responsible for the viability cells and are involved in the regulation of various cellular functions," Irina Marakhova, a leading researcher at the Institute of Cytology, said.
The results have shown that premature cell aging caused by oxidative stress is characterized by a significant decrease in the specific content of potassium ions in them, indicating dehydration, the scientist said.
"We found that ionic gradients characteristic of a normal cell persist during aging (in a cell, the potassium content is higher and the sodium content is lower than in the environment). However, in an aging cell, the specific content of potassium decreases, which is estimated as the ratio of potassium content to the mass of cellular protein. Such a change in this indicator points to a decrease in the water content in the cell (its dehydration) in the process of aging," Marakhova added.
Such an indicator as the specific intracellular potassium content can be used as a kind of marker to determine whether cells are prone to premature aging and dehydration, she noted.
About 265,000 Russians in 2021 suffered from mental and other kinds of disorders due to drug use, Deputy Health Minister Oleg Salagay said on Tuesday.
"If we talk about drug addiction, for example, in our country in 2021, approximately 265,000 patients with mental disorders and behavioral disorders associated with drug use were registered," Salagay said at the #WeAreTogether forum.
The need for joint assistance arises at the stage of rehabilitation, the official said, adding that about 23,000 people undergo medical rehabilitation in hospitals.
"We proceed from the fact that such a number, and most likely more, needs social rehabilitation," he added.
Swine flu broke out in Russia, with 74 regions already reporting cases of the virus, Russian consumer safety watchdog Rospotrebnadzor said on Tuesday.
"In the structure of respiratory viruses of non-influenza etiology, the proportion of rhinoviruses (13.3%), RS viruses (12.0%), metapneumoviruses (10.1%), and adenoviruses (7.2%) remains the highest. The so-called swine flu has already been detected in 74 Russian regions," the watchdog said in a statement.
At the same time, the incidence of influenza and ARVI (acute respiratory viral infection) continues to grow in Russia. Over the past week, the number of cases has increased by 23.3% compared to the previous week.
In the face of increasing virus activity, the vaccination campaign continues. To date, more than 72.4 million people have been vaccinated, which amounts to 49.5% of the population, Rospotrebnadzor added.
