A total of 185 children (93 boys and 92 girls) aged 6 months to 15 years and disease duration of 1 to 13 years, residents of different regions of Russia, were examined. Pathological changes of the retina caused by diabetes were detected on the fundus oculi of 56 (30.3%) children. In 42 (22.7%)) of these, the initial changes (solitary retinal hemorrhages, microaneurysms) and in 14 (7.6%)) more pronounced micro- vascular pathological changes typical of nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy were detected, in 2 patients - the proliferative stage. Later argon coagulation of the retina was carried out in 10 patients with nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy and in 2 with proliferative diabetic retinopathy. The initial stages of nonproliferative and proliferative diabetic retinopathy are an indication for laser coagulation in children. The status of 6 (50%) children improved in remote periods (6-24 months) after laser coagulation: hemorrhages resolved and microaneurysms decreased; in 4 (33.3%) children the process was stabilized. Deterioration was observed in 2 (16. 7%o) children with nonproliferative and proliferative diabetic retinopathy.

Dynamic surface tension (ST) of the blood serum and urine was studied in patients with diabetic nephropathy by the method of maximal pressure in a vesicle using MPT2 computer tensiometer (LAUDA, Germany). The angle of the slope of blood tensiogram curve increased and urinary ST decreased at t = 1 sec in patients with type I diabetics in comparison with those with type II condition. The development of the nephrotic syndrome and chronic renal insufficiency was associated with decrease of ST in the range of short (t = 0.01 sec) and medium (t = 1 sec) times of surface life and of the equilibrium (static) ST (at t -> go/. The parameters of interphase tensiometry correlated with the content of protein and lipid surfactants in biological fluids.

Cholesterol and triglyceride levels in HDL are compared in diabetics and coronary patients. Carbohydrate and lipid metabolism are compared by universal manual and semiautomated methods. Measurements of individual components of the serum and of HDLP fraction in both groups showed that HDL fraction is rich in triglycerides in both diseases, that is, HDL are modified and acquire a certain role in triglyceride metabolism. Measurements of triglycerides and cholesterol in HDL fraction helps detect structural disorders in this fraction in diabetics and coronary patients; this method is more informative than measurements of total cholesterol in the blood.

Electrophoretic mobility (ЕРМ) of blood lymphocytes was studied in 103 patients with diffuse toxic goiter (DTG) and autoimmune ophthalmopathy (AO) and 30 healthy controls in order to assess the value of this parameter as a criterion of AO severity and assessment of the efficacy of therapy of AO. The patients were in a state of drug-induced euthyrosis. A О was treated traditionally (nonsteroid antiinflammatory drugs, glucocorticoids, and glucocorticoids combined with radiotherapy of the orbits), depending on the severity of the condition. The distribution of blood lymphocytes by EPM is notably changed in AO. The electrokinetic potential of lymphocytes inversely correlates with the severity of AO. Specific therapy for AO results in increase of lymphocyte EPM in 14 days and its normalization in 28 days. Significant changes of lymphocyte EPM anticipate the statistically significant positive changes of the orbital index and can serve as an early criterion for assessing the efficacy of treatment of AO.

sIСАМ-1 was measured in the sera of 156 patients with diffuse toxic goiter (DTG). The majority (105) of these patients presented with clinical signs of autoimmune ophthalmopathy (AO), and the above parameter was measured in order to assess the probability of using it as a criterion of preclinical diagnosis of AO and assessment of the efficacy of its therapy. Five groups of patients were distinguished in the course of study: 1) DTG without AO (n = 27); 2) zero stage of AO (no clinical manifestations) (n = 24); 3) stage I AO (n — 22); 4) stage II AO (n = 60); and 5) stage III AO (n = 23). All patients were in a state of drug-induced euthyrosis; AO of the first-third stages wasttreated traditionally (nonsteroid antiinflammatory drugs, glucocorticoids, radiotherapy of the orbits). Significant changes in sICAM-1 concentration were recorded in DTG patients as early as during the zero stage of AO without apparent clinical signs and confirmed only by computer- aided tomography of the orbits; this result recommends this parameter as an early marker of AO. Serum sICAM-1 content was notably increased in DTG patients with AO, the increase depending on the severity of AO. Changes of si CAM-1 correlated with the clinical picture of the condition (time course of the orbital and muscle index and size of the orbit) and can be used as an additional criterion for assessing the efficacy of treatment of AO.

Time course of organ-nonspecific and organ-specific antibodies during normobaric interval hypoxic training (IHT) is followed up in 25 normal subjects and 34 patients with thyroid diseases in a state of euthyrosis. Hypoxic test was carried out in all examinees before and after IHT. IHT was performed in individual regimens of inhalations of hypoxic gas mixture and ambient air alternatively. The initial titers of antibodies to different organs and tissues were higher in the patients than in normal subjects. According to hemodynamic parameters, the tolerance of hypoxia improved after adaptation of patients to normobaric hypoxia. The euthyrosis status did not change. Antibody titers significantly decreased after IHT both in the patients and normal subjects. IHT had a positive effect on the humoral immunity. IHT is recommended for patients with thyroid diseases to be used in complex with other methods of treatment.

Study of the adrenal androgenic function in patients with venous renal hypertension showed a notable increase of the levels of 17-a.-hydroxypregnenolone and DHEA-C in the peripheral blood and of DHEA-C excretion with the urine. Analysis of venous circulation in the left adrenal in the patients with venous renal hypertension brought the authors to a conclusion that hyperproduction of androgens in the left adrenal cortex is due to a paracrine mechanism. Retrograde bloodflow developing in the deep venous system of the left adrenal during pressure increase in the left renal vein leads to release of catecholamines from the medullary layer to the cells of the upper cortical layers of the organ. Adrenaline stimulation of steroidogenesis in the cortical cells, in turn, causes hypersecretion of androgens. Based on these data, the authors propose a hypothesis about a new mechanism regulating the androgen function of the adrenals.

Against the backdrop of the widespread research programs for the study of menopause in women, which continue to be of interest to specialists in the field of medicine and the media, it has been suggested that men can have a similar condition, the so-called andropause. However, according to prof. G. Lungmayr, President of the Austrian Society of Urology and former Chairman of the Andrology Working Group, which is part of this Society, andropause as such simply does not exist. “If andropause were a condition similar to menopause,” said Prof. G. Lungmayr, “then all men would stop producing androgens within a certain period of time. However, this is not the case. Eighty-year-old men with testosterone levels are known. in the body it is maintained at a level commensurate with the corresponding values ​​of twenty- and forty-year-old men.”

Barraquer-Simons syndrome is a rare disease characterized by the disappearance of subcutaneous fat in the upper half of the body with normal or excessive deposition of fat in the lower half of the body. There are other terms that refer to this disease: Hollander-Simons syndrome, progressive lipodystrophy, partial lipodystrophy, paradoxical lipodystrophy, progressive segmental lipodystrophy, i.e. the name emphasizes the disappearance of fat in certain parts of the body.

There are many reasons for the pathological increase in prolactin levels in the blood (hyperprolactinemia). Even minimal stress, such as taking blood for research, can lead to a short-term increase in prolactin levels. Medications such as antiemetics (metoclopramide, raglan, cerucal), psychotropic (chlorpromazine), and birth control pills can increase hormone levels. If you have an elevated prolactin level in your blood test, be sure to tell your doctor about taking these drugs. Hyperprolactinemia can also be caused by thyroid insufficiency (hypothyroidism), which is easily detected by measuring the level of thyroid-stimulating hormone in the blood and is well compensated against the background of thyroid hormone replacement therapy (L-thyroxine). After the examination excludes the presence of a number of endocrine and non-endocrine diseases, a conclusion is drawn on the existence of an independent hypothalamic-pituitary pathology - hyperprolactinemic hypogonadism (GH).

The time course of triiodothyronine, thyroxine, and progesterone is followed up in albino rats with polycystic ovaries developing after postnatal androgenization of newborn females. Serum and plasma hormones were measured by competitive immunoassay based on intensified fluorescence. Serum and plasma T₃ and T₄ levels in rats with polycystic ovaries during the period corresponding to sexual maturation were higher than in normal animals. In adult rats T₃ levels in the experimental and control animals leveled, but T₄ content was decreased in androgen-treated animals. Progesterone level in health was notably higher than in animals with polycystic ovaries at all stages of postnatal ontogenesis.

The rate of accumulation of malonic dialdehyde was increased, the activities of superoxide dismutase, NADP-dependent glucose- 6-phosphate, malate, isocitrate dehydrogenases and glutathione reductase decreased, and the levels of diene conjugates decreased in the hemispheres and brain stem of rats subjected to 7-9 hypoglycemic comas. The activities of neutral and acid proteases were increased in the stem structures. The detected changes indicate an oxidative stress developing in the nerve tissue after repeated hypoglycemic exposures. Such changes appear after glucose arrest of hypoglycemic coma and can be important in the pathogenesis of posthypoglycemic encephalopathy.

Experiments with male rats demonstrated that intoxication with amine salt of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-DA herbicide) in daily doses of 50 and 5 mg/kg for a month led to a manifest decrease of testosterone level in the serum and gonads. Chorionic gonadotropin test showed that testicular cells retained sensitivity to its stimulating effect. Intoxication with 2,4-DA ccyised deficit of endogenous gonadotropins, manifesting by a decrease of LH and FSH concentrations in the serum to 58-79% of the control level, depending on the herbicide concentration. Serum concentrations of PGI₂, PGE₂, LH, and testosterone during exposure to 2,4- DA correlated, indicating a relationship between the pituitary-gonadal disorders and changes of prostaglandin production.

The constant of affinity between glucocorticoid receptor (GR) complex isolated together with triamcinolone and a synthetic oligonucleotide glucocorticoid-responsive element (GRE) corresponding to the GRE-1 sequence of the rat thyrosine aminotransferase gene promoter is assessed. Singlestranded oligonucleotides with the straight sequence (Kd 0.2 ± 0.006 pM) possess the highest affinity for GR. The affinity of single-stranded oligonucleotides with antisense sequence is far lower (Kd 1.5 ± 0.2 pM), but is superior to that of double-stranded oligo GRE (Kd 12.0+ 1.1 pM). The results suggest that the complexes are formed mainly with the sense strand of DNA; on the other hand, it is probable that the reaction of glucocorticoid receptor with GRE promotes conformational changes of DNA in this gene region.

The relevance of epidemiological studies of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) is due primarily to the fact that its share among other forms of diabetes reaches 85–90% [57]. The second important circumstance is that the actual prevalence of NIDDM is 2-3 times higher than its registered prevalence in terms of circulation [30]. These two factors determine its medical and social significance not only among other forms of diabetes, but also among chronic non-communicable diseases.

The widespread use of endoscopic surgery over the past 10 years is primarily associated with scientific and technological progress, the improvement of endoscopic video equipment, special tools necessary for ultra-precise operating techniques. Some laparoscopic surgeries have already been recognized by experts and are the method of choice in the treatment of a large number of patients, others are still at the stage of clinical trials and a set of sufficient observations to generalize [2, 10, 47].

In recent years, there has been a significant increase in the number of patients with diabetes. According to WHO (1988), up to 5% of the world's population suffers from this disease. This is facilitated by stress, adynamia, excessive nutrition, uncontrolled drug therapy, viral infections, hereditary predisposition, adverse environmental conditions, developmental abnormalities, etc.