Vol 4, No 2 (2022)

Cassia fistula L. is a Fabaceae representative that has long been used in traditional medicine. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of Cassia fistula L. herbal extracts in the form of solutions of a certain concentration on the smooth muscles of the intestine of the animal. The design of the experiment involved the identification of raw materials, their drying, grinding, extraction of soluble fractions, purification of aqueous, ethereal (diethyl ether) and ethanol extracts and their testing on the tissues of the ileum of the domestic chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus L.) extracted ex vivo.

The ethereal, alcoholic and aqueous extracts of Cassia fistula L. fruits showed to exhibit high relaxation activity compared to the control relaxation stimulants, whereas the leaf extracts showed a more modest relaxing activity. A similar situation was observed in testing extracts of young shoots, with aqueous extracts showing even more modest results, while alcohol and ethanol extracts of young shoots performed better than the corresponding leaf extracts, and the most modest results in terms of a dose sufficient for a physiological response was demonstrated by root extracts.

The initial assessment of the activity of Cassia fistula L. extracts makes it possible to identify as the most promising for further chemical study the pools of substances concentrated in the ethanol fruits extract exhibiting the minimum effective dose, in the ether extracts of fruits and bark demonstrating the shortest reaction time, and in the aqueous extracts of young shoots and cortex showing the highest percentage increase in the activity compared to the control.

Tobacco smoke is one of the dangerous exogenous factors contributing to the emergence of chronic non–communicable diseases and, first of all, malignant tumors.

Purpose. On the basis of the hospital cancer registry created at the N.N. Petrov National Medical Research Center of Oncology (N.N. Petrov NMRC of Oncology), to analyze the differences in the specific weights of the risk of exposure to the smoking factor on cancer patients treated in the hospital with various oncopathologies. At the population level, to consider the dynamics of morbidity and mortality of the population of Russia, the North-Western Federal District (NWFD) and St. Petersburg of lung cancer patients, taking into account the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

The material of the study is the created database (DB) of the hospital and population cancer registry, working according to international standards and statistical reference books of the P.A. Herzen Moscow Research Institute of Oncology (P.A. Herzen Institute of Oncology) and the N.N. Petrov NMRC of Oncology, questioning of patients in the hospital.

Results. Of the 47,356 patients treated at the center, 9201 or 19.4% abused smoking. The highest percentage of smokers was found among patients with laryngeal cancer (C32) – 66.67%, esophageal cancer (C15) – 53.20% and lung cancer (C33,34) – 51.08. The lowest proportion of smokers among patients diagnosed with uterine body cancer (C54) – 8.8% and breast (C50) – 10.1%. It was found that 52.01% of smokers smoked more than half, up to one pack of cigarettes a day.

Conclusions. Thus, the study proved a direct link between the smoking factor and the development of malignant tumors. It was found that more than 50% of patients with lung cancer are smokers. The proportion of smoking patients for other nosologies is significantly less, with the exception of laryngeal (C32) and esophageal (C15). We also noted an increase in the number of women who smoke both in the whole group of patients and in the group of patients diagnosed with lung cancer.

Currently, the issues of the safety of plant-based feed in terms of the content of ecotoxicants remain relevant and are directly related to the intensification of the agro-industrial complex and ensuring the food security of the country. Thus, when assessing the possibility of using plant feeds, great importance is paid to monitoring the content of such ecotoxicants as toxic elements, pesticides, pyrene-free, radionuclides and others.

The accumulation of ecotoxicants on the territory of agricultural lands determines the need for regular monitoring of their content, and in polluted territories - the use of a system of agrotechnical and agrochemical measures for their detoxification. The main danger of ecotoxicants lies in their entry into the human body and animals through food, including plant origin, and accumulative capacity. In this regard, issues related to the study of the content of ecotoxicants in feed and plants of agricultural lands, assessment of the degree of pollution of agroecosystems have significance and relevance.

Biological barriers play a key role in maintaining the integrity and functioning of the body at all levels of its organization. The barrier function at the cellular level is based on the hydrophobic properties of the cytoplasmic membrane, which provide selective permeability for various substances, depending on their chemical properties. At higher levels of organization, from tissue to organism, the barrier function is based on intercellular protein complexes of the plasma membrane, which form paracellular diffusion barriers and separate internal and external fluid media, which is a necessary condition for the development and functioning of each organ. The blood-brain barrier (BBB) plays an important role in maintaining the function of the brain. The review reflects the main stages in the embryonic development of the BBB, as well as presents current data on the morphological and functional features of the organization of the BBB, including molecular mechanisms that mediate the barrier function due to the complex participation of vascular cells of cerebral microvessels, as well as gene expression of enzyme complexes, active and passive substance transport mechanisms through the BBB. The high transport selectivity of the BBB is an urgent problem for the delivery of drugs to the brain. At the same time, it is equally important to improve the principles of pharmacotherapy for the correction of impaired BBB functions in various types of pathology of the nervous and other body systems. This review aims to convey to the developers of modern targeted drugs new information about the molecular genetic mechanisms of the transport of substances through the BBB, as well as to draw the attention of specialists in the field of precision medicine to the problem of violations of the barrier function of cerebral vessels in neurological and other diseases of a modern person.

Many brilliant scientists, professors, whose life and fate were directly connected with the history of the university, worked at the St. Petersburg State Chemical and Pharmaceutical University.Our national pharmacy owes their talent and enthusiasm.

Based on unpublished archival records, the article reconstructs the biography, professional, scientific and social activities of Abram Mikhailovich Khaletsky, a well–known chemist, professor, Doctor of Chemistry, who made a great contribution to the development of Russian science, who for many years worked as the Head of the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry of the Leningrad PharmaceuticalInstitution. A graduate of the Medical Department of Kazan University, a student of Academy A.E. Favorsky,he took an active part in the reformation of the educational process of the LCPI. It was A.M. Khaletsky who proposed a new form of appraisal of pharmacists at that time – the defense of theses, the first of them were performed at the Department of Organic Chemistry. Among the scientific achievements made under the leadership of A.M. Khaletsky: studies of isomeric changes of keto-alcohol, technology for the production of standard galenical preparations, the method of isolation of β-sitosterol, improvement of hormone technology and the search for new hormonal drugs, and many others. Actively promoted the integration of scientific developments in the pharmaceutical industry. Research by Professor A. M. Khaletsky undoubtedly enriched the theory and practice of organic and pharmaceutical chemistry, made the contribution to the science of the relationships between biological structure and activity, replenished the range of medicine with new drugs and methods of their analysis.

The article provides information about the work of one of the oldest departments of the Leningrad Chemical and Pharmaceutical Institute - pharmaceutical chemistry during the leadership of A.M. Khaletsky (1950-x).