Db/db mice (carrying a mutation in the gene encoding leptin receptor) show autophagy suppression. Our aim was to evaluate the effect of autophagy inducer trehalose on liver and heart autophagy in db/db mice and to study inflammation dysregulation and the suitability of chitinases’ expression levels as diabetes markers. Thirty-eight male db/db mice and C57/BL mice (control) were used. The db/db model manifested inflammation symptoms: overexpression of TNF-α in the spleen and underexpression of IL-10 in the liver and spleen (cytokine imbalance). Simultaneously, we revealed decreased expression of chitotriosidase (CHIT1) and acid mammalian chitinase (CHIA) in the liver of db/db mice. CHIA expression in db/db mice is significantly lower only in the spleen. Trehalose treatment significantly reduced blood glucose concentration and glycated hemoglobin. Treatment of db/db mice by trehalose was followed by increased autophagy induction in the heart and liver (increased autolysosomes volume density studied by morphometric electron-microscopic method). Trehalose exerted beneficial cardiac effects possibly via increased lipophagy (uptake of lipid droplets). The autophagy activation by trehalose had several positive effects on the heart and liver of db/db mice; therefore, lipophagy activation seems to be a promising therapy for diabetes.

An innovative design is considered, and the results of analysis and calculations of the characteristics of a thermal image receiver (3-15 microns), made in the electron-optical converter architecture, are presented. For the sensor-converting pyroelectric unit of the electron-optical converter, the spatial dependences of the electric field strengths and the values of the electric potentials on the spontaneous polarization of the film substance are calculated. Estimates are obtained and the characteristics of thermal-field-induced polarization of various pyroelectric films are discussed. The temperature dependences of the polarization characteristics of a number of pyroelectric films are calculated using the finite element method in the COMSOL Multiphysics software package. Possible contributions of the piezoelectric effect to the picture of the distribution of electric potentials from the thermal polarization of pyroelectric films are taken into account. Estimates are obtained for the limiting values of the main instrument characteristics of the electron-optical converter.

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