Arabinogalactan extracted from Siberian larch on an industrial scale was found to exist as noncovalent glycoconjugates with a group of wood extractive substances (their content in arabinogalactan is ~3%). The flavonoids dihydroquercetin (prevailing in extractive substances with a percentage of ~24%), aromadendrin, and quercetin were identified among the extractive substances. Flavonoid-arabinogalactan conjugates are readily soluble in water (unlike virtually insoluble free flavonoids) and exhibit highly effective antiradical properties directly in an aque ous solution (the hydrophilic ABTS +• model). Flavonoid-arabinogalactan conjugates, as well as arabinogalactan specially purified from flavonoids, can be used as an energy and carbon source for indigenous probiotic microbes: the polysaccharide is hydrolyzed by the enzymatic system of bifidobacterial glycosidases to form reducing sugars digested into organic acids. The growth and functional characteristics of bifidobacteria are influenced by the degree of purity of the polysaccharide. Thus, flavonoid-arabinogalactan conjugates retard the growth of bifidobacteria and the formation of organic acids, which can be attributed to the antimicrobial activity of flavonoids (antiradical disruption of physiological redox signaling of microbial cells).
Afibrinogenemia is a rare congenital coagulopathy that leads to life-threatening bleeding. In afibrinogenemia, plasma fibrinogen levels are less than 0.1 g/L. The clinical manifestations of the disease can be both bleeding and thromboses of different localizations, which is determined by the multifunctional role of fibrinogen in hemostasis. The described cases demonstrate different clinical phenotypes of the disease. In both cases the diagnosis was confirmed by genetic examinations that revealed homozygous mutations in the fibrinogen A genes. The nature of the mutations assumes consanguineous marriages, as confirmed by the results of a genealogical analysis. Fibrinogen preparations are promising in treating afibrinogenemia in Russia.
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