At the end of 2019, a new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) was discovered in China, causing the coronavirus infection COVID-19. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic poses a major challenge to health systems around the world. There is still little information on how infection affects liver function and the significance of pre-existing liver disease as a risk factor for infection and severe COVID-19. In addition, some drugs used to treat the new coronavirus infection are hepatotoxic. In this article, we analyze data on the impact of COVID-19 on liver function, as well as on the course and outcome of COVID-19 in patients with liver disease, including hepatocellular carcinoma, or those on immunosuppressive therapy after liver transplantation.

Proinflammatory markers were evaluated in patients with chronic heart failure of ischemic origin and essential hypertension with preserved left-ventricular ejection fraction before and after a 6-month course of simvastatin therapy (20 mg/day). The study was carried out in 125 patients with diastolic dysfunction manifested as impaired relaxation and pseudonormalization. The main group received standard therapy for chronic heart failure and simvastatin, controls received only standard therapy. In addition, the results in the main group were compared in patients with different types of left-ventricular diastolic dysfunction. Simvastatin therapy significantly reduced the levels of C-reactive protein and IL-6.

Inflammation plays a role in the pathogenesis of heart failure. Neopterin, pteridine, synthesized mainly by activated macrophages, is a marker of inflammation, activation of the immune system, and an active participant in cardiovascular disease. Measuring neopterin levels can help track the evolution of specific inflammatory conditions. In addition, neopterin was associated with cardiac dysfunction after cardiac surgery and improved the accuracy of predicting the risk of postoperative cardiac dysfunction. In this review, we provide current insights into neopterin and its relationship to heart failure.

Vasopressin and its receptors play a key role in maintaining homeostasis in physiological and pathophysiological conditions. As a result, the vasopressin system has become an important target for both diagnostic and therapeutic use in a number of diseases. Kopeptin, C-terminal part of vasopressin prohormone. Copeptin has come to be seen as an important marker for identifying high-risk patients and predicting outcomes for various diseases. This improves the clinical value of commonly used biomarkers and risk stratification tools. The area that could benefit most from the introduction of the copeptin measurement in practice is cardiovascular disease. Determination of the level of copeptin becomes a fast and reliable method of differential diagnosis, especially in acute coronary syndromes. A special role in the diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is given to the combination of copeptin and troponin. According to available sources, such a combination eliminates AMI with very high sensitivity and negative predictive value. Moreover, elevated levels of copeptin correlate with poorer prognosis, and a higher risk of side effects after AMI, especially in patients with heart failure.

Многие исследования последних лет были посвящены изменениям в сис-теме эндотелина, как одному из ключевых звеньев эндотелиальной дис-функции. Активация эндотелиновой системы, маркером которой является повышение уровня эндотелина и его предшественника, наблюдается при многих сердечно-сосудистых заболеваниях. Доказано достоверное повы-шение уровня эндотелина-1 и Big-эндотелина при атеросклерозе, стено-кардии, остром инфаркте миокарда, гипертонической болезни и легочной гипертензии. Many studies of the last years were concerned the changes in endotheline system as one of the chains in endothelial dysfunction. Activation of endotheline system, which is marked by the increase of endotheline level and its predecessor, is common for many cardiovascular diseases. The significant increase of endotheline-1 and Big-endotheline is shown in atherosclerosis, angina, acute myocardial infarction, hypertensive disease and pulmonary hypertension. Российский

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It has been proven that in patients with heart failure (HF), there is an increased level of adrenomedullin (ADM) in plasma. Biomarker indices correlate with the severity of hemodynamic dysfunction, as well as with neurohumoral indices, which are activated depending on the severity of congestive circulatory failure. In addition, the expression of the ADM gene in the heart and kidneys is increased in experimental and clinical HF. A small number of studies have examined the effect of ADM infusion. These studies have generally shown that hormone infusion has beneficial hemodynamic effects and promotes the maintenance/improvement of renal function, but most of the studies have been short-lived. The available results suggest that increasing ADM levels reduce the negative effects of vasoconstriction and sodium retention. A better understanding of the role of a biological marker in congestive circulatory failure may lead to the development of drugs that target ADM receptors.

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is the most common genetic heart disease, with a prevalence of approximately 1 in 500 among the adult cohort. It is a common etiological factor of sudden cardiac death in the young and a common cause of morbidity and mortality in all age groups. HCM is characterized by a complex pathophysiology, which is manifested by a heterogeneous clinical picture. The mechanism of development of this variant of hypertrophy is not fully understood. Currently, only a part of the genetic mutations that correlate with the development of this pathology has been identified. In this regard, the issue of genetic diagnosis of HCM is very relevant, as it will allow us to conduct advanced screening. A very important task is to develop a personalized approach in the conservative and surgical treatment of people suffering from this variant of cardiopathy.