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Currently, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. The determination of immune mechanisms of inflammation in the disease presents an important challenge for fundamental medical research. According to modern views, Toll-like receptors (TLRs), among which TLR2 and TLR4 play a key role, are one of the essential components of inflammatory process in COPD. This review focuses on following aspects: the role of TLR2 and TLR4 in the initiation of inflammatory process in COPD; the mechanisms of influence of various exogenous factors (cigarette smoke, suspended particulate matter, and bacteria) on the expression of TLR2 and TLR4; the contribution of these TLRs to the T-helper (Th) immune response development in COPD, in particular to the Th17 immune response, which contributes to the progression of the disease and therapeutic implications of TLR2 and TLR4 in COPD.

Background. Comorbidity of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma (asthma COPD overlap syndrome, ACOS) is a significant problem in pulmonary practice, whose pathogenetic issues are not clarified yet. Objective. To study the features of the regulation of immune response in patients with comorbid COPD and asthma. Methods. We assessed the levels of CD3+, CD4+, CD8+, CD4+/CD8+, CD19+, CD25+, HLA-DR, total IgE, TNF-α, IL-4, IFN-γ, TXB2, and LTB4 in patients with comorbid COPD and asthma. Results. The study involved 44 people with COPD, 39 people with asthma, and 12 people with comorbid COPD and asthma. The specific features in comorbid COPD and asthma were lymphocytosis, increased absolute count of T-helper cells, increased cytotoxic T-lymphocytes in relative and absolute count, increased relative and absolute numbers of B-lymphocytes, and high levels of total IgE. The elevated levels of TNF-α and IL-4 and inhibition of IFN-γ production were detected. The content of LTB4 was maximal; TXB2 levels were higher than in control group but lower than in COPD and asthma. Conclusion. In comorbid COPD and asthma inflammation increased even during stable period. High levels of eicosanoids, low production of Th1-type cytokines, and active synthesis of opposition IL-4, along with increased IgE, indicate the activation of Th2-type immune response.

Renovation of a building and its impact on air pollution. The main purpose of the research presented in this paper is to quantify the amount of carbon dioxide produced by a standard house with four occupants before and after rehabilitation measures. As expected, these retrofitting actions had a positive effect on energy consumption and, in consequence, the CO 2 emissions decreased significantly. After applying thermal insulation, CO 2 production values derived from heating of the building were reduced by 68 %. The replacement of electrical household appliances decreased CO 2 emissions by 53 %. Also, based on experimental measurements we calculated CO 2 production due to human breathing, for different types of activity. Subsequently, the yearly quantity of CO 2 produced by breathing by a standard four-member family was calculated. Finally, we estimated the contribution of human breathing to the total household CO 2 production.

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The review focuses on the role of interleukin-6 (IL-6) signaling in the development of a systemic inflammatory process in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). In most researches the attention is paid to local inflammation in COPD. However, it is known that the pathology is characterized by a systemic inflammatory process, which is manifested in the increased levels of proinflammatory mediators in blood flow, and the study of the molecular mechanisms of its development is very important for the therapy of the disease. One of the key mediators of systemic inflammation is cytokine IL-6 which has pro- and antiinflammatory properties. Its effect on the cells is determined by the type of signaling. Nowadays three types of IL-6 signaling are identified: transsignaling, classical and cluster signaling. The review presents the known pathophysiological mechanisms of the development of systemic inflammation in COPD involving IL-6. As a proinflammatory cytokine, IL-6 performs the following functions: transmission of a signal on lung tissue damage, initiation of leukocyte migration into the inflammation site, inhibition of T-cell apoptosis into the inflammation site, influence on T helper differentiation, participation in pathophysiological reactions of development of emphysema and fibrosis. The significance of IL-6 transsignaling for the development of inflammation in COPD has been confirmed by many studies, while there are practically no works devoted to the study of classical IL-6 signaling in COPD. The data presented in the review indicate the need for further study of the role of different types of IL-6 signaling, especially classical signaling, in the regulation of systemic inflammation in COPD.

Atmospheric microsized particles producing reactive oxygen species can pose a serious health risk for city residents. We studied the responses of organisms to microparticles in 255 healthy volunteers living in areas with different levels of microparticle air pollution. We analyzed the distribution of microparticles in snow samples by size and content. ELISA and flow cytometry methods were employed to determine the parameters of the thiol-disulfide metabolism, peroxidation and antioxidant, genotoxicity, and energy state of the leukocytes. We found that, in the park areas, microparticles with a size of 800 μm or more were predominant (96%), while in the industrial areas, they tended to be less than 50 μm (93%), including size 200–300 nm (7%). In the industrial areas, we determined the oxidative modification of proteins (21% compared to the park areas, p ≤ 0.05) and DNA (12%, p ≤ 0.05), as well as changes in leukocytes' energy potential (53%, p ≤ 0.05). An increase in total antioxidant activity (82%, p ≤ 0.01) and thiol-disulfide system response (thioredoxin increasing by 33%, p ≤ 0.01; glutathione, 30%, p ≤ 0.01 with stable reductases levels) maintains a balance of peroxidation-antioxidant processes, protecting cellular and subcellular structures from significant oxidative damage.

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