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The aim of this work was to study the, so far, unexplored possibility that non-genetic inheritance of animal behavioral characteristics could depend on the state of the parents at the time of conception. In this study, we measured the levels of motor and exploratory activity in rats at the ages of 2 and 5 months. Male and female rats were mated at the age of 5 months. The following groups were used: male and female rats with high motor activity at ages of 2 and 5 months (ACT+); male and female rats with high activity at the age of 2 months, but low activity at the age of 5 months (ACT-); male and female rats with low activity at the ages of 2 and 5 months (PAS-); male and female rats with low activity at the age of 2 months, but high activity at the age of 5 months (PAS+). It was found that both males and females ACT+ had significantly higher motor activity, which was observed in the first 10 minutes, in the next 20-60 minutes, in the center of the cage and more rearings as compared with PAS- rats. Significant differences in the severity of exploratory activity were found between the male offspring of ACT+ and ACT- rats. Differences between the offspring of PAS+ and PAS- rats were observed in both the male and female rats. The motor activity of animals in the period from 20 minutes after the start of registration did not differ between groups. Thus, it can be considered that individual characteristics of general motor activity are due to genetically inherited factors, while differences in the level of exploratory activity, apparently, are formed due to non-genetic influences from parents during mating.

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Uncovering the risk factors for acute respiratory disease coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) severity may help to provide a valuable tool for early patient stratification and proper treatment implementation, improving the patient outcome and lowering the burden on the healthcare system. Here we report the results of a single-center retrospective cohort study on 151 severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2)-infected symptomatic hospitalized adult patients. We assessed the association of several blood test measurements, soluble urokinase receptor (uPAR) serum level and specific single nucleotide polymorphisms of ACE (I/D), NOS3 (rs2070744, rs1799983), SERPINE1 (rs1799768), PLAU (rs2227564) and PLAUR (rs344781, rs2302524) genes, with the disease severity classified by the percentage of lung involvement on computerized tomography scans. Our findings reveal that the T/C genotype of PLAUR rs2302524 was independently associated with a less severe lung damage (odds ratio 0.258 [0.071-0.811]). Along with high C-reactive protein, fibrinogen and soluble uPAR serum levels turned out to be independently associated with more severe lung damage in COVID-19 patients. The identified factors may be further employed as predictors of a possibly severe COVID-19 clinical course.

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The aim of this work was to study whether epigenetic events at conception influence the formation of behavioral features found in adult rats. First generational inheritance of activity level, anxiety like behavior, and learning ability was studied. To separate genetic and non-genetic inheritance, mating of males and females with average motor activity was carried out in the presence anesthetized or conscious males with high or low activity. Our results show that offspring of parents who mated in the presence of males with a high motor activity were significantly more active than offspring of parents that were paired in the presence of males with low activity. Anxiety like behavior and learning ability were not inherited in this way. It is possible that the phenomenon we discovered is important for maintaining a certain level of activity of specific populations of animals. It counteracts natural selection, which should lead to a constant increase in the activity of animals.

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The aim of this work was to study age-related changes in the behaviour of adult Wistar rats using the open field (OF) and elevated plus maze (EPM) tests. Behavioural changes related to motor activity and anxiety were of particular interest. Results showed that as male and female rats progressed from 2 to 5 months of age, there was a decrease in the level of motor and exploratory activities and an increase in their level of anxiety. Age-related changes were dependent upon initial individual characteristics of behaviour. For example, animals that demonstrated high motor activity at 2 months become significantly less active by 5 months, and animals that showed a low level of anxiety at 2 months become more anxious by 5 months. Low-activity and high-anxiety rats did not show any significant age-related changes in OF and EPM tests from 2 to 5 months of age, except for a decrease in the number of rearings in the EPM. Thus, the behaviour of the same adult rat at 2 and 5 months of age is significantly different, which may lead to differences in the experimental results of physiological and pharmacological studies using adult animals of different ages.

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In 2002, Colantuoni et al described the possibility of dependency in rats after intermittent, excessive consumption of a 25% glucose solution over a one-week period. We hypothesized that the intermittent consumption of any tasty solution can lead to endogenous opioid dependency. Another aim was to determine whether dependency is connected to the taste of the consumed substance or with its physiological significance. Rats were maintained on chow and cyclic glucose, NaCl, or monosodium glutamate (MSG) solution for 8 days. On day 9, after a 12-hr deprivation period and administration of intraperitoneally (IP) naloxone, the general withdrawal index was calculated as the sum of teeth chattering, head shaking, forepaw tremors, and wet dog shakes. Motor activity was also documented. After the intermittent consumption of any tasty solution, rats were found to demonstrate signs of endogenous opioid dependence. The development of dependence was not related to taste preferences or the amount of solution consumed. Intermittent use of essential substance with a pleasant taste, as glucose and sodium chloride, leads to the rapid development of endogenous opioid dependence. Withdrawal syndrome following the consumption of MSG solution is associated with the presence of sodium ions in the MSG molecule.

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The trade-off between reproduction and somatic maintenance is one of the most studied concepts of modern evolutionary ecology. This theory predicts a negative relationship between maximum species longevity and total reproductive output. However, studies performed on natural animal populations have found contradictory results, probably due to the unlikelihood of wild animals gaining both maximum longevity and maximum potential fecundity. A comparison of the mortality rates and reproductive output of four ecologically distinct rodent species of Cricetidae family that were maintained in the laboratory in controlled conditions revealed the different life-history tactics of subterranean social mole voles and three related aboveground species: hydrophilic water voles, arid dwarf hamsters and steppe lemmings. Regardless of the relatively higher mortality rates at early ages in mole voles, this species has considerably higher maximum species longevity and smaller litter sizes that do not depend on calendar age, whereas in dwarf hamsters and water voles clear negative correlations between female age and litter size were detected. Steppe lemmings, as a semi-social arid species, shared some life-history tactics with both mole voles and aboveground non-social rodents.

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We hypothesized that low molecular weight urinary proteins play a role in male-male chemical communication in the water vole, Arvicola ampibius L. We studied the effect of placing soiled litter from strange males into the cage of another sexually mature male on the intensity of its digging and scattering, urination on the litter, and alteration in the levels of low molecular weight proteins (15-25 kDa) excreted in the urine before and after 4 days of exposure as determined by chip electrophoresis. The intensity of digging and scattering was positively correlated with levels of testosterone in serum of males exposed to strange male odors (r = 0.56; P < 0.01), as well as with the concentration of low molecular weight proteins in the donor's urine (r = 0.52, P < 0.05). At the end of the experiment, the level of low molecular weight protein in excreted urine was elevated in the males exposed to the strange male's litter. These results highlight the importance of quantitative inter-individual variation of low molecular weight urinary proteins in the modulation of the physiology and behavior of conspecifics.

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The localization of the key photoreductive and oxidative processes and some stress-protective reactions within leaves of mesophytic C(3) plants were investigated. The role of light in determining the profile of Rubisco, glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase, catalase, fumarase, and cytochrome-c-oxidase across spinach leaves was examined by exposing leaves to illumination on either the adaxial or abaxial leaf surfaces. Oxygen evolution in fresh paradermal leaf sections and CO(2) gas exchange in whole leaves under adaxial or abaxial illumination was also examined. The results showed that the palisade mesophyll is responsible for the midday depression of photosynthesis in spinach leaves. The photosynthetic apparatus was more sensitive to the light environment than the respiratory apparatus. Additionally, examination of the paradermal leaf sections by optical microscopy allowed us to describe two new types of parenchyma in spinach-pirum mesophyll and pillow spongy mesophyll. A hypothesis that oxaloacetate may protect the upper leaf tissue from the destructive influence of active oxygen is presented. The application of mathematical modeling shows that the pattern of enzymatic distribution across leaves abides by the principle of maximal ecological utility. Light regulation of carbon metabolism across leaves is discussed.

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