Morphological disciplines form the basis of theoretical and practical training of future qualified medical specialists. Thanks to deep anatomical knowledge, the foundations of special knowledge are laid, clinical thinking develops, while the opposite leads to medical errors. The purpose of the review article is to determine the importance of anatomical research and data in practical medicine and biology. As materials for the study, the content of the reports of the All-Russian scientific and practical conference with international participation «Morphological aspects in practical medicine and biology», held on December 8, 2022 as part of the XIII National Congress with international participation «Ecology and human health in the North» was used. The conference was attended by researchers, teachers of morphological disciplines of medical universities in Russia (Moscow, Saint-Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Perm, Krasnoyarsk, Omsk, Yakutsk), invited, residents, graduate students. The conference discussed topical issues and strategic guidelines in the field of morphological scientific research in modern conditions, the popularization of scientific research in the field of morphology, the exchange of experience in improving the effectiveness of teaching morphological disciplines, the history of the development of higher medical school. An analysis of the reports presented at the conference showed that the morphological departments of medical universities need to develop the diversity and variability of ways to achieve educational results in modern learning conditions while expanding the independence and responsibility of educational organizations for the process and results of education; to introduce the scientific achievements of fundamental science into practice on the basis of joint scientific projects with clinical departments; develop and actively implement various ways and forms of popularization of medical knowledge among the population in order to familiarize society with the history of the development of higher medical education in the regions; study and implement the advanced pedagogical and scientific-methodological experience of the work of morphological departments, presented in the conference reports.

The frequency of mandibular fractures averages 45–90% of cases of all cases of damage to the bones of the facial skull. Cone-beam computed tomography is the most informative method for diagnosing pathological processes, the nature and degree of damage to the jaws, as well as when planning their surgical treatment, which allows assessing both the nature of the fracture and the value of the main parameters of the jaws necessary to create intraoperative templates. In order to study the sex and age characteristics of the angular parameters of the lower jaw and their interrelation with the nature of its fractures, a study was conducted on 150 bone preparations of the lower jaws and 300 computed tomograms of patients with fractures of the lower jaw. It was established that the angle of the condyle-coronoid line and the angle of the notch were significantly greater in men, and the angle of the lower jaw - in women. It has been proven that with age there is a significant change in the studied angular parameters, which is primarily associated with the loss of teeth. The values of the angle of the lower jaw in elderly and senile people are on average 11,2% higher than in adulthood, and the angle of the condyle-coronoid line significantly decreases with age by an average of 7°. It has been proved that when the value of the angle of the lower jaw is close to the right one, the fracture line is significantly more often localized in the area of the incisors in 31,7% of cases of observations, the canines and premolars - in 20,8% of cases of observations. Fractures in the area of the condylar process in women, unlike men, in the overall structure of fractures exceed the frequency of fractures in the area of its angle. Thus, the angular parameters of the lower jaw have pronounced gender and age differences, which have a direct impact on the nature and localization of fractures of this bone. As a result, the greater the angle of the lower jaw, the greater the likelihood of its single fractures, the smaller the angle of the condyle-coronoid line, the greater the likelihood of fractures in the area of the condylar process.

Cardiovascular diseases occupy a central place in the structure of morbidity and mortality in various population groups and in most cases occur with a heart rhythm disorder. One of the most common types of arrhythmia is atrial fibrillation, the morphological substrate for the development of which is the left atrium and the region of the pulmonary veins. In connection with the introduction of modern imaging systems into the practice of cardiac surgery, which enable a detailed study of the anatomy of the heart and its separate chambers, there is a need to study the features of the variant anatomy of the pulmonary veins of the human left atrium in the aspect of modern interventional cardiac surgery, which will make it possible to secure and accelerate surgical interventions performed in this area. The purpose of the study was the revealing of variant anatomy of the pulmonary veins using multislice computed tomography, depending on body type and gender. Heart tomograms of 70 patients were analyzed (8 of the 1st period of adulthood, 23 of the 2nd period of adulthood, 37 of the elderly, 2 of the senile age). Among them were 47 men - 67.1% and 23 women - 32.9%. As a result of the analysis of the obtained data, four variants of the confluence of the pulmonary veins into the left atrium were identified. Among all observations, a typical variant of the confluence of the pulmonary veins into the left atrium occurs in 78.6% of cases, in 85.7% of cases - in persons of the pyknic type, in 85.0% of cases - in the examined asthenic type and in 69.0% of cases - in representatives of the normosthenic body type. Less common are the common pulmonary vein collector on the left (12.9%), as well as the accessory pulmonary vein on the right (7.1%). An extremely rare anatomical variant was the common pulmonary vein collector on both sides (1.4%). Thus, the anatomy of the distal pulmonary veins is characterized by significant variability, there is a slight relationship with gender and body type. An in-depth study of the anatomy of the pulmonary veins remains relevant for the effective implementation of surgical interventions in this anatomical zone.

For many years, radiography has traditionally been the main method for studying of the morphology of the facial skull and identifying craniofacial deformities, however, it is difficult to assess the typical variability of the linear dimensions of the facial skull on radiographs due to the many overlapping shadows of anatomical structures. Comparison of the results of craniometry of macerated skulls, radiographs and spiral computed tomography shows that multislice computed tomography in some cases can be the best alternative to conventional radiography and other methods of studying the facial skull. The purpose of the study was to conduct a comparative analysis of the linear dimensions of the facial skull with its various forms according to multislice computed tomography. Tomograms of 105 patients with different facial skull shapes were studied. Tomography was performed on a «Brilliance 64 Slice» multislice spiral X-ray computed tomography scanner at the Department of Magnetic Resonance and X-ray Computed Tomography of the Rostov State Medical University for suspected cerebrovascular pathology. The obtained images were analyzed using axial, multiplanar, and shadow density surface reconstructions in various projections. Measurements were made using a standard digital ruler of a computer tomography workstation, typical features of the linear dimensions of the facial skull were evaluated using the fan-beam method. In the studied group of individuals, the predominance of euryenes (46.7%, n=49) over mezenes (37.2%, n=35) and leptens (18.1%, n=9) was revealed. A comparative characteristic of the linear dimensions of the facial skull on spiral computed tomograms is described. According to the results of the study, the linear dimensions of the facial skull on the right dominate in leptens and euryenes, on the right in sections of the upper fan on the right, and on the left in sections of the lower and lateral fans. A left-sided asymmetry of the linear dimensions of the facial skull in sections of the lower fan, which is characteristic of mezenes, was established, while a right-sided asymmetry was found for euryenes and leptens. The data obtained as indicators of normal craniometry can be used in clinical practice by radiologists, plastic surgeons, maxillofacial surgeons, as well as in anthropology and forensic medicine.

The crowding of the permanent incisors with accompanying rotations or anterior cross bite is commonly seen during eruption of the permanent lateral incisors. When crowding is limited to a few millimeters, sufficient space may allow normal growth, but when the upper jaw is narrow and crowding exceeds this amount, rapid expansion of the hard palate may be an effective method. The purpose of this study was to study the method of cone beam computed tomography to evaluate the results of rapid palatal expansion in the narrowing of the upper dentition and the lack of space for incisors and the reaction of intact permanent molars, when fixing the apparatus on primary second molars in the absence of posterior cross bite. The study involved 20 children (age 7-10 years) who were treated with the Haas apparatus. The Haas apparatus was fixed on the upper second primary molars and on the primary canines. Cone beam computed tomography was performed before and after palatal suture rupture. A decrease in incisor crowding was found in all patients. The width between the permanent molars in the diameter has increased significantly, the distance between the tops of the roots of the upper permanent molars has increased more than between the crowns of the teeth. Application of the method shows the possibility of expanding the sky in the transverse direction. The use of a Haas apparatus attached to primary teeth in early mixed dentition in the absence of posterior cross bite is effective and provides a pronounced planned transverse growth of the jaw and can be indicated to expand the anterior part of the upper jaw to eliminate crowding of the upper incisors. With rapid expansion, there are favorable spontaneous changes in the palatal vertical position of the maxillary permanent molars in the opposite direction of expansion and there is the potential to mimic the expected natural transverse growth. Fixation of the apparatus used for this procedure on the primary molars and keeping the permanent molars unused means the prevention of periodontal damage, loss of attachment, demineralization and external resorption of the roots of permanent molars.

Furanocoumarins are natural photosensitizers and can be effectively used as drugs for the treatment of skin diseases, including superficial tumors. There are quite old and rare studies of the skin and systemic toxic effects of furanocoumarins, however, at present there are no data on the photosensitizing effect of furanocoumarins from Sosnovsky’s Hogweed’s and other giant hogweeds. There is also no convenient and easily dosed form of furanocoumarins due to the fact that furanocoumarins are rather lipophilic substances and easily form water-insoluble needle-like crystals. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the photosensitizing effect of a new emulsion form of furanocoumarins from Sosnovsky’s Hogweed’s on the skin of laboratory animals. In the course of the study, an emulsion of furanocoumarins extracted from Sosnovsky’s Hogweed’s and stabilized with tween-80 with a concentration of 8-methoxypsoralen 1 mg/ml was obtained. The emulsion was injected intravenously once to white laboratory rats at a dose of 8-methoxypsoralen 3 mg/kg. An area of rat skin after injection of the emulsion was subjected to ultraviolet irradiation at a dose of 44 joules/cm² with a wavelength of 365 nm. After 7 days, a histological examination of skin biopsies at the site of irradiation was performed. Macroscopically, in rats after the introduction of the emulsion and ultraviolet irradiation, signs of second-degree burns were observed. Microscopically, damage to the epidermis up to the papillary dermis was revealed, accompanied by atrophy of the hair follicles, bullous sub-epidermal cavities, and leukocyte infiltration of the sub-epidermal zone. The emulsion form of furanocoumarins of Sosnovsky’s Hogweed’s with intravenous injection and the photo activating effect of irradiation causes the same degree of burn as with contact exposure, the depth of the cytotoxic effect is limited solely by the penetrating ability of ultraviolet radiation with a wavelength of 365 nm. Intact animals that received only ultraviolet irradiation without emulsion injection had no skin lesions. Thus, the resulting emulsion of furanocoumarins, when injected intravenously, exhibits a photosensitizing effect.

According to the latest achievements in animal morphology and paleo-morphology, the phenomena of modularity and integration are quite closely interconnected, while morphological integration describes the extent to which various structural features are related to each other in the process of morphogenesis, while modularity reflects the rate of evolutionary transformation, which determines the degree of this conjugation. One of the classical objects of study of modularity and integration in morphology is regularly segmented skeletal structures, in particular, the hand. In humans, the hand is characterized mainly by the ratio of the lengths of the index and ring fingers, while their position and the value that determines the structure of the hand as a whole in the space of its shape has not yet been studied. In this paper, the influence of the modules of the fingers on the shape of the hand in the framework of their morphological integration was determined, which became the main goal of the study. The method of geometric morphometry of digital images of radiographs of the right hands of 100 people was used, on which the coordinates of 16 landmarks of the phalanges of the II-V fingers were determined, followed by a study of the shape, covariance and modularity. The results showed that changes in the shape of the hand are due to the position of the II-V fingers in space, with the ulnar type of the hand (2d<4d) there is a displacement of the II-III fingers in space in the distal direction and IV-V fingers in the proximal direction, with the radial type of the hand (2d>4d) reverse transformations in space are observed. The position of the second finger in space largely affects the shape of the hand as a whole. An analysis of the modularity of the fingers indicates a significant integration between them, compared with the integration of other modules of the hand. The high values of covariance revealed as a result of the study in pairwise comparison of the modules of the fingers and lower values of covariance in the multiple comparison between the modules of the hand indicate a different degree of local influence of morphogenetic factors on the structural features and shape of the hand in people of different sexes.

In clinical practice, it is well known that an increase in intra-abdominal pressure can lead to disorders in the functioning of internal organs, cause the development of multiple organ failure and the formation of pelvic organ prolapse. Despite the fact that the pelvic bottom along with the muscles of the anterior abdominal wall and the diaphragm, takes an active part in the formation of intra-abdominal pressure, so far there are practically no morphological studies of the muscles of the pelvic diaphragm and their reactive changes that occur in response to an increase in intra-abdominal pressure. The aim of the study was to study the ultrastructural rearrangements of the levator ani muscle in response to experimentally formed states of increase and decrease in intra-abdominal pressure. The work was performed on 21 male outbred adult white laboratory rats. It has been established that after damage to the myofibrillar apparatus of the muscle fibers of the levator ani muscle in response to an increase in intra-abdominal pressure, the processes of sarcoplasmic adaptation and activation of the synthetic apparatus begin in them, which leads to a gradual restoration of their structure to its initial state. These changes are subject to certain time dynamics. 4 weeks after the increase in intra-abdominal pressure, a slight atrophy of the myofibrillar apparatus is observed and expansions of the intermyofibrillar cytoplasmic matrix appear. In mitochondria distinctly expressed irreversible changes in mitochondria occur, many mitochondria die. Subsequently, a significant amount of glycogen granules appears between the myofibrils, the structure of the myons is restored. Eight weeks after the start of the experiment, the structure of most muscle fibers is restored almost completely. The structure of the levator ani muscle did not change during the simulation of reduced intra-abdominal pressure in comparison with the control group at all periods of observation. In general, the study shows that the levator ani muscle skeletal muscle tissue has a high mechanic-dependent plasticity, which manifests itself in compensatory rearrangements of the ultrastructure of its fibers in response to changes in intra-abdominal pressure.

Periodontitis is a disease that progresses with age and contributes to the biological aging of the dentition. One of the reasons for this phenomenon is the aging of human gum fibroblasts. Low-intensity laser therapy stimulates the release of growth factors from fibroblasts and their division. The aim of the study was to determine the number, proliferative activity and apoptosis of gingival fibroblasts in people without signs of periodontal inflammation, with chronic periodontitis and after laser therapy. We used biopsy material obtained for periodontal, surgical, orthopedic and orthodontic indications under infiltration anesthesia in two age groups of patients aged 20–40 and 41–60 years. Cell markers Ki-67 and p53 were detected by immunohistochemical methods, the total number of gingival fibroblasts was estimated by staining with hematoxylin and eosin. The results of the conducted studies showed that the number of fibroblasts in the connective tissue lamina of the gums has age-related features. In young people from 20 to 40 years, the number of fibroblasts in gum preparations is 1,12 times higher than in people aged 41–60 years. Among the reasons for the decrease in the number of gingival fibroblasts is a decrease in their proliferative activity and activation of the proapoptotic p53 protein with age. Chronic periodontal inflammation leads to a significant increase in the number of fibroblasts, regardless of the age of the subjects. Fibroblast proliferation and p53 protein expression were more sensitive to microbial inflammation in patients aged 41 to 60 years compared to younger patients. Three-fold laser exposure had a differentiated modulating effect on the state of the gingival fibroblast population, depending on the age of the patients, the number of gingival fibroblasts was restored to the levels characteristic of healthy people, and this was observed only in the group of young patients. Thus, the number of fibroblasts in the human gingival connective tissue lamina changes with age, under conditions of inflammation and under the influence of a diode laser, which must be taken into account in dental practice.

Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological pathologies, but the biological substrate of the disease is still poorly understood. A few studies have shown that in experimental animals after an epileptic fit there is an increase in the level of some caspases, but the available data are not enough to fully understand the nature of the caspase cascade in epilepsy, and especially its terminal phase. Of particular interest is the analysis of morphological changes in the structures of the hippocampus on the background of an acute epileptic fit in the correlation between neuronal loss and the terminal phase of apoptosis or the quantitative assessment of caspase-3 activity. The aim of the study was the immunohistochemical evaluation of caspase-3 expression in the hippocampus in an experimental model of epilepsy in laboratory mice. The animals were divided into two groups, the animals of the first group (n=28) were intraperitoneally injected with pentilenetetrazole once at a dose of 45 μg/kg to simulate an acute epileptic fit, which was assessed by the modified Racine scale, the second group of animals was the control (n=20). Animals were taken out of the experiment after 3 hours and consecutively on days 1, 3, and 5 from the start of the drug administration for a dynamic study of changes in the hippocampus. Animals were withdrawn from the experiment by introducing high doses of anaesthetic. Animal brain fragments were examined by Nissl staining and caspase-3 expression was quantified by immunohistochemistry in the subregions CA1, CA3 and the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus. 24 hours after the modelling of an acute epileptic fit, the preparations showed signs of hippocampal sclerosis (gliosis, loss of neurons) and an increase in the number of neurons expressing caspase-3 by 2.68 times compared to the number of neurons in the preparations of animals in the control group. As a result of the experiment, it was revealed that the loss of neurons in the hippocampus of the CA3 subregion is associated with an increase in the expression of caspase-3 24 hours after the simulation of an acute generalized seizure using an injection of pentilenetetrazole.