Aerobic soils serve as significant sinks for atmospheric methane, with their effectiveness influenced by the diversity and activity of soil methanotrophs. Land-use changes, particularly the conversion of natural ecosystems to agriculture, can substantially alter these microbial communities. A promising strategy to restore methane oxidation capacity is the introduction of active, ambient methane-oxidizing bacteria. The stable methane-oxidizing microbial consortium T1, dominated by Methylocystis (74%), was isolated from the soil of the unique Chernevaya Taiga forest ecosystem. The effects of inoculating this consortium were evaluated in a four week laboratory incubation experiment, using microcosms of soddy-podzolic agro-soil. Methane oxidation potential was assessed to measure methanotroph activity; methanotrophs were quantified using qPCR targeting pmoA genes; and the diversity of soil microbial communities was examined through 16S rRNA gene profiling. Inoculated soils exhibited significantly higher methane oxidation potentials compared to non-inoculated soils. Furthermore, pmoA gene copy numbers in the inoculated soils were significantly elevated (106 copies pmoA g−1), indicating stable persisted methanotrophic populations throughout the incubation period. These findings suggest that enriched methanotrophic consortium inoculation into agro-soils may be a promising strategy for restoring methane-oxidizing activity.

The paddy cultivation, particularly flooded paddy rice cultivars prevent oxygen penetration to the deeper layers of the soil, creating anaerobic conditions, favourable for methanogens to produce methane (CH4). Cultivation of dry-land/upland rice cultivars in place of flooded/irrigated rice varieties and application of bio-fertilizers in place of chemical fertilizers would be the key management strategy to enhance CH4 consumption and CH4 emissions reduction. Furthermore, diversifying paddy rice varieties particularly by selecting dry-land/rain-fed varieties, disease-resistant and climate-resilient hybrids, as well as dwarf and early-maturing high-yielding lines offers a promising and sustainable strategy for enhancing rice productivity while mitigating soil-derived CH₄ emissions, compared to conventional flooded rice systems. The sustainable rice farming practices, such as application of crop residues-based biochar, farm yard manures (FYM), efficient irrigation management, can significantly contribute in mitigating the CH₄ emissions and paddy crop productivity. This article emphasizes the possible management of paddy agriculture farming by different rice varieties along with new upcoming modern soil and water management practices in CH4 mitigation and sustainable rice production. The future improved farming practices like alternate wetting and drying (AWD), degraded land restoration and system of rice intensification (SRI) also creates a better paddy growing environment and can enhance rice yields, while using less water and lowering farmer’s input costs.

A whole genome sequence of a new strain of the nitrogen-fixing bacterium Azospirillum doebereinerae, known for its diverse plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB), was obtained for the first time. The strain, designated Azospirillum doebereinerae AT, was isolated during a soil analysis in the Chernevaya taiga of Western Siberia, a unique and fertile forest ecosystem known for its diverse plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB). The A. doebereinerae genome under study is fully assembled into seven circular molecules, none of which are unequivocally plasmids, with a total length of 6.94 Mb and a G + C content of 68.66%. A detailed phylogenomic analysis confirmed its placement within the genus Azospirillum, specifically closely related to A. doebereinerae GSF71T. Functional annotation revealed genes involved in nitrogen metabolism, highlighting the potential of strain TA as a biofertilizer and plant growth-promoting agent. The findings contribute to our understanding of the genomic diversity and metabolic potential of the Azospirillum genus, and they are of interest for further study in the field of comparative bacterial genomics, given the strain’s multi-chromosomal genome structure.

An ever-increasing amount of research is being performed on the stability and recovery of soil methane-oxidizing bacteria since this is one of the fundamental processes controlling the amount of methane in the atmosphere. Mineral fertilizers may alter the methane oxidation processes in agricultural soils when they are introduced. Although ammonium (NH4+) is believed to have a significant impact on aerobic methane oxidation activity in soils, there is still little data on how it reacts with lanthanum (La). The recent identification of a novel class of lanthanum-containing enzymes in methanotrophic bacteria may be the foundation for controlling the function of the soil “methane filter” and related microbiota. In the current study, microcosms with agricultural sod-podzolic soils were created and incubated in air or 20% CH4 in the gas phase with the addition of NH4+ (100 µg/g) and La (5 µg/g) to the soil. Using GC analysis and high-performance 16S rRNA sequencing, the methane oxidation potential and composition of soil bacterial communities were studied over the month of incubation. A negative impact of NH4+ on the oxidation of methane was observed, whereas La had a somewhat beneficial effect. Ammonium had an impact on the composition of methanotrophs, and a significant shift was observed upon La addition. Proteobacteria made up a larger share of the soil microbial community, and Gammaproteobacteria dominated the methanotrophic populations. Methylobacter, a methanotroph, and Methylotenera, an obligatory methylotroph, were the two absolute dominants in the La-amended variants. These findings could help evaluate how lanthanum regulates methanotrophic communities in agricultural soils and lead to the creation of new strategies for controlling the “methane filter” in soil.

Oxidation of methane by soil microorganisms is an important mechanism controlling the content of this potent greenhouse gas in the atmosphere. Agricultural soils operate under stressful conditions, and ammonium (N-fertilization) and drying (global warming) may have a significant impact on methane oxidation. In order to investigate how soil methanotrophs respond to drying–rewetting (DW), ammonium addition (100 mg/g) (A), and their combined action (MS), agricultural soil microcosms were incubated over the three months and methane oxidation was measured before and after perturbations, while community composition was monitoring using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. A significant decline in the methane-oxidation activity after perturbations was found, with subsequent restoration, and the combined treatment was more effective than the sum of individual treatments, indicating a synergistic effect. After rewetting, the structure of the bacterial community returned to pre-dry-down levels, but the application of ammonia and combined action lead to irreversible changes in the structure of soil methanotrophic communities. Methanotroph Methylomicrobium were significantly reduced under disturbances, while there was a significant increase in the representation of Methylobacter accompanied by the facultative methylotroph Methylovorus. We concluded that methanotrophic communities in agricultural soil demonstrated flexibility, and even when the abundance of dominant populations drops, ecosystem functions can recover.

Chernevaya taiga of Western Siberia, Russia, is a unique ecosystem characterized by fertile soil, exceptionally large herbaceous plant sizes, and extraordinarily rapid rates of plant residue degradation. We expected that growing crops on soil collected from Chernevaya taiga, which has never been used for agricultural purposes before, would result in a distinct rhizospheric fungal community. This community could potentially yield novel, potent biostimulators and biocontrol fungi for modern agriculture. To check this idea, we used high-throughput ITS sequencing to examine the microbial communities in the rhizosphere of spring wheat and radish grown in greenhouse experiments on Chernevaya and control soils. Additionally, representative fungal strains were isolated and assessed for their ability to promote growth in wheat seedlings. The study revealed that the most abundant phyla in the rhizospheric fungal community were Mortierellomycota, primarily consisting of Mortierella species, and Ascomycota. Mucor and Umbelopsis comprised the majority of Mucoromycota in the control soils. Fusarium and Oidiodendron, two potentially plant-pathogenic fungi, were only found in the rhizosphere of crops grown in the control soil. Conversely, Chernevaya soil contained a diverse range of potential biocontrol fungi for plants. Tested novel fungal isolates showed a stimulating effect on the development of wheat seedlings and positively affected their rate of biomass accumulation. The results of the study demonstrate that the soil of Chernevaya taiga do indeed contain fungi with prominent potential to stimulate agricultural plants growth.

A neonatal vaccination against the Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection was initiated in Russia 20 years ago, with catch-up immunization for adolescents and adults under the age of 60 years launched in 2006. Here, we have assessed the humoral immunity to HBV in different regions of Russia, as well as the infection frequency following 20 years of a nationwide vaccination campaign. We have also evaluated the role of immune-escape variants in continuing HBV circulation. A total of 36,149 healthy volunteers from nine regions spanning the Russian Federation from west to east were tested for HBV surface antigen (HBsAg), antibodies to HBV capsid protein (anti-HBc), and antibodies to HBsAg (anti-HBs). HBV sequences from 481 chronic Hepatitis B patients collected from 2018–2022 were analyzed for HBsAg immune-escape variants, compared with 205 sequences obtained prior to 2010. Overall, the HBsAg detection rate was 0.8%, with this level significantly exceeded only in one study region, the Republic of Dagestan (2.4%, p < 0.0001). Among the generation vaccinated at birth, the average HBsAg detection rate was below 0.3%, ranging from 0% to 0.7% depending on the region. The anti-HBc detection rate in subjects under 20 years was 7.4%, indicating ongoing HBV circulation. The overall proportion of participants under 20 years with vaccine-induced HBV immunity (anti-HBs positive, anti-HBc negative) was 41.7% but below 10% in the Tuva Republic and below 25% in the Sverdlovsk and Kaliningrad regions. The overall prevalence of immune-escape HBsAg variants was 25.2% in sequences obtained from 2018–2022, similar to the prevalence of 25.8% in sequences collected prior to 2010 (p > 0.05). The population dynamics of immune-escape variants predicted by Bayesian analysis have remained stable over the last 20 years, indicating the absence of vaccine-driven positive selection. In contrast, the wild-type HBV population size experienced a rapid decrease starting in the mid-1990s, following the introduction of mass immunization, but it subsequently began to recover, reaching pre-vaccination levels by 2020. Taken together, these data indicate that it is gaps in vaccination, and not virus evolution, that may be responsible for the continued virus circulation despite 20 years of mass vaccination.

Assessment of the response of soil microbial communities, performing important ecological and biospheric functions, to natural or anthropogenic impacts is one of the promising approaches to solve the problems of stress resilience of ecosystems. A model experiment with soddy-podzolic soil (Eutric Albic Retisol (Abruptic, Loamic)) has shown the inhibitory effect of ammonium and the stimulating effect of lanthanum on methane oxidation by soil microorganisms. The application of ammonium and lanthanum reduced the taxonomic diversity of the soil bacterial community and changed its structure: the relative content of gram-positive bacteria of Actinobacteriota and Bacillota phyla decreased, while the portion of gram-negative bacteria of the phylum Pseudomonadota increased. Applied lanthanum causes a significant (by several orders of magnitude) rise in the relative content of methanotrophs of Methylobacter genus and of obligate methylotrophs of Methylotenera genus in the community. The results of this work may be used to develop approaches for the control of the activity of the soil methane filter and of the accompanying microbiota.

Microbial communities play crucial roles in the global carbon cycle, particularly in peatland and tundra ecosystems experiencing climate change. The latest IPCC assessments highlight the anthropogenic changes in the Arctic peatlands and their consequences due to global climate change. These disturbances could trigger permafrost degradation and intensification of the biogeochemical processes resulting in greenhouse gas formation. In this study, we describe the variation in diversity and composition of soil microbial communities from shallow peat tundra sites with different anthropogenic loads and applied restoration interventions in the landscape of remnant fragments of terraces in the Pechora River delta, the Russian Arctic, Nenets Autonomous Okrug. The molecular approaches, including quantitative real-time PCR and high-throughput Illumina sequencing of 16S RNA and ITS, were applied to examine the bacterial and fungal communities in the soil samples. Anthropogenic disturbance leads to a significant decrease in the representation of Acidobacteria and Verrucomicrobia, while the proportion and diversity of Proteobacteria increase. Fungal communities in undisturbed sites may be characterized as monodominant, and anthropogenic impact increases the fungal diversity. Only the verrucomicrobial methanotrophs Methyloacifiphilaceae were found in the undisturbed sites, but proteobacterial methanotrophs Methylobacterium-Methylorubrum, as well as different methylotrophs affiliated with Methylophilaceae, and Beijerinckiaceae (Methylorosula), were detected in disturbed sites.

Chernevaya taiga in West Siberia is a unique environment, with gigantism of grasses and shrubs. Exceptionally high productivity of plants is determined by the synergistic interaction of various factors, with a special role belonging to microorganisms colonizing the plant roots. This research explored whether agricultural plants can recruit specific microorganisms from within virgin Chernevaya Umbrisol and thus increase their productivity. Radish and wheat plants were grown on the Umbrisol (T1) and control Retisol of Scotch pine forest stand (T3) soils in the phytotron, and then a bacterial community analysis of the rhizosphere was performed using high-throughput sequencing of the 16S rRNA genes. In laboratory experiments, the plant physiological parameters were significantly higher when growing on the Umbrisol as compared to the Retisol. Bacterial diversity in T1 soil was considerably higher than in the control sample, and the principal coordinate analysis demonstrated apparent differences in the bacterial communities associated with the plants. Agricultural plants growing in the T1 soil form specific prokaryotic communities, with dominant genera Chthoniobacter, Pseudomonas, Burkholderia, and Massilia. These communities also include less abundant but essential for plant growth nitrifiers Cand. Nitrosocosmius and Nitrospira, and representatives of Proteobacteria, Bacilli, and Actinobacteria, known to be gibberellin-producers.

Temperature and moisture are the main external factors controlling organic matter decomposition and mineralization in soil. The effect of temperature (8 and 22°C) and moisture (15, 30, and 45 mass %) of gray forest soil (Luvic Retic Greyzemic Phaeozems (Loamic)) on decomposition of tree residues (leaves, small twigs, thin roots) and agricultural plants (clover aboveground mass and roots, barley straw and roots) has been studied in two long-term experiments. Coarsely crushed (10–2 mm) plant residues were added to the soil in dry form in an amount of 1% of the soil mass. The decomposition of soil organic matter and plant residues were assessed by the quantification of C–CO2 emitted from the soil. The efficiency and rate of decomposition of soil organic matter and plant residues depended on the type of decomposed material rather than on the temperature and moisture levels. The predominant decomposition of easily decomposable components hid the temperature response of stable compounds and low-quality plant residues. The slowly decomposable plant residues were more sensitive to soil wetting. Temperature coefficients Q10 of mineralization of soil organic matter and plant residues were on average 1.66 ± 0.41 and 1.39 ± 0.06, respectively. Moisture coefficients W10 in the gravimetric moisture intervals of 15–30 and 30–45% were 1.22 ± 0.09 and 1.21 ± 0.05 for soil and 1.29 ± 0.20 and 1.25 ± 0.13 for plant residues respectively.

The temperature sensitivity (Q(10)) of soil respiration (Rs) is crucial to assess the carbon (C) budget of terrestrial ecosystems under global warming. The Q(10) changes along a climatic gradient as well as its seasonal dynamics remain unclear, and the underlying microbial mechanisms are not well known. Here, the seasonal Q(10) of Rs at the northern, middle, and southern sites of a natural temperate mixed forest was examined. The mean annual temperature (MAT) of the sampling sites spanned from 0.5 to 4.9.C. The Q(10) pattern over the climatic zones was highly dependent on season, with Q(10) increasing toward the southern region in spring and autumn, but having a similar level across the sampling sites in summer. In spring, Q(10) was independent of microbial community composition and functions. Instead, spring Q(10) increased with decreasing C availability from north to south, consistent with the Carbon-Quality-Temperature theory. In summer, Q(10) was closely associated with the dominance of microbial r-strategy features, characterized by high copiotroph/oligotroph and labile/recalcitrant C degradation gene ratios. In autumn, however, Q(10) was driven by the K-selected microbial communities, which might have been ascribed to the priming effects mediated by fresh plant litter. The seasonality of Q(10) was sitedependent. The southern and middle sites had the lowest Q(10) in summer, consistent with the Seasonal Plasticity Hypothesis, which predicts lower temperature sensitivity in warmer seasons. In contrast, the Q(10) at the northern site remained stable during the growing season due to minor seasonal fluctuations in plant litter inputs and microbial community composition and functions. This work deepens our understanding on the complex relationships between Q(10), carbon availability and microorganisms over spatial and temporal scales by translating microbial phylogenetic data into life strategies.

— While lanthanum is known to regulate the metabolism of microorganisms using single-carbon compounds, there is no information about its effect on soil communities. This is the first report on response of methanotrophic communities to the introduction of lanthanum, determined using high-throughput sequencing of the 16S rRNA genes in experiments with soil microcosms. It was found that after one and two months after the introduction of lanthanum salts the proportion of Methylobacter in the total pool of sequences increased (up to 9 and 15%, respectively). At the same time, the content of methylotrophic Methylotenera increased up to 10 and 19%, respectively. Thus, lanthanum was found to stimulate the formation of Methylobacter − Methylotenera associations under elevated methane content in the soil, which may affect the contribution of agrosoils to the regulation of methane content in the atmosphere.

The isolation of soil bacteria from various environments with exceptionally high fertility rates represents an opportunity to identify promising agents to promote agriculture production. The paper aims to study the densities of cultivable bacteria and isolate bacteria from the radish and spring wheat rhizosphere. Plants were grown in the pot experiment with virgin Chernevaya soil, which possessed extraordinary productivity, and zonal forest soil that did not demonstrate similar features. Fifty-nine bacterial isolates were purified and evaluated for their beneficial effects on the early growth of wheat. Isolates belonged to Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Firmicutes phyla, and the most represented genera were Pseudomonas, Streptomyces, Paenibacillus, and Methylobacterium. These dominant bacteria were used in plant inoculation studies. Strains promoted a significant increase in shoot and root length and biomass, thus they may be considered plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria [PGPR]. Regarding biotest assays, strains that displayed high plant growth-promoting capabilities [PGP] were selected for further investigation. This study contributed to bacteria isolates from a unique natural environment with biotechnological potentials in improving plant growth and showed potency to be exploited as bioinoculants.

A novel, aerobic nitrogen-fixing methylotrophic bacterium, strain 29kT, was enriched and isolated from sludge generated during wastewater treatment at a paper mill in Baikal, Russian Federation. Cells were Gram-stain-variable. The cell wall was of the negative Gram-type. Cells were curved oval rod-shaped, 0.5-0.7×1.7-3.4 µm and formed yellow-coloured colonies. Cells tended to be pleomorphic if grown on media containing succinate or coccoid if grown in the presence of methyl alcohol as the sole carbon source. Cells were non-motile, non-spore-forming and contained retractile (polyphosphate) and lipid (poly-β-hydroxybutyrate) bodies. The major respiratory quinone was ubiquinone Q-10 and the predominant cellular fatty acids were C18:1 ω7, C19:0 cyclo and C16:0. The genomic DNA G+C content was 67.95 mol%. Strain 29kT was able to grow at 4-37 °C (optimum, 30 °C), at pH 6.0-8.5 (optimum, pH 6.5-7.0) and at salinities of 0-0.5% (w/v) NaCl (optimum, 0% NaCl). Catalase and oxidase were positive. Strain 29kT could grow chemolithoautotrophically in mineral media under an atmosphere of H2, O2 and CO2 as well as chemoorganoheterotrophically on methanol, ethanol, n-propanol, n-butanol and various organic acids. The carbohydrate utilization spectrum is limited by glucose and raffinose. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that the newly isolated strain was a member of the genus Xanthobacter with Xanthobacter autotrophicus 7cT (99.9% similarity) and Xanthobacter viscosus 7dT (99.4 % similarity) as closest relatives among species with validly published names. The average nucleotide identity and digital DNA-DNA hybridization values of 92.7 and 44.9%, respectively, of the 29kT to the genome of the most closely related species, X. autotrophicus 7cT, were below the species cutoffs. Based on genotypic, phenotypic and chemotaxonomic characteristics, it is proposed that the isolate represents a novel species, Xanthobacter oligotrophicus sp. nov. The type strain is 29kT (=KCTC 72777T=VKM B-3453T).

Temperature sensitivity (Q 10 ) of soil organic matter (SOM) decomposition is a crucial parameter to predict the fate of soil carbon (C) under global warming. Nonetheless, the response pattern of Q 10 to continuous warming and the underlying mechanisms are still under debate, especially considering the complex interactions between Q 10 , SOM quality, and soil microorganisms. We examined the Q 10 of SOM decomposition across a mean annual temperature (MAT) gradient from −1.9 to 5.1°C in temperate mixed forest ecosystems in parallel with SOM quality and bioavailability, microbial taxonomic composition, and functional genes responsible for organic carbon decomposition. Within this temperature gradient of 7.0°C, the Q 10 values increased with MAT, but decreased with SOM bioavailability. The Q 10 values increased with the prevalence of K‐strategy of soil microbial community, which was characterized by: (i) high ratios of oligotrophic to copiotrophic taxa, (ii) ectomycorrhizal to saprotrophic fungi, (iii) functional genes responsible for degradation of recalcitrant to that of labile C, and (iv) low average 16S rRNA operon copy number. Because the recalcitrant organic matter was mainly utilized by the K‐strategists, these findings independently support the carbon quality‐temperature theory from the perspective of microbial taxonomic composition and functions. A year‐long incubation experiment was performed to determine the response of labile and recalcitrant C pools to warming based on the two‐pool model. The decomposition of recalcitrant SOM was more sensitive to increased temperature in southern warm regions, which might attribute to the dominance of K‐selected microbial communities. It implies that climate warming would mobilize the larger recalcitrant pools in warm regions, exacerbating the positive feedback between increased MAT and CO 2 efflux. This is the first attempt to link temperature sensitivity of SOM decomposition with microbial eco‐strategies by incorporating the genetic information and disentangling the complex relationship between Q 10 and soil microorganisms.

A novel species is proposed for a high-affinity methanotrophic representative of the genus Methylocystis. Strain FST was isolated from a weakly acidic (pH 5.3) mixed forest soil of the southern Moscow area. Cells of FST are aerobic, Gram-negative, non-motile, curved coccoids or short rods that contain an intracytoplasmic membrane system typical of type-II methanotrophs. Only methane and methanol are used as carbon sources. FST grew at a temperature range of 4-37 °C (optimum 25-30 °C) and a pH range of 4.5 to 7.5 (optimum pH 6.0-6.5). The major fatty acids were C18  :  1ω8c, C18  :  1ω7c and C18  :  0; the major quinone as Q-8. FST displays 16S rRNA gene sequences similarity to other taxonomically recognized members of the genus Methylocystis, with Methylocystis hirsuta CSC1T (99.6 % similarity) and Methylocystis rosea SV97T (99.3 % similarity) as its closest relatives. The genome comprises 3.85 Mbp and has a DNA G+C content of 62.6 mol%. Genomic analyses and DNA-DNA relatedness with genome-sequenced members of the genus Methylocystis demonstrated that FST could be separated from its closest relatives. FST possesses two particulate methane monooxygenases (pMMO): low-affinity pMMO1 and high-affinity pMMO2. In laboratory experiments, it was demonstrated that FST might oxidize methane at atmospheric concentration. The genome contained various genes for nitrogen fixation, polyhydroxybutyrate synthesis, antibiotic resistance and detoxification of arsenic, cyanide and mercury. On the basis of genotypic, phenotypic and chemotaxonomic characteristics, it is proposed that the isolate represents a novel species, Methylocystis silviterrae sp. nov. The type strain is FST (=KCTC 82935T=VKM B-3535T).

The world's soils contain four times as much carbon as the atmosphere. Thus any changes in this carbon pool may affect atmospheric CO2 levels with implications for climate change. With respect to the low mean annual temperature and high-temperature sensitivity of soil organic carbon (SOC) decomposition, temperate regions became the hot spot for the topic of feedback between the terrestrial carbon cycle and global warming. It was widely accepted that soil microbial community is one of the significant factors influencing the temperature sensitivity of fresh plant residues and SOC decomposition; however, the relationship between them was not well documented, lacking the intensive analysis of microbial community structure and function. To date, to what degree the soil microbial community can influence the temperature sensitivity of SOC decomposition, and its presumed mechanism were still not known. Bacteria and fungi drive decomposition, a fundamental process in the carbon cycle, yet the importance of microbial community composition for decomposition remains elusive. The in-depth understanding of the factors that control the temperature sensitivity of litter and SOC decomposition in temperate forests, specifically, the exploring of microbial ecological mechanisms, will provide the sound scientific support for elucidating its regulatory mechanism under the projected global warming.

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The effects of glycated albumin on the expression of inflammatory cytokines in differentiated myotubes were investigated. Glycated albumin stimulates the expression of TNF α, IL-1β, IL-6 and CCL-2 both at the mRNA and protein levels via the receptor of AGEs. Various cytokines demonstrated different kinetics of stimulation by glycated albumin. At a high glucose concentration, the stimulation effect was more pronounced than at a low one. At physiological concentrations of albumin and fructosamine, the stimulation effect of glycated albumin on inflammatory cytokine expression in myotubes was also observed. The induction of expression of all studied cytokines was sensitive to the inhibitors of JNK, p38 MAPK, MEK1/2, Src family protein kinases and NF-κB. At the same time, the induction of TNFα and IL-1β was diminished by the Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase inhibitor, whereas the induction of IL-6 and CCL-2 was reduced by the inhibitor of phosphoinositide 3-kinase. Possible implications of observed stimulation of cytokine expression by glycated albumin in the development of diabetes mellitus symptoms are discussed.