Comparative evaluation of thyroid-stimulating hormone, cortisol and serotonin production as the neuroendocrine regulation markers of adaptation processes to the peculiarities of the educational process in male schoolchildren of different age groups

Abstract

School education is associated with the development of intellectual, neuropsychic and physical overstrain in schoolchildren, which causes the formation of the complex of adaptive reactions to changed environmental conditions. The purpose of the research was to perform a comparative assessment of the levels of thyroid-stimulating hormone, cortisol and serotonin in male schoolchildren (pupils of the Russian second pillar educational institutions) with different physical activity intensity. Materials and methods used: a single-center one-stage study with control groups was conducted in March-April 2019. The observation groups consisted of 173 boys from the secondary cadet school whose education was characterized by a prolonged and more frequent physical activity; the control groups consisted of boys from the standard secondary general education school. The four observation groups and the four corresponding control groups were formed according to the age, as follows: groups marked “1” were formed from the first-grade students solely; groups “2” - from second to fourth grades students; groups “3” - from sixth to seventh grades students; and groups “4” - from students of the nineth to eleventh grades. The levels of cortisol, serotonin (5-HT) and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) were determined by enzyme immunoassay. Results: the average serum serotonin level in male schoolchildren from the observation groups of 6th to 7th and 9th to 11th grades students was significantly (p=0.002 to 0.003) - up to 1.6 times - higher than the average 5-HT level in children from the corresponding control groups; the average cortisol level in all schoolboys from cadet school was significantly (p=0.023 to 0.050) lower - by up to 1.3 times - than the values obtained in control groups (i.e. standard secondary school students); and the blood TSH levels were significantly (p=0.036 to 0.050) - about 2 times - lower in all observation groups vs. the control groups of pupils. Conclusion: the obtained results allow formulating a hypothesis of schoolboys with higher physical activity levels in transitional (7 years old) and pre-puberty ages (11 to 12 years old) within intensive adaptation processes to schooling activities having imbalance in glucocorticoid and serotonergic regulation.