[Respiratory reactivity and parameters of nonspecific immunity in workers of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant during adaptation to mountain climate].

Abstract

The quantitative composition of the peripheral blood, enzymatic activity of neutrophils and hypoxic ventilatory drive were determined in people working at the Chernobyl NPP during sojourn for 28 days in the Caucasus mountains at 220 m altitude with a periodical climbing up to 4200 m. At the initial state we found neutropenia, lymphocytosis, an increase in the number of prolymphocytes and big hairy lymphocytes, a decrease in the number of small lymphocytes, fall in activity of enzymes responsible for oxygen-dependent and oxygen-independent mechanisms of bactericidity. The indices of sensitivity to the hypoxic respiration stimulus did not essentially differ from the norm. Staying at altitude promoted normalization of the number of segmento-nuclear neutrophils, lymphocytes (their small population, in particular), an increase in the number of eosinophiles of the peripheral blood. Changes in the activity of myeloperoxidase, NADP-oxidase and cationic proteins in the neutrophils were observed. A considerable increase of the ventilatory drive to the hypoxic respiration stimulus was determined. Accentuation of fermentative transformations proved to be closely related to the ventilatory response to hypoxia: weak activation of NADP-oxidase and a decrease of myeloperoxidase activity were observed in people with initially low respiration reactivity, while a considerable increase in activity of these enzymes and in content of cationic proteins was observed in people with high respiration reactivity. Individual peculiarities of the reaction to staying at altitude should be taken into account when developing particular methods of immune correction.