Acta Biomedica Scientifica (Apr 2013)
AUTOANTIBODIES CONTENTS OF TEENAGERS WITH CHRONIC DISEASES OF THE UPPER RESPIRATORY TRACT LIVING IN THE INDUSTRIAL CENTRE
Abstract
Environmental conditions may be a prerequisite for the development of various pathological processes in individuals living in environmentally disadvantaged areas. The respiratory system is the first target of the pollutants. Therefore, respiratory diseases occupy the first place in the overall morbidity. The aim of this work was to study the content of autoantibodies in blood serum of teenagers with chronic disease of the upper respiratory tract, living in air pollution emissions of the petrochemical industry. Teenagers from industrial center living near petrochemical company and "sleeping areas" were examined. Otolaryngologist conducted a survey to assess the state of the upper respiratory tract (URT). In each of the areas individuals with and without chronic diseases of the URT were isolated. The content of IgG antibodies in the serum to antigens that characterizes the general state of the immune system (the native DNA, p2-glycoprotein I, Fc-fragment of IgG) was studied by enzyme immunoassay. Statistical processing of the results was performed using nonparametric methods software package «Statistica 6.0». Diseases of the respiratory system take the first place (42.9 %) in the structure of morbidity level. According to anamnestic data more often were the following disorders: chronic tonsillitis (18,9 ± 2,6 %), chronic pharyngitis (6,8 ± 1,7 %), acute respiratory infections (42,3 ± 3,32 %). Comparison of the incidence of chronic diseases of the upper respiratory tract infections in teenagers found that cases of chronic tonsillitis were observed in 45,0 ± 4,9 % of schoolchildren living near the industrial plant and 33,3 ± 4,3 % of teenagers from residential areas, cases of chronic pharyngitis - in 12,7± 3,3 % and5± 1,9 %, respectively. In teenagers from the «sleeping areas» with chronic diseases of the URT the level of auto-antibodies to p2-glycoprotein I was lower than one in healthy children from the same area due to the greater number of cases of lower values. In the group of teenagers with chronic diseases of the URTfrom environmentally disadvantaged areas children with high content of antibodies to p2-glycoprotein I were more common than in the groups of healthy teenagers living in the same area. The findings suggest that there is activation of the immune system in healthy schoolchildren living in a «sleeping areas" of the industrial city. It can be assumed that the detected changes in the content of autoantibodies may indicate features for the adaptive processes under development pressure because of the surveyed students identified isolated cases of hypo- or hyperimmunoreactivity of specific autoantibodies.
