Structural and functional changes in the arteries in young women living in the industrial region of the Far North under the aerogenic impact of chemical technogenic factors

Ambient air pollution is a significant risk factor for cardiovascular diseases.

Purpose of the work: to study the structural and functional characteristics of the carotid arteries in women living in the Far North under conditions of exposure to metals and particulate matter.

Materials and methods. Observation group consisted of seventy eight women living in the Far North in the zone of impact of metallurgical enterprises; comparison group included 20 women living in similar climatic conditions. Duplex scanning of the brachiocephalic arteries was used to evaluate the intima-media thickness (IMT), Peterson’s (Ep) and Young’s (Ym) elastic modules. The cause-and-effect relationships of vascular disorders with blood concentrations of nickel, copper, and chromium were studied.

Results. In the observation group the IMT thickness was greater than in the comparison group (0.55 (0.49;0.62) mm versus 0.46 (0.45;0.5) mm, p < 0.0001). In the observation group, Ep was 1.84 times and Ym was 1.52 times higher than the indicators in the comparison group. The relative risk of increasing IMT reached 2.1 (95% CI 1.1–4.3). An increase in the probability of IMT thickening was revealed with an increase in the blood chromium concentration (R² = 0.10; p = 0.003), an increase in the values of Ep — copper (R² = 0.15; p = 0.002) and chromium (R² = 0.19; p = 0.0002), and Ym values — copper (R² = 0.39; p < 0.0001).

Limitations of the study. This study did not include middle-aged and elderly women, men, and did not include the population of territories other than the Far North.

Conclusions. Young women living in conditions of inhalation exposure to nickel, chromium, copper, and particulate matter experience an intensification of atherosclerotic and arteriosclerotic processes, manifested by an increase in IMT, atherosclerotic plaques, and an increase in the stiffness of the common carotid artery (CCA). A cause-and-effect relationship between the copper and chromium blood concentration and the probability of an increase in IMT, Ep and Ym has been established. The identified changes in the CCA make it possible to classify young women living in environmentally unfavourable areas as a higher category of cardiovascular risk.

Compliance with ethical standards. The study program was approved by the ethics committee of the FBSI «Federal scientific center for medical and preventive health risk management technologies» (protocol No. 3 dated January 26, 2022). All patients were informed about the purpose of the study, and voluntary informed consent was obtained.

Contribution of the authors:
Nosov A.E. — collection of material, statistical processing, text writing;
Ustinova O.Yu. — concept, editing.
All authors are responsible for the integrity of all parts of the manuscript and approval of its final version.

Acknowledgment. The study had no sponsorship.

Conflict of interest. The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Received: August 22, 2023
Accepted: October 11, 2023
Published: December 23, 2023