Ekologiya cheloveka (Human Ecology)

The development of northern territories of the Russian Federation requires addressing many challenges related to the attraction of additional financial, technical, and human resources. At the same time, a range of limiting factors (such as extremely harsh climatic conditions, negative demographic trends, low population density, etc.) hinder the achievement of a high standard of living in high-latitude regions. In this context, human health plays a key role in ensuring effective adaptation and work performance under such extreme conditions. To date, ethnic differences in the adaptive responses of morphofunctional parameters to environmental stressors within the urbanized areas of the Russian Federation are still insufficiently studied. The analysis of age-related anthropometric trends in the North-Eastern regions of the Russian Federation has shown the following: first, indigenous northern youths exhibit a lower rate of physical development; second, the pattern of changes in major somatometric indicators and their indices in contemporary young representatives of indigenous small-numbered peoples of the North indicates an increase in relative leg length and body surface area, bringing their morphotype closer to that of European-origin migrants.

The results confirm that under modern ecosocial conditions, adaptive strategies of indigenous and non-indigenous northern populations are converging, distancing indigenous populations from the evolutionarily formed Arctic morphotype. Optimal functioning of both indigenous and non-indigenous northern populations expands the variability of somatic types and leads to a diversity of northern adaptive patterns.

Background: Many studies on the effects of chemical genotoxicants in humans have demonstrated an association between the severity of stress and the observed manifestations of genome instability. A similar relationship has been reported following exposure of human blood samples to gamma radiation from 60Co at a dose of 1.0 Gy. However, the association between the severity of the stress response and the manifestation of genome instability under irradiation of blood samples using different low-dose computed tomography protocols has not been previously studied.

Aim: The work aimed to test the hypothesis that the donor’s adaptive system influences the development of genome instability in blood lymphocytes under ex vivo irradiation using different low-dose computed tomography protocols.

Methods: Nine apparently healthy volunteers (men and women) of different ages completed psychological questionnaires to assess stress severity and provided blood samples for irradiation under different low-dose computed tomography protocols. The blood samples were then cultured with cytochalasin B, followed by cytome analysis using the micronucleus assay.

Results: An effect of stress severity on genome instability in blood lymphocytes (an increased proportion of asymmetric aneuploid trinucleated cells, as well as an increased proportion of rapidly dividing cells within the cell population spectrum) was observed only in cultures from donors experiencing maladaptive stress and only after irradiation at a dose of 0.82 mSv.

Conclusion: The data obtained indicate that using of cytogenetic tests for comparative evaluation of radiation diagnostic technologies is currently appropriate. Furthermore, the developed experimental integrated approach may be used in future for assessing radiogenic risks ex vivo.

Background: Community-acquired pneumonia in older adults may act as a stress test that reveals limited adaptive reserve in the aging body. The search for laboratory markers capable of assessing the severity and duration of maladaptation remains an important interdisciplinary task at the intersection of clinical medicine and human ecology.

Aim: This study aimed to evaluate etiology-specific changes in fetal hemoglobin over time as an indicator of erythropoietic stress in older patients with community-acquired pneumonia.

Methods: This was a prospective, comparative study that included 85 patients aged 60 years and older with moderate community-acquired pneumonia (CURB-65 score 1–2): group 1, bacterial pneumonia (n = 30); group 2, COVID-19-associated pneumonia (n = 30); and group 3, influenza-associated pneumonia (n = 25). The control group consisted of 30 apparently healthy donors. Fetal hemoglobin concentration in erythrocyte hemolysates was measured using the Mancini radial immunodiffusion method at the peak of disease and at discharge. Statistical analysis was performed using the Shapiro–Wilk test, Kruskal–Wallis test (with Dunn post hoc test), Mann–Whitney test, and Wilcoxon test.

Results: At the peak of disease, fetal hemoglobin levels were significantly elevated in all groups, reaching the highest values in bacterial pneumonia (4.2-fold higher than controls; p < 0.001). In viral pneumonias (influenza- and COVID-19–associated), the increase was moderate (2.3–2.4-fold; p < 0.01). At discharge, fetal hemoglobin levels in bacterial pneumonia were nearly normalized, whereas in influenza- and COVID-19-associated pneumonia, they remained persistently elevated (2.3-fold; p < 0.001), not differing from values observed during the acute phase.

Conclusion: Changes in fetal hemoglobin levels over time demonstrate pronounced etiology-specific patterns. Persistent elevation of fetal hemoglobin following viral pneumonias may serve as a potential marker of prolonged adaptive stress, likely reflecting incomplete recovery processes and indicating increased medical and ecological vulnerability of patients. These findings support the need for further prospective studies to evaluate the feasibility of fetal hemoglobin testing as a criterion for identifying patients at increased medical and ecological risk in the postinfectious period.

Background: There are few studies on the prevalence of eating disorders among apparently healthy individuals. Students are a high-risk group for the development of alimentary addictive behavior and health disorders.

Aim: This study aimed to assess the prevalence of eating disorders among female students in Yaroslavl and their association with body weight.

Methods: A cross-sectional, observational study was conducted from 2023 to 2025. The sample included female students aged 18 to 25 years. Eating behavior was assessed using the Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire. Nutritional status was determined using body mass index, calculated as body weight divided by height squared.

Results: A total of 323 female students were examined; the mean age was 19.10 ± 0.08 years. Normal eating behavior was identified in 14.6% of participants. The most common pattern was a mixed type of disordered eating behavior, involving a combination of two (35.9%) or three (24.1%) types. Within mixed patterns, the emotional component predominated. The prevalence of different types of eating disorders differed significantly among students with underweight, normal weight, and obesity (χ² = 14.067; Df = 7; p < 0.05). Eating disorders were identified in 84.4% of participants with normal body weight, 83.3% of those with underweight, and 90.7% and 92.3% of those with overweight and obesity, respectively. The combination of three types of eating disorders (external, emotional, and restrictive) was least common among underweight participants and more frequent among those with excess body weight.

Conclusion: The prevalence of different types of eating disorders differs significantly among young women with underweight, normal weight, and obesity. Mixed patterns of eating disorders, predominantly with an emotional component, are most common.