Vol 28, No 2 (2021)

Introduction: Monitoring of different elements in human biological samples is one of the promising areas of environmental health and medicine. Aim: To assess concentrations of trace element in hair of children - permanent residents of rural areas with different climatic and geochemical conditions in the Irkutsk region, South-Eastern Siberia. Methods: Altogether, 372 children aged 6-15 years took part in the study. Hair concentrations of three essential elements (zinc, copper and magnesium) and three toxic elements (mercury, lead and cadmium) were assessed by the atomic absorption method using AAS-240DUO spectrophotometer (Agilent Technologies, USA). Data were presented using medians (Me) and interquartile ranges (Q1 - Q3) across the settings and age-groups. Results: The most pronounced deviations from the normal concentrations were observed for copper and magnesium. Concentration of copper in children's hair in the 7 areas varied between 3.48-6.15 pg/g. A half of the children of the Kazachinsky district had concentration of magnesium between 8.89-20.54 pg/g which is below the limit. Concentrations of zinc were greater in the northern districts of the region (212.89-308.52 pg/g) while in the foothill area a deficiency of zinc (53.01-66.21pg/g) was observed. An excessive levels of level of mercury were found in the Alarsky (0.66-2.30 pg/g), Balagansky (0.56-1.82 pg/g) and Katansky (0.34-1.20 pg/g) districts. An increased level of lead was observed in the Alarsky region (1.17-4.26 pg/g) while increased concentrations of cadmium were observed in the Katansky region (0.22-0.64 pg/g). Conclusions: Concentrations of essential and toxic elements in children's hair varied between the districts of the Irkutsk region. Our results warrant more biomonitoring research including variables on children's health particularly from the vulnerable groups.

Introduction: Little is known on the adaptation of African students to living in circumpolar areas. Aim: To study similarities and differences in temperature responses to local cold exposures in African students and permanent residents of the Russian Arctic. Methods: A series of thermal images of the hands of 15 students from Central Africa and 18 students - permanent residents of the Russian Arctic were taken at arrival, after adapting to the room conditions for 15-20 minutes, and after 1-minute cooling of the right hand in cold water with a temperature of 2 °C until the initial temperature of the hand was restored. The study was conducted in a spacious room with an air temperature of 22 °C. Numeric data were analyzed using non-parametric Mann-Whitney tests after normality assessment using Shapiro-Wilk tests. Results: The initial temperature of the hands was significantly different between the local and the African students (32.75 °C vs. 28.56 °C, p < 0.001). Immediately after cooling, the differences between the groups did not reach the level of significance (33.35 °C vs. 29.77 °C, p = 0.343). Hand temperature in local students recovered significantly faster than in African students (0.70 °C/min vs. 0.26 °C/min, p < 0.001). The recovery time for the temperature of the hands among African students was significantly longer than among the locals (28.57 min vs. 14.83 min, p < 0.001). The difference between the initial and the final temperatures between the groups was greater among African students, but the results were inconclusive (1.21 °C vs. 0.63 °C, p = 0.086). Conclusions. On findings contribute to the knowledge on the differences in responses to local cold exposure between local Arctic residents and visitors from warmer countries. The results of the study also indicate the possibility of using matrix infrared thermography to assess local cold effects on human hands.

Introduction. The presence of pathogenetic factors of metabolic and circulatory syndromes from a young age substantially increases the risk of atherosclerosis later in life. Extreme climatic conditions of the Arctic may also contribute to early onset of atherogenesis and neuroendocrine metabolic disorders. Aim. To study the complex associations between a large set of anthropometric, clinical, laboratory, and genetic factors in young adults in a Russian Arctic city. Methods. In total, 185 young adults participated in a cross-sectional study in a city of Arkhangelsk. Data on180 anthropometric, clinical and laboratory and genetic variables were collected for a comprehensive analysis of their interactions and identification of complex patterns related to proatherogenic conditions. Statistical methods of topological and metric data analysis were applied. Results. Anthropometric and bioimpedance indicators of excess weight were associated with glucose levels, insulin, HOME index, lipid profile (HDL, LDL), vitamin D- and iron deficiencies. Hyperglycemia was associated with lower waist/hip ratio (p = 0.042), higher extracellular water content (p = 0.0283), amount of adipose tissue (p = 0.030), increased uric acid levels (p < 0.001), HOMA index (p < 0.001) and insulin growth factor (p = 0.006) as well as decreased levels of red blood cells (p = 0.016), T4 (p < 0.001) and pyruvate (p = 0.016). Iron deficiency was associated with low levels of red blood cells (p = 0.003), hemoglobin (p < 0.001), elevated levels of creatine kinase (p = 0.028) and parathyroid hormone (p = 0.031), decreased blood antioxidant resource (ImAnOx index, p = 0.034), and decreased blood lactate levels (p = 0.035). Conclusions. Identification of the associations between pathogenetic factors of metabolic and circulatory syndromes in young adults in the Arctic shows the importance of their early detection, prevention and correction at young age with the further going aim reduce the prevalence of cardiovascular diseases in the Arctic. The analysis also suggests the role of vitamin D deficiency in development of metabolic and circulatory syndromes.