Vol 26, No 4 (2019)

Purpose: to study relations between cytotoxic activity of adaptive immune response and prolactin in healthy female residents of the Arkhangelsk and Murmansk regions. Methods. The sample consisted of 145 women aged 20-49 years. Lymphocytes CD3+, CD5+, CD8+, HLA-DR+ were phenotyped using Nicon Eclipse 50i microscope. Serum immunoglobulins E were assessed by ELISA method using on Stat Fax 2100. Prolactin levels were measured using ELISYS Uno (Germany). All data were analyzed using Statistica 6.0 software. Results. Women aged 20-39 and 40-49 years respectively from the Murmansk region had higher counts of leucosytes (7.77 ± 0.69) and (9.50 ± 1.28) • 109 C/l, CD8 (0.49 ± 0.07) and (0.66 ± 0.13) • 109 C/l; HLA-DR-activation (0.46 ± 0.07) and (0.62 ± 0.13) • 109 C/l and prolactin levels (29.30 ± 14.52) and (18.40 ± 3.24) ng/ml, compared to women from the Arkhangelsk region. CD3 levels were 0.47 ± 0.20 and 0.37 ± 0.01 • 109 C/l while the corresponding numbers for CD5 were 0.50 ± 1.20 and 0.47 ± 0.09 • 109 C/l. The most widespread defect of immune protection among residents of the Russian North is a low level of active phagocytes and deficiency of T-lymphocytes (CD3, CD5) irrespective of the area of residence and age. Conclusions. The ratio of immunohormonal parameters in women is characterized by the decrease of the activity of adaptive immunity related to its humoral regulation (HLA-DR, IgE) combined with high cellular mediated cytotoxicity (CD8) and the increased concentration of prolactin, which is more typical for women aged 40+ in the Murmansk region. An increase in CD8 counts combined with CD3 and CD5 deficiency is a reserve mechanism of immune protection.

The state of health research in the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States has been called as drastic in a recent evaluation. Several efforts have been made to break isolation of Kazakhstan from international medical research, education and practice. We studied how researchers, health managers and practicing physicians perceive the current status of medical research in Kazakhstan. Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed at 3 research institutes, 3 research centers and 2 clinics in Almaty, the former capital of Kazakhstan. Altogether, 207 (99 %) employees involved in research participated and were interviewed by the first author. Researchers, health managers and physicians comprised 63.8 %, 16.4 % and 19.8 % of the sample. Categorical data were analyzed using chi-squared and Fisher's exact tests. Results: Although 38 % of the participants had the highest research degrees, less than 1% of the sample had international publications. More than three thirds of researchers reported unsatisfactory transparency of financing research compared to health managers and physicians (P. < 0.001). Considerable variability between the groups was observed in the perception of the agreement between the research conducted and health needs of the vulnerable groups (P. < 0.001). Researchers were more likely to report unsatisfactory career opportunities in research than other studied groups (P. = 0.025). Conclusions: The perception of our responders of the current state of health research in Kazakhstan raise concerns about the quality of doctoral degrees without international publications, transparency of funding and agreement between the research conducted and real health needs in the country and existing conditions for disseminating and implementation of the results of health research in practice.