BackgroundAntarctica is a unique place to study the health condition under the influence of environmental factors on the organism in pure form. Since the very beginning of the scientific presence of Ukraine in the Antarctic, biomedical research has been developed for the monitoring of individual biomarkers of winterers and medical accompaniment in Antarctic expeditions. The aim of the study was to analyze and discuss the retrospective data of long-term monitoring and observations in Ukrainian Antarctica station “Akademik Vernadsky,” providing multi-scale biomedical information with regard to conditions of a perfect isolation from technological and social influences and under extreme environmental factors.MethodsMedical and biological studies have been performed with the participation of all 20 Ukrainian wintering expeditions. We surveyed 200 males aged 20–60 years (mean age 37 years). Extensive medical examinations were carried out before the expedition, during the selection of candidates, and after returning, and particular functions were monitored during the entire stay in Antarctica. The medical records were analyzed to study the reaction of the human organism on phenomena like “Antarctic syndrome,” dysadaptation, anxiety, desynchronosis, photoperiodism, influence of climatic and meteofactors like “Schumann resonance,” infrasound, “ozone hole,” and “sterile” environment; important aspects of its role on human health were precisely studied and discussed.ResultsThe examinations showed the multi-level symptoms of the processes of dysregulation and dysadaptation, as functional tension in the sympathetic-adrenal system rights, especially during urgent adaptation to the Antarctic (1-month stay at the station) and, to a lesser extent, after returning from an expedition to Kyiv. At the initial, adaptation to the conditions of the Antarctic levels of urinary catecholamines (epinephrine, norepinephrine, dopamine, DOPA) increased compared with the start of the expedition (23.2 ± 4.3 and 53.3 ± 5 2 mmol/l, p < 0.001; 67.1 ± 12.3 and 138.3 ± 16.9 mmol/l, p < 0.01; 1749.6 ± 476.5 vs 7094.6 ± 918.3 mmol/l, p < 0.001; 129.6 ± 12.3 and 349.9 ± 40.6 mmol/l, p < 0.001, respectively). In the blood serum of 100 % of the expedition, we found an increase of oxidative stress markers—the level of TBARS increased by 41.2 %, i.e., the activation of free radical peroxidation. Thus, in 80 % of the participants, we observed a reduction in the activity of the SOD antiradical enzyme vs 58 % in the controls. Changes in brain electrical activity after a long stay at the Antarctic stations showed increasing delta rhythms, signs of CNS protective inhibition, likely due to hypoxia. We found changes in the concentrations of microelements (iron, copper, zinc, etc.) in the blood of winterers after the expedition. The polychrome-adaptive method of correcting the changes of the psycho-emotional state in a monochrome Antarctic environment was successfully applied.ConclusionsThe preliminary results of the retrospective study and our own observations of ...
The peculiarities of changes in the ultrastructure of blood cells due to personalized variations of the HIF-1α gene under hypoxic loading (breathing by gas mixture with reduced oxygen content up to 12% and achieving hypoxic state during heavy physical training on bicycle ergometer) were conducted.It was shown that allelic polymorphism of the HIF-1α gene influence on hypoxicinduced changes in the ultrastructure (and therefore function) of blood cells -the C / C genotype of winterers indicates their greater adaptive capacity compared to the C / T genotype that lies in the increasing the number of δ-granules in platelets, and reducing the number of αgranules and tubules of the inner skeleton. Such changes primarily indicate an increase in serotonin depot and therefore, indirectly, an increase in the contractile activity of the vascular wall, which may serve as a marker of the formation of adaptive reaction in response to hypoxic effects and stress. This is also indicated by the moderate swelling of mitochondria with an increase in their average diameter by 31%, which is considered to be a sign of an 219 increase in the energy capacity of the mitochondrial apparatus in order to replenish ADP and ATP reserves for the further inclusion of adaptive responses. Hypoxic loading in winterers with C / T-genotype led to overstressing of platelet function with decrease in contractile activity of the vascular wall.The number of mitochondria in leukocytes significantly increased (by 24%) in winterers with C / C genotype; not only mitochondrial morphogenesis was activated, but also dynamic processes, in particular the association of organelles with pronounced longitudinal association and / or the formation of bridges between mitochondria. These facts are considered as an indicator of information exchange in the cell mitochondrial apparatus. In leukocytes of winterers with C / T genotype, changes in the mitochondrial apparatus were of a different nature: there were clear signs of hypoxic damage of organelles and the total percentage of structurally altered mitochondria exceeded 21%.
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