Frequencies of micronucleated lymphocytes and Epstein-Barr virus contamination in Altai region residents living near the Semipalatinsk atomic testing ground.

We assessed the frequencies of micronucleated lymphocytes in 3,036 individuals living in 16 settlements in the western part of the Altai region. The majority of individuals with significantly high frequencies of micronucleated lymphocytes were detected in settlements adjacent to the Semipalatinsk atomic testing ground (SATG). The most considerable genome instability was found in individuals born in the period of intensive testing at the SATG (1949 to 1962). Moreover, we determined that the residents of the settlements adjacent to the SATG have significantly high levels of antibodies to potentially oncogenic Epstein-Barr virus, in addition to high frequencies of micronucleated lymphocytes. The considerable Epstein-Barr virus contamination among the residents in the radiation-polluted zone around the SATG was supposed to be caused by immunodeficiency disorders in these individuals and was correlated with high frequencies of micronucleated cells.

[Intensity of the humoral immune response to herpesviruses as an indicator the body immune deficiency]. / Intensivnost' gumoral'nogo immunnogo otveta k gerpes-virusam kak indikator immunologicheskoi nedostatochnosti organizma.

The state of the local immunity system of the oral cavity was studied by the level of saliva immunoglobulins in patients with different processes on their mucous membranes: herpetic infection, respiratory allergosis and malignant tumors of the mouth cavity and the laryngopharynx. The suppression of the production of sIgA, was accompanied by the enhanced production of antibodies to the most widespread herpesviruses (herpes simplex virus, cytomegalovirus and Epstein-Barr virus). The maximum levels of serum IgG to herpesviruses were determined in patients with malignant tumors. The role of herpesviruses in the pathogenesis of immunodeficient states is discussed.

[Features of immunologic and virusologic indicators in oncology patients]. / Osobennosti immunologicheskikh i virusologicheskikh pokazatelei u onkologicheskikh bol'nykh.

Specific immunological indices have been compared in patients with head and neck tumors. It was found that the EBV-specific antibody levels in such patients were almost one order of magnitude higher than similar indices in healthy humans. The study identified profound changes in the T-cell chain of the immune system which is responsible for intercellular interaction regulation and cell killing. Altered number of lymphocytes and proportion of their main regulatory subpopulations were founded in cancer patients.

[Immune response to Epstein-Barr virus in patients with otorhinolaryngologic neoplasms of various morphology and invasiveness]. / Osobennosti immunnogo otveta k virusu Epshteina-Barr u bolnykh s opukholiami LOR-organov v zavisimosti ot rasprostranennosti i morfologicheskoi formy opukholi.

Both nasopharyngeal and tumors and epithelial cancer of topographically different sites of the mouth, laryngopharynx are shown to be associated in many cases with high immunity to virus Epstein-Barr (VEB) antigens. VEB-associated antibody quantitation in patients with laryngeal, laryngopharyngeal, oral and lingual cancer revealed that the malignant process dissemination and the tumor differentiation are related to immune response to VEB antigens: the more advanced is cancer and the poorer is its differentiation, the more pronounced is the immune response.