Formation of Cellular Responses in the Adaptive Immune Response of 40–60-Year-Old Women Living in Northern Russia

Sustainable development of Russian Arctic territories requires creating favourable living conditions and preserving public health. Living in high latitudes, one is exposed to adverse environmental factors, which can lead to changes in the activity of life functions, including the immune response. The study of the lymphoid population ratio allows us to reveal the age-related formation of the adaptive immune response in women born and living in the Russian North, which is especially important given the increasing retirement age. The purpose of this work was to determine the ratio of lymphoid populations in the adaptive immune response in women between the ages of 40 and 60 born and living in the North of the Russian Federation. Two groups of women – aged 40–49 and 50–60 years – living in the town of Nadym (Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug) and Pinega settlement (Arkhangelsk Region) were examined using the method of indirect immunoperoxidase reaction with monoclonal antibodies (Sorbent, Moscow). The analysis on the immune status included determining lymphocytes with CD3+ (mature lymphoid cells), CD4+ (T helper cells), CD8+ (cytotoxic T lymphocytes), CD16+ (natural killers), and HLA-DR+ (activated В cells with major histocompatibility complex class II receptors) markers in the peripheral blood. We found that the adaptive immune response is formed in 40–49-year-old women as a result of cell-mediated cytotoxic activity of the T-cell component (CD8+) in 68.0 % and due to natural killers (CD16+) in 72.0 % of cases; in women aged 50–60 years, as a result of a pronounced deficiency of mature and functionally active T cells (CD3+) in 96.3 %, low helper activity (CD4+) in 18.5 %, and decreased activation of lymphocytes with major histocompatibility complex class II receptors (HLA-DR+) reflecting B-cell activity in 25.9 % of cases.