[Immunological responsiveness of mercury-exposed workers].

Immunological responsiveness was studied in 133 workers who were in contact with mercury and in 20 patients with chronic mercury intoxication. Changes were revealed in the cellular, humoral, and phagocytic links of immunity in healthy workers. The development of occupational neurointoxication was shown to be accompanied by the increased count of lymphocytes expressing the markers of late (CD95+ and HLA-DR+) and early (CD25+) activation in the presence of significant immunosuppression. The findings suggest that impaired immunoregulation plays an important role in the development of chronic mercury intoxication.

[Altered immunologic reactivity in pregnant women living in ecologically unfavorable conditions]. / Narusheniia immunologicheskoi reaktivnosti organizma beremennykh zhenshchin, prozhivaiushchikh v usloviiakh ékologicheskogo neblagopoluchiia.

Pregnant women living in major industrial center near Baikal were proved to have disordered immune response associated not only with disbalance of helpers and suppressors, but also with altered activation of mononuclear phagocytes and T-helpers. The authors revealed relationships between genetic structures of HLA complex and activity of various links in immune system.