[The main indicators of the erythrocyte system in infants in the Baikal region]. / Vazhneishie pokazateli éritrotsitarnoi sistemy u detei rannego vozrasta v Zabaikal'e.

A total of 440 clinically normal children aged from 1 month to 1 year, whose parents are indigenes of the Zabaikalye, were investigated to elucidate the influence of the climatic conditions of the Zabaikalye on the erythrocytic system state. It has been found that the total number of red blood cells, the mean volume of cells containing fetal hemoglobin and methemoglobin, and the number of highly-resistant, i.e. young, red cells, are increased in the children of the Zabaikalye, as compared to those living under conditions of a moderate climate. Methemoglobin reductase activity in them is decreased. The data obtained have evidenced that under conditions of chronic hypoxia erythropoiesis in children living in the Zabaikalye is in the state of high tension.