[Hygienic causal aspects of chronic biogeochemical stress].

Chronic biogeochemical stress results in enteric dysbiosis and is one of the active triggers, that cause deviations of integrative homeostatic parameters, and responsible for the high prevalence of atherosclerotic changes, including myocardial infarction, among the population of the silicon biogeochemical province of the Chuvash Republic, which is associated with the body's nonspecific adaptive reactions.

[Activity of elastase-like proteinases and their inhibitors in indigent nearly healthy residents in various biogeochemical conditions of the Chuvash ASSR]. / Aktivnost' élastazopodobnykh proteinaz i ikh ingibitorov u korennykh prakticheski zdorovykh zhitelei v raznykh biogeokhimicheskikh usloviiakh Chuvashskoi ASSR.

A proteinase-inhibitory balance of blood (elastase-like activity, alpha 1-proteinase inhibitor and alpha 2-macroglobulin activities) was studied in practically healthy inhabitants of the Chuvash ASSR two subregions--Sura river basin and Cubninocivil region, which are distinctly dissimilar in all the biogeochemical parameters involving macro- and microtrace compositions. The higher activity of elastase-like proteinases and decreased content of alpha 1-proteinase inhibitor were detected in practically healthy inhabitants of the river Sura basin, where high incidence of myocardial infarction was found, as compared with those of the Cubninocivil people. The similar alterations in the proteinase-inhibitory balance were observed in blood of experimental animals maintained on a diet containing fresh water from these subregions. The data obtained suggest that there exists causative relationship between biogeochemical parameters and development of imbalance in the proteinase-inhibitor system in practically healthy inhabitants of the river Sura basin. This imbalance is considered as a pathogenetic factor responsible for development of atherosclerosis.

[The role of biogeochemical factors in the pathogenesis of age-related cataract]. / K voprosu o roli biogeokhimicheskikh faktorov v patogeneze vozrastnoi katarakty.

The paper describes results of comparative analysis of the incidence of senile cataract in the siliceous and control subregions of the Chuvash ASSR biosphere. Primary morbidity per 10,000 population according to addresses, the number of cataract extractions per 10,000 population, the detection of cataract in active examination of rural population, the incidence of cataract among primary pathology of the eye were used as criteria for the assessment. Besides this, some indices of metabolic processes were studied in practically healthy persons inhabiting these subregions. It was found that the incidence of cataract is twice higher in the siliceous than in the control subregion. The character of lens opacification in the subjects with initial cataract from the siliceous subregion is characterized by predominance of cortical changes, while from the control subregion--by nucleic changes. Among the population of the siliceous subregion, changes in the state of biochemical processes in the body are recorded.