Features of immune reactions to short-term general cooling in practically healthy residents of Arkhangelsk, depending on the levels of cholesterol in the blood

AIM: to identify the features of immune reactions in practically healthy individuals in response to short-term cold exposure, depending on the level of total cholesterol in the blood.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: On the basis of the Laboratory of Ecological Immunology of the Institute of Physiology of Natural Adaptations of the Federal Research Center for Integrated Arctic Studies named after Academician N.P. Laverov of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 108 practically healthy women living in Arkhangelsk aged 21 to 50 years were examined. Blood was taken from the ulnar vein on an empty stomach in the morning before and immediately after general cooling for 5 minutes at a temperature of -25 °C. The complex of immunological studies included the study of venous blood hemograms: the number of platelets, erythrocytes, leukocytes, total hemoglobin in the blood, leukograms, phagocytic activity of neutrophils and blood monocytes, determination of cytokines IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α. The study of the lipid profile included the determination of total cholesterol, glucose, triglycerides, phospholipids.

RESULTS: In the Q1 group, no cases of hemoglobin deficiency were recorded, while in the Q4 group, hemoglobin deficiency was recorded in 14.29% of the surveyed, and after a short–term general cooling — in 21.43%. The total number of platelets, as well as the thrombocrit index in the Q4 group was significantly higher (259.07×10^3 cells/µl and 0.27%, respectively). The Q4 group had higher average monocyte levels in the leukocytogram (0.40±0.10×10^9 cl/l and 6.26±1.43% compared with 0.24±0.06×10^9 cl/l and 4.46±1.40%, p<0.05). It was revealed that persons from the Q1 group with higher background levels of CD4+, CD71+ lymphocytes are sensitive to short-term general cooling and whose CD4+, CD8+, CD25+, CD71+, CD56+ cells decrease by 1.3–1.6 times after visiting the cold chamber. The cytokine profile in the Q4 group was characterized by higher levels of IL-1β (7.13 pg/ml) and TNF-α (14.3 pg/ml). After short-term cold stress, a twofold increase in TNF-α was observed in the Q1 group from 6.77 to 13.33 pg/ml, and in the Q4 group a sharp decrease in IL-1β from 7.13 to 3.44 pg/ml.

CONCLUSION: The immunological background in the Q4 group of subjects with cholesterol levels close to the upper limit of the norm is in a more tense state, due to reactions from monocytes and lymphocytes of peripheral blood, higher levels of proinflammatory cytokines. The response to short-term general cold exposure is more pronounced in individuals of the Q1 group with minimal cholesterol levels. In 14.29% of people with cholesterol levels close to the upper limit of the norm, peripheral blood hemoglobin deficiency was recorded, and after short–term cold exposure — in 21.34%.

1. Luo J, Jiang LY, Yang H, Song BL. Intracellular Cholesterol Transport by Sterol Transfer Proteins at Membrane Contact Sites. Trends Biochem Sci. 2019;44(3):273-292. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tibs.2018.10.001

2. Luo J, Yang H, Song BL. Mechanisms and regulation of cholesterol homeostasis. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol. 2020;21(4):225-245. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41580-019-0190-7

3. Tabas I, Lichtman AH. Monocyte-Macrophages and T Cells in Atherosclerosis. Immunity. 2017;47(4):621-634. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.immuni.2017.09.008

4. Bäck M, Yurdagul A Jr, Tabas I, Öörni K, Kovanen PT. Inflammation and its resolution in atherosclerosis: mediators and therapeutic opportunities. Nat Rev Cardiol. 2019;16(7):389-406. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41569-019-0169-2

5. Cai F, Jin S, Chen G. The Effect of Lipid Metabolism on CD4+ T Cells. Dobrzyn A, ed. Mediators Inflamm. 2021;2021:1-8. https://doi.org/10.1155/2021/6634532

6. Hedrick CC. Lymphocytes in atherosclerosis. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2015;35(2):253-257. https://doi.org/10.1161/ATVBAHA.114.305144

7. Turner JB, Kumar A, Koch CA. The effects of indoor and outdoor temperature on metabolic rate and adipose tissue - the Mississippi perspective on the obesity epidemic. Rev Endocr Metab Disord. 2016;17(1):61-71. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11154-016-9358-z

8. Kuzmenko NV, Shchegolev BF. Dependence of Seasonal Dynamics in Healthy People’s Circulating Lipids and Carbohydrates on Regional Climate: Meta-Analysis. Indian J Clin Biochem. 2022;37(4):381-398. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12291-022-01064-6

9. Vetoshkin AS, Shurkevich NP, Gapon LI, et al. Povyshennoe arterial’noe davlenie i ateroskleroz v uslovijah severnoj vahty. Arterial’naja gipertenzija. 2018;24(5):548-555. (In Russ).]https://doi.org/10.18705/1607-419X2018-24-5-548-555

10. Zajceva OI, Tereshhenko VP, Kolodjazhnaja TA, Dvorjashina EM. Adaptivnye variacii fosfolipidnogo sostava membran jeritrocitov u detej razlichnyh regionov Sibiri. Sibirskoe medicinskoe obozrenie. 2008;51(3):18-21. (In Russ).]

11. Vakhnina NA. Soderzhanie produktov svobodno-radikal’nogo okisleniya v krovi zhitelei Evropeiskogo Severa // Vestnik Novosibirskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Seriya: Biologiya, klinicheskaya meditsina. 2011;9:182-185. (In Russ).

12. Patrakeeva VP, Samodova AV. Vliyanie kratkovremennogo obshchego okhlazhdeniya na migratsiyu, retsirkulyatsiyu i energeticheskii resurs immunokompetentnykh kletok perifericheskoi krovi cheloveka. Vestnik ural’skoi meditsinskoi akademicheskoi nauki. 2017;14(4):362-368. (In Russ).]. https://doi.org/10.22138/2500-0918-2017-14-4-362-368

13. Chen J, Wu K, Cao W, Shao J, Huang M. Association between monocyte to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio and multi-vessel coronary artery disease: a cross-sectional study. Lipids Health Dis. 2023;22(1):121. doi: ttps://doi.org/10.1186/s12944-023-01897-x

14. Samodova AV, Dobrodeeva LK. The ratio of the content of the extracellular pool of signaling molecules and the activity of intercellular blood contacts in normal and pathological conditions. 2022;100(9-10):456-463 (In Russ).]. https://doi.org/10.30629/0023-2149-2022-100-9-10-456-463

15. Nasonov EL, Popkova TV. The role of interleukin 1 in the development of atherosclerosis. Scientific and practical rheumatology. 201;56(S4):28–34

16. Kzhishkovska JuG, Grachev AN. Monocyte and macrophage markers in immunopathology diagnostics. Pathogenesis. 2012;10(1):14–19 (in Russ.)

17. Kopec AK, Abrahams SR, Thornton S, et al. Thrombin promotes diet-induced obesity through fibrin-driven inflammation. J Clin Invest. 2017;127(8):3152-3166. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI92744

18. Magamedov ID, Pivovarova LP, Nokhrin SP, et al. Factors of inflammatory, adhesiveness and thrombosis in acute lower limb ischemia and dexamethasone therapy. 2022;25(3):251-258. (In Russ).] https://doi.org/10.46235/1028-7221-1117-FOI

19. Gubkina LV, Samodova AV. Individual’nye osobennosti otveta sistemy immuniteta cheloveka na kratkovremennoe prebyvanie v vozdushnoi srede, okhlazhdennoi do -25°C. Siberian Journal of Life Sciences and Agriculture. 2021;13(4):159-174. (In Russ). https://doi.org/10.12731/2658-6649-2021-13-4-159-174