Title: Analysis of focus group discussions related health problems and the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster, among residents of Bila Tserkva
Reference: Journal “Bulletin of the Association of psychiatrists of Ukraine»(01) 2013
Keywords: Bila Tserkva,
Abstract: Recent reviews of the literature, including systematic reviews of the psychological consequences of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant referred to the importance of their research. On the other hand, there is heterogeneity in the methods for study being used and the inability to draw definite conclusions on such consequences and recommendations for the treatment and prevention of adverse effects on the mental health of those affected by the radiation. In order to identify the possible consequences for the mental health and the target groups among population affected by the Chernobyl disaster, we had a discussion in the Bila Tserkva in focus groups with residents of this city and those who were resettled from areas contaminated due to Chernobyl accident. Discussion considered the negative impact on physical and mental health. These data pointed to the serious concerns of the respondents of both sexes and all ages, regardless the status of out-migrants, about possible negative consequences for health, especially in the future. Older immigrants, especially women, even 25 years after the accident showed symptoms of post-traumatic stress. In all group there has been noted the concern of physical and mental health of children and the negative effects of a nuclear catastrophe for their development. Older resettled people still perceive themselves stigmatized by the disaster. Thus, future quantitative studies should clarify the manifestation of mental health in victims of the Chernobyl disaster, requires further clarification of the situation with concern the mental health of children, and the symptoms of post-traumatic stress and stigma among persons of older age groups require urgent response.
URL: http://www.mif-ua.com/archive/article/35065
Title: The physical health of newborn infants after the Chernobyl nuclear power plant
Author: Kolodenko V.P.
Reference: Journal “The health of the child” 7 (34) 2011
Keywords: newborn, weight and body length, a complex of factors resulting from the accident.
Abstract: The article presents the results of the study of individual indicators of physical development of babies before and after the Chernobyl nuclear power plant (NPP).
Established evidence of associations between various indicators of physical development of newborns (weight and body length) and the influence of complex factors resulting from the accident. In newborn boys and girls after the accident (1987) established the same changes — namely, reducing weight and body length as compared to those with avariyi. For final confirmation of this fact need similar studies in other time periods after the accident.
URL: http://www.mif-ua.com/archive/article/26296
Title:
Author: Kovalenko A.N., Chikalova I.G., Muravjeva I.N.
Reference: International Journal of Endocrinology 3 (43) 2012
Keywords: ionizing radiation, insulin, proinsulin, diabetes mellitus.
Abstract: There have been demonstrated the results of observation of 60 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus divided into groups: the I one consisted of participants in the rectification of the consequences of the accident (PRCA) got radiation dose 0.25–0.9 Gy (38 persons), the II group included the inhabitants of radiation contaminated territory (accumulated doses during post-accident years on the average 8.3 cGy (15 persons)), the III group consisted of habitants of Kyiv (16 persons). The groups are comparable on age, disease duration, lipid metabolism disorders. The pancreatic insular apparatus functioning was estimated by determining glucose concentration, C-peptide, blood serum proinsulin under 2-hour mixed nutritive load (300 kсal, 80 % of carbohydrates, 20 % of fat and protein). PRCA were found to have increased blood serum concentration of proinsulin stimulated by postprandial glycemia while C-peptide level did not change. That indicates marked insulin resistance combined with insulin deficiency. The inhabitants of contaminated territory have decelerated reaction on postprandial glycemia associated with increased concentration of C-peptide and proinsulin in 120 minutes after nutritive load. In the persons not undergone radiation C-peptide and proinsulin concentration tended to increase, but PRCA had higher level of stimulated proinsulinemia in comparison with the habitants of contaminated territory and Kyiv.
URL: http://www.mif-ua.com/archive/article/29680
Title: Nucleotide variation in the p53 tumor-suppressor gene of voles from Chernobyl, Ukraine.
Author: DeWoody JA.
Reference: Mutat Res. 1999 Feb 2;439(1):25-36.
Keywords:
Abstract: The 1986 Chernobyl disaster contaminated vast regions of Ukraine and Belarus with a variety of radioactive isotopes and heavy metals. While over 90% of the radioactive isotopes have decayed into stable compounds, radiation levels in contaminated areas are still extraordinarily high. In fact, some rodents living near the reactor have internal 134,137Cs concentrations approaching 80 000 Bq/g. Several recent genetic analyses of vertebrates have illustrated that mutation rates of organisms exposed to radiation from Chernobyl are higher than in control groups, but none have studied DNA sequences. Nucleotide sequences of rodent mitochondrial genes were originally reported to have been hypervariable, but those results were subsequently retracted. Herein, I report the results of a pilot study to determine the extent of nucleotide variation at the p53 gene in four species of rodents (voles) from Chernobyl and from control sites. I sequenced a 788 bp region (coding and non-coding) of p53 in 30 different mice comprising four different species of Microtus. Nucleotide variation at the population level was due to deletions and substitutions; both were limited to introns. There were no significant differences between the number of haplotypes in radioactive and control populations (p=0.60). Rare or private alleles might have arisen due to unique mutational pressures at Chernobyl. Alternatively, natural selection might have favored one allele over others (i.e., a selective sweep). Neither scenario is strongly supported by these data. Thus, no apparent genetic effects of the Chernobyl disaster on the p53 gene of resident voles were revealed; more extensive surveys will be necessary to determine if mutation rates are indeed elevated in mice from Chernobyl. However, two salient points emerge; the first involves the utility of introns as markers for mutations in coding regions and the second considers the relative merits of cloning in mutation detection studies.
ＵＲＬ：http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10029670
Title: High level of genetic change in rodents of Chernobyl
Author: Robert J. Baker, Ronald A. Van Den Bussche, Amanda J. Wright, Lara E. Wiggins, Meredith J. Hamilton, Erin P. Reat, Michael H. Smith, Michael D. Lomakin and Ronald K. Chesser
Reference: Nature. 1996 Apr 25;380(6576):707-8.
Keywords:
Abstract: Base-pair substitution rates for the mitochondrial cytochrome beta gene of free-living, native populations of voles collected next to reactor 4 at Chernobyl, Ukraine, were estimated by two independent methods to be in excess of 10(-4) nucleotides per site per generation. These estimates are hundreds of times greater than those typically found in mitochondria of vertebrates, suggesting that the environment resulting from this nuclear power plant disaster is having a measurable genetic impact on the organisms of that region. Despite these DNA changes, vole populations thrive and reproduce in the radioactive regions around the Chernobyl reactor.
ＵＲＬ：http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8614463
Author: GA Merkulova
Reference: Международный эндокринологический журнал (International Journal of Endocrinology) 4 (28) 2010
Abstract: The purpose of the study – to develop science-based criteria for health-resort treatment and rehabilitational treatment for liquidators of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant with post-radiation syndrome polysystemic condition, using natural and preformed physical factors to enhance adaptational reserves of the organism and stabilization of the functional state of organs and systems, and to increasing the potentials of health.
URL: http://www.mif-ua.com/archive/article/12527
Author: TV. MIRONENKO, KV TORBA, NL PITSUL, GP TACHKO et al.
Reference: Международный неврологический журнал (International Journal of Neurology) 2 (12) 2007
Keywords: liquidators of the Chernobyl accident, ionizing radiation, brain strokes
Abstract: Clinical and neurological examination of 82 of liquidators of the Chernobyl accident, along with 30 patients, as control, with cerebral stroke, was conducted, using neurophysiological (Doppler ultrasound of the brain, EEG, REG), neuroimaging (CT and MRI) and biochemical diagnostic methods. On the basis of the results, it was revealed that strokes of the liquidators have their own clinical and paraclinical features in comparison with the control, indicating progressive nature of diffuse brain injury combined with multiple organ pathology, hemodynamic disorders in the macro- and microcirculation, and morpho-structural changes in the liquor system and brain tissues, especially in the periventricular structures of the limbic-reticular complex.
URL: http://www.mif-ua.com/archive/article/1876
Title: Frequencies of micronuclei in bank voles from zones of high radiation at Chornobyl, Ukraine
Author: Brenda E. Rodgers, Robert J. Baker
Reference: Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, Volume 19, Issue 6, pages 1644–1648, June 2000
DOI: 10.1002/etc.5620190623
Keywords: Micronucleus test; Chornobyl; Radiation; Clethrionomys glareolus; Genotoxicology
Abstract: A population of Clethrionomys glareolus (bank vole) from a highly radioactive area within the Chornobyl, Ukraine exclusion zone was sampled in June 1997 and in June and October 1998. Internal radiation doses from radiocesium were estimated to be as high as 8 rads/d. Total dose, which takes into account the internal dose from radiostrontium and the surrounding environment, was estimated to be 15 to 20 rads/d. In contrast, individuals from a reference population lying outside of the exclusion zone registered negligible levels of contamination. We used the micronucleus test in a double-blind study to analyze blood samples from 58 individuals. We scored more than 600,000 polychromatic erythrocytes (PCEs) but could not reject the null hypothesis that the frequency of micronucleated PCEs in voles exposed to radiation was equal to the frequency in unexposed voles. Results of our study stand in sharp contrast to earlier reports of increased frequencies of micronuclei in rodents exposed to fallout of the Chornobyl accident, but with radiation doses that were orders of magnitude lower than those reported here. Radioresistance and experimental methods are possible explanations for these differences in the results.
ＵＲＬ：http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/etc.5620190623/abstract
Title: Genetic diversity of Clethrionomys glareolus populations from highly contaminated sites in the Chornobyl region, Ukraine
Author: Cole W. Matson, Brenda E. Rodgers, Ronald K. Chesser, Robert J. Baker
Reference: Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, Volume 19, Issue 8, pages 2130–2135, August 2000
DOI: 10.1002/etc.5620190824
Keywords: Population genetics; Clethrionomys; Radiation; Chornobyl; Evolutionary toxicology
Abstract: At radioactive sites, at least two mechanisms may affect the genetic diversity of populations of a given species. Increased mutation rates due to radiation exposure may increase the amount of genetic diversity in a population. Alternatively, population bottlenecks exacerbated by environmental degradation may lead to a reduction of diversity. The relationship between these two contradictory forces is complex. To explore this relationship, long-term monitoring of a genetic marker within a population is needed. To provide baseline data on the population genetics of the bank vole (Clethrionomys glareolus) living in the most contaminated regions at Chornobyl, Ukraine, we have sequenced 291 base pairs of the mitochondrial DNA control region. Bank voles were chosen as a model system because they have the highest levels of internal dose of cesium-134, cesium-137, and strontium-90 within the Chornobyl exclusion zone. We sampled three geographic sites, which were Oranoe, a reference site with virtually no radioactive contamination (<2 Ci/km2), and two highly contaminated sites, Glyboke Lake and the Red Forest (both 1,000 Ci/km2). Genetic diversity in the population from Red Forest (0.722 ± 0.024) was significantly greater than at the Oranoe reference site (0.615 ± 0.039), while genetic diversity at Glyboke Lake (0.677 ± 0.068) was intermediate. It is concluded that long-term studies of historical and demographic characteristics for experimental and reference populations are required in order to employ population genetics to understand the biological impact of environmental contaminants on the genetics of natural populations.
ＵＲＬ：http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/etc.5620190824/abstract
Title: X-rays induce distinct patterns of somatic mutation in fetal versus adult hematopoietic cells
Author: Li Liang, Li Deng, Marc S. Mendonca, Yanping Chen, Betty Zheng, Peter J. Stambrook, Changshun Shao, Jay A. Tischfield
Reference: DNA Repair, Volume 6, Issue 9, 1 September 2007, Pages 1380–1385
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.dnarep.2007.04.005
Keywords: Ionizing radiation; Prenatal exposure; Mitotic recombination; Base excision repair; Developmental stage
Abstract: There are a variety of mechanisms and pathways whereby cells safeguard their genomes in the face of environmental insults that damage DNA. Whether each of these pathways is equally robust at specific developmental stages in mammals and whether they are also modulated in a tissue-specific manner, however, are unclear. Here, we report that ionizing radiation (IR) produces different types of somatic mutations in fetal cells compared with adult cells of the same lineage. While 1 Gy of X-ray significantly induced intragenic point mutations in T cells of adult mice, no point mutational effect was observed when applied to fetuses. Fetal exposure to IR, on the other hand, led to a significant elevation of mitotic recombination in T cells, which was not observed in adults. Base excision repair (BER) activity was significantly lower in fetal hematopoietic cells than in adult cells, due to a low level of DNA polymerase β, the rate-limiting enzyme in BER. In fetal hematopoietic cells, this low BER activity, together with a high rate of proliferation, causes X-ray-induced DNA lesions, such as base damage, single strand breaks and double strand breaks, to be repaired by homologous recombination, which we observe as mitotic recombination. Higher BER activity and a relatively lower rate of cell proliferation likely contribute to the significant induction of DNA point mutations in adults. Thus, the mutational response to IR is at least partly determined by the availability of specific repair pathways and other developmentally regulated phenotypes, such as mitotic index.
ＵＲＬ：http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1568786407001693
