The scientific interests of the department have always been connected with the problems of the Chernobyl disaster, as well as with the study of the impact of environmental factors on humans.
In the first years after the creation of the department, the laboratory of “Molecular bases of radio damage” (scientific hands) functioned at it. Stozharov A. N.), the scientific topic of which was “The study of cellular and biochemical mechanisms of the damaging effect of small doses of ionizing radiation of some long-lived radionuclides released during the Chernobyl accident”.
The object of research was the cytoskeleton of immunocompetent cells of rats that received food contaminated with radioactive cesium from the Khoinitsky district of the Gomel region. As a result of the work, it was found that at relatively small doses (about 100 mSv), there is a disaggregation of the cytoskeleton of lymphocytes, which could cause changes in the functional activity and migration ability of these cells and, consequently, a decrease in the activity of the immune system.
In different years, the staff carried out research on the morbidity and functional state of the thyroid system of children exposed in utero, who continue to live in areas contaminated with radionuclides, evaluated the health status of employees of the Polessky State Radiation and Environmental Reserve, studied the structural and functional features of the plasma albumin of children exposed in utero, etc.
Post-graduate student Sychik S. I. performed the study “Assessment of the effect of iodine isotopes on the state of body systems and health indicators of children exposed in utero as a result of the Chernobyl disaster” (scientific hand. Stozharov A. N.), the data of which were formulated in the dissertation work. An analysis of the health status of a cohort of 400 prenatally irradiated children showed that this group of children was characterized by higher levels of morbidity of the main classes of diseases and an increase in the percentage of children with chronic pathology compared to the control group, which showed a greater vulnerability of the processes of thyroid hormone biosynthesis to iodine deficiency. In prenatally exposed children, there is a decrease in the thyroxine-binding capacity of the blood serum and an increase in the concentration of triiodothyronine to the upper limits of the norm, which may indicate the interest of the thyroid system and a decrease in the adaptive capabilities of the body in children in the long term after the Chernobyl accident.
The most informative tests that characterize the state of organs and systems in prenatally irradiated children are indicators of liver function: total bilirubin, transaminase activity. The dynamics of these indicators corresponds to a linear regression model and depends on the absorbed dose to the fetal thyroid gland.
As it turned out as a result of this search study, intrauterine radiation leads to an increase in the level of bilirubin in blood plasma in children. This unexpected result required an explanation, in connection with which the department undertook a study of the molecular properties of plasma albumin, which is known to be a carrier of bilirubin in the blood. For this purpose, albumin was isolated and purified to a high degree of purity (98%) from the blood of irradiated in utero and control children by affinity chromatography and its properties were studied. It turned out that intrauterine radiation leads to a change in its conformation, which was determined by the location of its single tryptophan residue. Such a change in the structure of the protein could not but affect the geometry of the bilirubin-binding sites of the protein, which was accompanied by a decrease in affinity for this pigment and could cause brain damage in this category of victims.
Assistant, and now head of the department Avetisov A. R. for a number of years carried out a dissertation study 'Indicators of the antioxidant system, lipid and protein metabolism exposed to low doses of ionizing radiation' (scientific hands. Stozharov A. N.). The work evaluated the mentioned indicators and the state of health of the employees of the Polessky State Radioecological Reserve. It is shown that the health indicators in the selected cohort are significantly worse than in the control group, and can be compensated to a certain extent by anti-radiation measures, thorough medical examinations, the appointment of antioxidants and a healthy lifestyle.
Another area of research interests of the department is the study of biological, physiological, pathological and psychological age in students of different years of study. In particular, it is shown that the calendar age corresponds to the biological age in 16% of men and in 33% of women.
Subjectively, women were much worse at assessing their health status than men. The data obtained indicate that students need to take care of their health and learn to correct their impaired functions already now, using geroprophylaxis techniques.
The next area of scientific interest is the study of the influence of electromagnetic fields of various frequencies on the functional parameters of the body. The study, performed on 63 volunteers, showed that in the first minutes of a conversation on a GSM mobile phone, there is a significant decrease in blood pressure, in contrast to a similar conversation on a wired phone. More pronounced changes were observed in women. In addition, the effect of pulsating electromagnetic radiation was associated with a decrease in the reaction rate in female individuals.
The obtained data confirm the possibility of exposure to non-ionizing radiation on some functions of the body, which, with prolonged exposure, can cause human pathology.
To quantify the impact of electromagnetic fields on human tissues, the department has developed a computer program that allows you to calculate the absorbed dose (SAR) on the bone tissue of the skull, gray and white matter, the lens of the eye and the thyroid gland. In the methodology developed at the department for modeling SAR values in human tissues, the conservativeness principle known in radiation dosimetry is used, the meaning of which is to calculate the highest values and values. With the help of this program, it is possible to assess the safety of a mobile phone on the user's body.
Employees of the department have published more than a hundred publications on the materials of scientific research. They actively publish the results of their research in the domestic periodical press, as well as abroad. Professor Stozharov A. N. has publications even in such an authoritative foreign publication as the journal “Science”.
Every year, the staff of the department takes part in congresses, seminars and conferences.