Informative Value of Integral Haematological Indices for Assessing the Immune Status (Using the Example of Residents of the Arkhangelsk Region)

In the North, humans are exposed to a number of unfavourable natural and climatic factors, which can negatively affect the body’s functions. In the process of adaptation, homeostasis is maintained by imposing a strain on the relevant organs and systems, including the immune system, whose disruption is usually accompanied by changes in the cellular composition of the pool of peripheral blood leukocytes and is reflected in leukogram parameters. The purpose of this study was to establish the informative value of integral haematological indices for preventive detection of changes in the immune status. Materials and methods. We examined 75 volunteers, including 52 residents of Konosha settlement and 23 residents of the city of Arkhangelsk (mean age 42 ± 10 and 44 ± 14 years, respectively). The subjects’ complete blood count was performed using the Medonic M20 cell analyser (Boule Medical AB, Sweden), and their leukocyte formula was calculated. The leukocyte intoxication index, nuclear index, allergization index and leukocyte shift index were calculated. Results. It was established that apparently healthy people living in the same region but in areas differing in natural and climatic conditions have statistically significant differences in the cellular composition of the leukocyte pool. In residents of the northern part of the Arkhangelsk Region (the city of Arkhangelsk), lymphocyte and band neutrophil count, as well as mean nuclear index and mean allergization index exceed the upper limits of their reference intervals. At the same time, residents of the region’s southern part (Konosha settlement) had a higher frequency of exceeding the upper limit of the reference interval of the leukocyte intoxication index. Integral haematological indices allow us to identify changes in the immune status at the preventive stage; their calculation can serve as an effective way to assess the degree of allergization, the level of endogenous intoxication and the reactivity of the immune system. Due to the simplicity and accessibility of the analysis, one can quickly obtain results and use them both for population screening and in surveillance studies.