Peculiarities of the immune status in children with nervous system pathology combined with excessive contamination of biological media with aluminum

Introduction. Diseases of the nervous system (NS) occupy a leading place in the structure of child prevalence. The environmental conditions create a growing number of stress-inducing factors able of affecting the child body. Aluminum and its compounds are a good example here, it, in turn, is the most common element on Earth. The increase in the volume of pollution of environmental objects with these chemical pollutants, aspects of its toxic properties in relation to the immune and nervous systems, are attracting more and more attention. However, despite the problem being obvious and urgent to be solved, the pathway of adverse effects produced by aluminum on the immune and nervous system still remains unclear.

Materials and methods. We examined sixty six 4–7 years children living in an area affected by emissions from aluminum production. The observation group consisted of children (n = 39) suffering from a nervous disease. The comparison group consisted of a child population (n = 27) without pathology of the nervous system. Immunological exploration was conducted by using flow cytometry, radioallergosorbent tests, and ELISA tests.

Results. We comparatively analyzed cell differentiation clusters in the groups of the examined children; as a result, we identified authentically excessive expression of receptors, which were pathogenetically linked to nervous system pathology, in the test group (butyrophilin, toll-like receptor): BTN3/CD277rel., CD284, HLA-DRrel./abs. We also identified elevated aluminum concentration in biological media, elevated IgG specific to aluminum and HCE in blood serum (p < 0.05). These findings allow recommending these indicators as priority ones for children with diagnosed ‘disorder of autonomic nervous system, unspecified, G.90.9’ associated with elevated aluminum contamination in biological media.

Research limitations. Children without any nervous system pathology did not participated in the study.

Conclusion. We established children with disorder of autonomic nervous system (G.90.9) and elevated aluminum contamination in biological media to have elevated expression of cell differentiation clusters (CD277, CD284) and the late activation marker (HLA-DR) in their blood. This was combined with non-specific (elevated levels of neuron-specific enolase marker) and specific (IgG specific to aluminum) signs of autoimmune aggression, which was not identified in children without elevated contamination of their biological media with aluminum.

Compliance with ethical standards. The study was accomplished in conformity with the WMA Declaration of Helsinki Ethical Principles for Medical Research Involving Human Subjects (1964, 2013). The study was approved by the Local Ethics Committee of the Federal Scientific Center for Medical and Preventive Health Risk Management Technologies. All the participants provided their voluntary consent to participation in the study.

Contribution of the authors:
Zaitseva N.V., Dolgikh О.V. Lanin D.V. — study concept an design, editing;
Alikina I.N. — study concept an design, data collection and analysis, writing and editing the text;
Starkova К.G. — data collection and analysis;
Kirichenko L.V. — editing.
All authors are responsible for the integrity of all parts of the manuscript and approval of the manuscript final version.

Acknowledgment. The study had no sponsorship.

Conflict of interest. The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Received: September 15, 2023 / Revised: December 9, 2024 / Accepted: December 11, 2024 / Published: April 30, 2025

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