Deviation Features of Congenital Immunity in Occupational Bronchopulmonary Processes

Dust containing quartz is the most dangerous factor in the foundry industry in terms of the aggressiveness of exposure to workers. People working in conditions of high dust concentration have especially congested functions of innate immunity. This significantly increases the probability of the bronchopulmonary system deviation, in particular, pulmonary ventilation and the development of irreversible pathological states. One of the reasons for the development of such deviations is the overload of the immune system, primarily, of innate immunity. The purpose of the study was to identify the state of innate immunity indices of people who work in conditions of harmful influence of industrial dust and have different types of lung ventilation disorders. Methods and materials. The study involved 249 workers of foundry: 107 practically healthy people, 101 workers with obstructive and 41 with restrictive disturbances of lungs ventilation. The state of innate immunity was assessed by the level of activity of phagocytosis, the production of active forms of oxygen by means of a spontaneous test with nitro blue tetrazolium (NBT) and activity of complement system. Results and their discussion. It was found out that in comparison with healthy workers the phagocytic system of workers with obstructive type of lung ventilation disorders greatly activated as evidenced by the significant increase of neutrophil absorption capacity at the same time the digestibility of neutrophils did not change. In the group of workers with restrictive type of lung ventilation disorders there were no deviations in phagocytosis activity with the exception of the increasing absorption capacity of neutrophils. Activation of the initial phase of phagocytosis in the absence of appropriate changes in the final stage may indicate the tension of the functioning of innate immunity at the limit of compensatory abilities and the probability of decreasing the capacity of the primary factors of immune protection of the organism. The consequences of such an imbalance may be the increasing in the antigenic load of innate immunity of workers with lung ventilation disorders and the activation of specific immune responses. Indicators of the NBT-test in persons with lung ventilation disorders were significantly below the level of healthy ones. That may indicate a depletion of the reserves of the system for the formation of oxygen radicals, and combined with the imbalance of phagocytosis can significantly weaken the immune system as a whole. The activity of the complement system in this group of workers varied depending on the type of lung ventilation disorders. Conclusions. The obtained data allowed revealing general characteristics, as well as certain differences in the state of innate immunity of dust workers, which directly depended on the nature of the disorders in respiratory system. The most severe violations of the phagocytic function of neutrophils and the slowing of the intensity of the formation of immune complexes were revealed in workers with an obstructive type of lung disorders that may indicate a depletion of reserves of innate immunity.