Characteristics of the parameters of the innate and acquired immune response during the period of adaptation to training at a Medical University

Abstract

Adaptation for new social conditions is an inevitable factor which the first-year students undergo when entering a medical school. Immune system as a part of entire structural and functional homeostatic complex, is involved into the adaptive reactions, thus pointing to its participation in fitting the new lifestyle among first-year students. One should note some peculiarities of immune reactions which depend on the organization pattern of educational process: despite common features of studies, the training environment for beginners at the military training center (VTC) is different from those for students at the medical and preventive faculty (LPF). The purpose of our study was to compare quantitative and functional parameters of immune system in the first-year students at a medical university, depending on distinct features of educational arrangement.The study included 36 first-year students of the Medical University divided into two groups, comparable for age, sex, and physical condition. The first group included 18 first-year VUTS students, whereas the second group consisted of 18 LPF pupils. Studies of immunological parameters in peripheral blood were carried out three months after the training was started. We have assessed counts and functional potential of T cells, their subpopulation profile, B lymphocyte counts, and serum level of IgA, IgM and IgG, total numbers of natural killer cells and proportion of cytolytically active forms, oxygen-producing activity of neutrophils, and the numbers of peripheral monocytes expressing type 2,4 Toll-like receptors (TLR). Comparison of the adaptive immune response parameters did not reveal any gross differences between the groups. At the same time, evaluation of markers reflecting functional potential of innate immunity cells revealed distinct signs of immune reactions, depending on the faculty of the first-year students. It has been shown that the proportion of functionally active NK-cells containing lytic granzyme B granules was lower in the EUTC students. Also, military medical students have a statistically significantly lower relative and absolute number of peripheral blood monocytes expressing surface TLR 4. The detected signs of suppressed functional potential of macrophages and natural killer cells in the first-year OUV students represent the possibly alarming factor of impaired adaptive reserves of immune system. The data obtained are of interest for development of immune rehabilitation programs to prevent clinical manifestations of immune dysfunction.