Endocrine Abstracts

Objective: Evaluation of the role of collagen I type turnover in presentation of metabolic syndrome (MS) key components among the Chernobyl nuclear power plant (ChNPP) accident survivors three decades upon.

Results: The study involved 100 clean-up workers of the ChNPP accident of the with MS divided into 2 subgroups: 50 patients with acute radiation sickness (ARS) exposed to doses over 1.0 Gy, 50 patients exposed to doses 0.3–0.9 Sv; 37 patients with MS in the control group not exposed to ionizing radiation. Serum amino-terminal propeptide (PINP) and carboxy-terminal telopeptide of collagen type I (ICTP) levels were greater in exposed patients with ARS having doses over 1.0 Gy than in those with no radiation exposure in a history (F=3.28, P=0.043 and F=3.65, P=0.041). Linear dependence was found between the radiation dose and serum PINP and ICTP level in a first subgroup (R=0.338, P=0.041 and R=0.689, P=0.0001). This observation may help explain the complex changes in extracellular matrix after radiation impact and may suggest the new ways for diagnostic and therapeutic interventions. Systematic Coronary Risk Evaluation (SCORE) was elevated in the ChNPP accident clean-up workers having a left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) and correlated with PINP in ARS patients having a concentric LVH (F=5.46, P=0.001 and R=0.445, P=0.015).

Conclusions: These findings suggest that abnormalities of collagen I type turnover in exposed persons having metabolic syndrome may be involved in the enhancement of myocardial fibrosis that accompanies the development of systematic coronary risk.