Immune reactions of northern population under the effect of chronic irradiation by incorporated radionuclides of different nature

Immunologic indices are studied among the indigenous population of the Far North and among temporary and permanent inhabitants of Leningrad in an attempt to identify the role of radiation from incorporated radionuclides entering the body along the ecologic chain. A number of alterations in immunologic reactivity have been found among reindeer breeders, for example some reductions in most of the studied factors of nonspecific humoral protection. These alterations have been of a compensatory nature and suggest that adaptation mechanisms are disturbed. The alterations are thought to result from the action of a number of unfavorable environmental factors. The contribution of the radiation factor is still uncertain