LIVER CONDITION OF EXPERIMENTAL ANIMALS EXPOSED TO MINE DUST CONTAINING RARE METALS AND NATURAL RADIONUCLIDES.

INTRODUCTION

Kazakhstan's abundant reserves of non-ferrous and rare metals, which are critical for electronic and digital technologies, orient the country's economy toward the development of the mining industry. The high level of occupational morbidity in the mining and coal industries makes research on the effects of rare metals on detoxification organs particularly relevant.

AIM: The aim of our study was to assess the hepatic detoxification function under the influence of tungsten-molybdenum-polymetallic mine dust containing natural radionuclides in an animal experiment.

METHODS

Wistar rats (n=31) were divided into 2 groups: I - control (n=11), II - subjected to inhalation exposure to polymetallic dust containing radioactive impurities (n=20) for 5 months. Biochemical, antioxidant stress, histological, and electron microscopic analyses of liver tissue were performed after 153 days of inhalation exposure to mine dust containing rare metals and natural radionuclides.

RESULTS

In the chronic inhalation effect of mine dust containing rare metals and natural radionuclides on the animal body, the primary mechanism driving pathological changes in the liver is disruption of oxidative processes. A progressive decline in antioxidant enzyme activity under conditions of prolonged exposure to dust and radiation factors increases the risk of structural disorganization of biomembranes and the development of characteristic cellular changes in hepatocytes.

CONCLUSIONS

Mine dust containing rare metals and impurities of radioactive substances causes activation of free-radical oxidation processes in animals, impaired cholesterol and oxyproline metabolism in the liver. Under the influence of polymetallic dust, morphological changes characteristic of chronic productive hepatitis develops in the liver tissue, with distinctive features including dystrophic and focal necrotic changes in hepatocytes, a productive tissue reaction of the intralobular and portal stroma, and signs of impaired microcirculation. The results obtained can serve as a basis for the development of preventive measures, taking into account the possible health risks for workers employed in the mining industry.