The aim of study: to determine the involvement of folate cycle genes in the occurrence of hyperhomocysteinemia in children from Ivankivskyi district of Kyiv region of Ukraine 35 years after the accident at the Chornobyl nuclear power plant. Research methods. Immunochemical, mathematical and statistical. Results. Homocysteine levels were determined in 217 children aged 12-17 from Ivankivskyi district of Kyiv region, as well as genetic polymorphisms of the folate cycle. An excess of homocysteine in the blood over 10 µmol/l (a state of hyperhomocysteinemia) was detected in 65.44 % (142 out of 217) of those examined, among boys – 69.79 % (67 out of 96), among girls – 61.98 % (75 out of 121). The largest proportion of hyperhomocysteinemia cases was registered in the subgroup of children with the basic polymorphism MTHFR: 677TT – 94.44 % of cases. In most cases, hyperhomocysteinemia in children was associated with an environmental factor, including radioactive elements and their decay products. The system for the prevention of hyperhomocysteinemia and its consequences in children living in areas affected by the accident at the Chornobyl nuclear power plant should include regular monitoring of the content of radionuclides in the body of children and locally produced food, the content of homocysteine in the blood, and assessment of the state of folate cycle genes.

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Objective: We compared thecontent of homocysteine, hormones and minerals of the blood in the children with different levels of physical development living in the settlements near Chornobyl exclusion zone. Methods: We used instrumental, laboratory, mathematical and statistical methods in the study. Results: 158 children (78 boys and 80 girls) from Polisskyi district, Kyiv oblast were examined within the projectsof the European Commission in Ukraine «Health and Ecological Programmes Connected with Chornobyl Exclusion Zone: Development, Training and Coordination of Health-Related Projects» and Rhône-Alpes Regional Council (France). The studied territory has remained contaminated with radioactive substances after Chornobyl accident until the present day. 137Cs incorporation was shown to affect negatively the physical development (PD) of the children. 137Cs radionuclides cause the disorders of cellular energy, affect negatively thyroid hormone genesis.A significantly high level of free triiodothyronine (T3), parathyroid hormone (PTH) and P was established in adolescents with abnormal low PD in comparison with the children with abnormal high PD. Correlations between the indices of PD, endocrine system and mineral metabolism, registered in a group of examined children, reflect the physiological response of the organism to the cell damage associated with an exposure to 137Cs radionuclides. Comparison of the values of separate metabolic indices with the reference values does not always reflect objectively the severity of metabolic disorders. To identify the metabolic disorders under conditions of constant incorporation of 137Cs radionuclides in a child’s organism, it is necessary to use the information on the associations among several metabolic indices in a group of children living in the territory suffered from the accident at Chornobyl nuclear power plant.

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