UDC

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Authors

Potolitsyna Natalya Nikolaevna, Institute of Physiology, Komi Science Centre, Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Syktyvkar, Russia) 

Abstract

Drivers working in the north are facing a number of negative factors, including exhaust fumes, psychoemotional stress, ice-covered roads, poor visibility and monotonous environment. This study aimed to compare metabolic and vitamin parameters in professional male drivers from the Komi Republic working in the gas industry in the European North of Russia and having over 5 years of work experience. All the drivers were divided into three groups depending on the type of vehicle: passenger car, truck, and bus drivers, as the impact of the negative factors above largely depends on the type of vehicle. The control group consisted of managers of this company. The biochemical blood analysis showed abnormal lipid metabolism and increased activity of gamma-glutamyl transferase liver enzymes in the drivers as compared to the managers. We also found that lipid imbalance was more than two times as common among bus and truck drivers as among passenger car drivers. The tests on protein and carbohydrate metabolism revealed no statistically significant differences between the surveyed groups. However, we found high prevalence of vitamin deficiency among drivers, the most serious being fat-soluble vitamins and riboflavin deficiency, especially in passenger car drivers.

Keywords

metabolism, professional drivers, metabolic status, vitamin status.

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