Influence of extreme factors of high mountains on the ultrastructure of rat blood leukocytes

This paper presents the results of a study on the ultrastructure of white blood cells under the influence of high-altitude factors in combination with cold. Materials and methods: 70 outbred male laboratory rats weighing 200-300 g; method of electron microscopic examination, statistical methods. Research results. It has been established that in rats, during adaptation to high altitude conditions, in combination with exposure to cold, there are sharp changes in the ultrastructure of leukocytes. In experimental animals on the 3rd day of observation, the level of volumetric density of mitochondria increased almost 2 times in neutrophils, 1.5 times in eosinophils, and 1.4 times in monocytes and medium lymphocytes. With an increase in the length of stay in the highlands in combination with cold exposure, the volumetric density of mitochondria continued to increase in all types of white blood cells, and on the 30th day of adaptation it remained statistically significantly higher both in comparison with the control and in comparison, with the indices of the animal group on the 3rd and day of adaptation. The volumetric density of ribosomes also increased statistically significantly on the 3rd day of adaptation to high mountains in combination with cold in neutrophils, eosinophils, and lymphocytes, and continued to increase by the 30th day of observation. A trend towards an increase in bulk density was also noted in cell vacuoles: on the 3rd day of adaptation, an increase in the volumetric density of vacuoles was recorded compared to the control in neutrophils. By the 30th day of adaptation, the bulk density of vacuoles, compared with animals on the 3rd day of adaptation, statistically significantly decreased, although it did not reach the indicators of animals in the control group. The bulk density of specific granites on the 3rd day of stay in the mountains in neutrophils and eosinophils decreased by almost 100%.