[Adaptive reactions of dehydrogenation processes in root voles during additional impacts of the physical nature]

Variations of the dehydrogenation enzyme activity (succinate dehydrogenase, pyruvate dehydrogenase, lactate dehydrogenase) in the heart muscle, liver and brain of root voles (Microtus oeconomus Pall.) and their progeny associated with additional stress effects (chronic low-level gamma-irradiation, short-term exposure to cold) have been studied. Root voles (parents) were caught in the areas with a normal and high-level natural radioactivity in the Republic of Komi. It has been revealed that the direction of shifts of the dehydrogenation enzyme activity in response to the factors of the physical nature is determined by the initial level of the oxidation process in tissues of root voles and their progeny that haven't been subjected to these actions. The reaction of root voles and their progeny (1-3 generations) from the radium zone has lower reserve functional possibilities in relation to the additional exposure as compared with the animals from the control zone. In some cases, chronic low-level irradiation and short-term cooling lead to leveling of differences between groups of animals which initially varied from each other in biochemical indexes.