Modern approaches to the comprehensive assessment of the human immune status under radiation exposure. Review (part 1)

«Radiation and Risk», 2025, vol. 34, No. 2, pp.142-158

DOI: 10.21870/0131-3878-2025-34-2-142-158

Authors

Khomenko P.O. – Jun. Researcher
Kodintseva E.A. – Researcher, Head of the Shared Research Facilities, C. Sc., Biol. URCRM FMBA of Russia. Contacts: 68-A Vorovsky Str., Chelyabinsk, 454141, Russia. Tel.: +7(351)232-79-23; e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
Akleyev A.A. – Prof. of the Dep., MD. SUSMU MOH Russia.
¹ Urals Research Center for Radiation Medicine of the FMBA of Russia, Chelyabinsk
²¹ South-Ural State Medical University of the Ministry of Healthcare of RF, Chelyabinsk

Abstract

Testing certain immunological data at a specific time point is insufficient for proper immunodiagnostics and the patients’ health status. To diagnose and treat immune-related diseases, clinical immunologists perform comprehensive examination of a patient. They interpret results of the laboratory immunological analyses with the account of the medical data on the person’s health status including the clinical picture and the past medical history. The laboratory study of patient’s immune status parameters in dynamics is the most informative. Together with the development of immunology meth-odological approaches and spectra of the analyzed immunity parameters change quickly and fundamentally. It complicates the comparison of the primary immunological data obtained in the studied groups in various periods of time. The first part of the analytical review presents the important scientific data on the strengths and limitations of such methodological approaches to the comprehensive assessment of the immune status as: the analysis of the relationship between the microbiome and the body on the whole (in particular, the study of the intestinal microbiota and species composition of the automicroflora of the skin); the study of the cytokine profile and the expression of the cytokine-coding genes; comprehensive assessment of the immunity parameters using the calculation of the hematological indices. Alternative methods will be considered in the second part of the review.

Key words
human immune status, comprehensive assessment, methodological approaches, gut microbiome, automicroflora of the skin, cytokine profile, expression of the cytokine-coding genes, hematological indices, radiobiology, public health.

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