Relationship between Bioelement Concentrations in the Human Body and Psycho-Functional Variables Observed in Neurotic Disorders

Abstract

Introduction: Trace elements are involved in brain functioning, ensuring basic neurochemical processes in the central nervous system and neuropsychological functions. Trace element deficiency is a challenge in northern regions, where acclimatization-related lack of many essential elements is aggravated by adverse health effects of a combination geochemical and anthropogenic factors. Objective: To establish relationships between the elemental profile of the body and some psychophysiological characteristics of young residents of the continental part of the Magadan Region as a model presumably healthy part of the population. Materials and methods: Fifty-five lyceum students, including 25 girls and 30 boys (mean age = 17.6 ± 0.25 years), living in the town of Susuman, Magadan Region, were examined. Concentrations of 25 trace elements (Al, As, B, Be, Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, I, K, Li, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, P, Pb, Se, Si, Sn, V, and Zn) were measured in hair samples of the subjects using inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES). Psychophysiological indicators were examined using the NS-Psychotest hard & software unit. The I.N. Gurvich questionnaire was applied to study neuropsychic adaptation (NPA) and anxiety levels were determined using the Spielberger-Hanin test. Results: The correlation analysis showed the highest number of links between lithium and psycho-functional variables in all students, which is consistent with the opinion of experts on the role of this element in reducing neurological manifestations, stress, and depression. The female group demonstrated relationships between the indicator of situational anxiety and those of the functional state of the central nervous system: functionality level (r = –0.56), reaction stability (r = –0.63), and functional ability level (r = –0.61), p < 0.01. Cluster analysis was represented by four clusters, the largest of which included calcium and indicators of velocity of neural responses, the second – indicators of alexithymia, potassium, sodium, magnesium and phosphorus, the third grouped zinc and velocity of a simple visual motor response, and the fourth combined indicators of a simple visual motor response and choice reaction. Conclusion: The survey revealed a higher risk of neurotic disorders, cognitive impairment, and chronic stress in the adolescents against the background of the region-attributed deficiency in such trace elements as manganese, iodine, cobalt, and selenium and high levels of iron and silicon. Endemic hypothyroidism and diabetes mellitus are likely to develop with age in northerners due to high frequency of thyroid-specific bioelement deficiencies and disorders of chromium and vanadium metabolism.