Anthropogenic environmental factors as triggers of type 1 diabetes mellitus in children

  • Lidia A. Soprun Saint Petersburg State University
  • Vladimir J. Utekhin St. Petersburg State University; St. Petersburg State Pediatric Medical University Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation
  • Anton N. Gvozdetskiy Saint Petersburg State University
  • Igor M. Akulin Saint Petersburg State University
  • Leonid P. Churilov Saint Petersburg State University; Saint Petersburg Research Institute of Phthisiopulmonology

Abstract

In the 21st century, environmental factors of anthropogenic origin began to come under the close attention of scientists. There is an increase in the incidence of various nosological forms, with autoimmune pathogenesis. Among them, one of the most important endocrinopathies is type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM1), especially in children. In parallel, the urban population continues to grow. At the same time, up to 60% of the urban population of Russia (about 58.8 million people) lives in areas with high and very high levels of environmental pollution. Among the pollution factors, special attention is now drawn to the car and road complex, during the operation of which destruction aerosols are formed, forming a mixture of particles that includes a chemical composition of a mixture of silicon oxides, aluminum, iron, calcium, magnesium and organic substances, as well as compounds with heavy metals. The article analyzes the main sources of environmental pollution in Russian Federation, identifies the central/dominant model, and predicts significant and secondary models of possible regional correlation between the factors related to urbanization and spread of an autoimmune disease, which is DM1 among children of Russia.