Dynamics of nerve growth factor in combatants and their clinical significance

Goal. To study the dynamics of changes in the nerve growth factor in combatants and their relationship with changes in psychological indicators. Materials and methods. The study involved 30 male military personnel who voluntarily agreed to participate in the study. The average age of the surveyed was 34±3 years. All the surveyed were divided into two groups of 15 people. The first (main) group included military personnel who took part in hostilities for a period of at least 6 months. In the second (comparison) —  military personnel who did not take part in hostilities. In the course of the study, the concentration of nerve growth factor was studied. To diagnose the severity of psychophysiological symptoms in response to stress and determine these symptoms, the following methods were used: the scale for assessing the severity of the psychophysiological reaction to stress, the Beck hopelessness scale, the scale for assessing the intensity of T. Keen›s combat experience. Results. Thus, the conducted studies show that changes in NGF indices in blood inversion have clinical significance in the psychological state of combatants. The conducted study allowed us to establish that the NGF content in the blood inversion during the entire study period was significantly reduced compared to the comparison group. At the same time, the dynamics of NGF content over time is noted. If a month after the end of the stress associated with military operations, the amount of NGF in the blood serum was minimal, then after three months its amount increased, after six months the amount of NGF in the blood serum also continued to increase, however, further, after twelve months, there were no significant changes in the amount of NGF in the blood serum. In the course of the study, the links between the changes in this parameter and the scales characterizing the psychological state of the combatants were established. It should be noted that this study requires further, more in-depth study. Conclusion. During the study, it was found that the NGF content in the inversion of the combatants› blood is reduced, while the relationship of this parameter with their psychological state is noted, which must be taken into account when developing drug therapy aimed at treating stress injury.

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