Assessment of metabolic, inflammatory and hormonal parameters in workers engaged in underground coal mining, depending on the length of service

Introduction. Harmful factors of the production environment and the labor process, which are exposed to workers engaged in underground coal mining, make a significant contribution to the development and progression of cardiovascular diseases, which can cause professional unfitness, disability and death, which determines the importance of objectifying the formation of risk groups for the development of cardiovascular pathology in this professional group, including by the use of additional laboratory parameters.

The study aims to analyze the patterns of changes in metabolic, inflammatory and hormonal parameters in workers engaged in underground coal mining, depending on their work experience.

Materials and methods. The scientists have conducted a survey of 120 men employed in underground coal mining, aged 34 to 54 years, who were divided into 2 groups depending on their work experience: the groups were comparable in age to those with experience of up to 15 years (n=60) and those with experience of 15 years or more (n=60), the groups were matched for age.

The specialists have measured levels of glucose, cholesterol, triglycerides (TG), HDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, hsCRP, IL-6, DHEAS, and cortisol. Additional indicators and indices were calculated: non-HDL cholesterol, remnant cholesterol (RC), TG/HDL cholesterol, metabolic index (MI), triglyceride-glucose index (TGI) and its modification TGI×BMI, DHEAS/cortisol.

Results. Workers with 15 years or more of experience had higher levels of IL-6 and lower values of DHEAS and the DHEAS/cortisol index compared with those surveyed with less experience. It has been shown that work on underground coal mining for 15 years or more is associated with an increase in the level of IL-6 above 4 pg/ml (OR=2.513, 95% CI 1.011–6.246). The relationship between an increase in IL-6 concentration and a decrease in the DHEAS/cortisol index, a correlation between the level of IL-6 and MI (r=0.383, p=0.018) was revealed, but only in the group with experience of 15 years or more. There was a direct correlation between the level of remnant cholesterol (r=0.307, p=0.019) and the value of the TGI×BMI index (r=0.254, p=0.049) in the group with experience of 15 years or more in the absence of significant age-related relationships.

Limitations. The study is limited to a sample of surveyed workers engaged in underground coal mining.

Conclusion. In workers engaged in underground coal mining, with increasing length of service, there is an increase in indicators associated with the risk of cardiovascular diseases (IL-6, DHEAS, remnant cholesterol, TGI×BMI index), which indicates the importance of working in coal mines for 15 years or more as a professional risk factor due to activation of the inflammatory process, dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal system and the development of dyslipidemia.

Ethics. The study was conducted in compliance with ethical standards for conducting medical research involving humans in accordance with the requirements of the Helsinki Declaration of the World Medical Association. The study was approved by the conclusion of the local Ethics Committee of the Izmerov Research Institute of Occupational Health (minutes of the meeting No. 5 dated 08/02/2023).

Contributions:
Kuzmina L.P. — research concept and design, editing;
Khotuleva A.G. — research concept and design, laboratory research, statistical data processing, text writing, editing;
Kolyaskina M.M. — collecting and processing material, conducting laboratory research, statistical data processing, writing text;
Kislyakova A.A. — research concept and design, laboratory research, statistical data processing, text writing;
Varakuta I.S. — collection and processing of material, statistical data processing, writing text.

Funding. The study had no funding.

Conflict of interest. The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Received: 26.05.2026 / Accepted: 18.06.2026 / Published: 27.07.2026

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