Preliminary Studies on the Relationship betweenAutoantibodies to Heat Stress Proteins and Heat Injury of Pilots during Acute Heat Stress

Comparison in the heart rate, oral temperature and lymphocyte DNAdamage during heat stress was made in pilots with negative antibodies to heatstress proteins (HSPs) and those with positive antibodies in the man-made climate room with Western blot and comet assay. Our results showed that the increase in oral temperature, heart rate and lymphocyte DNA damage in pilots with the posi-tive antibodies to HSPs were higher than those in pilots with the negative antibod-ies during heat stress. These results indicated that the presence of autoantibodies in plasma of pilots might reflect heat damage and high sensitivity to heat.