International Union for Circumpolar Health Ministry of Public Health and Social Development of RF Russian Academy of Medical Sciences Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Medical Sciences Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences Medical Polar Fund “Science” The Northern Forum

Abstracts

Ethnic peculiarities of the North native inhabitants health

Changes in lifestyle leads to fast increase of sugars consumption by indigenous northerners in Russia. In 1920 Chukotka Yupik did not practically eat selling sweets. In 1937 their average consumption of sweets was 40 g/day (30 g/day of table sugar), and 125 g/day (58 g/day of table sugar) in 2000 that is close to all-Russia values. The changes in diet have unfavorable consequences. Glucose metabolism disorders were found in 5% of hunters, fishermen, and deer herders (they have a close to traditional diet), in 11% of partly “westernized” northern settlers (medical workers, teachers, administrators), and in 17% of the young people who moved to towns for a study (Kozlov, Vershubsky, 2003).

The diversity of the sugars consuming is also growing. The share of sucrose in all the disaccharides has declined in comparison with the 1930s from 75 to 46%; consequently the assimilation more than a half of the sweets needs an engagement of various disaccharidase enzymes. However, disaccharidase activity disorders are characteristic for the northern aborigines. The malabsorption of sucrose was found in 5-6.9% of native northerners (in N.W. Europe – less than in 0.5%), trechalose – in 10.5% (Europeans – 0.25-2%), lactose – in 48-100% (Europeans – 2-37%). It is thought that the digestive disaccharidases’ activity is mainly under genetic control (Semenza et al., 1999). Evolutionary reasons for the malabsorption frequent occurrences in populations of northern aborigines have been considered earlier (Kozlov et al., 2005).

Hypolactasia-associated C allele of C/T-13910 locus of lactase gene in Chukotka population was found with the frequency 0.98 among Chukchi, 0.79 in offspring of Chukchi-Slavic marriages, and 0.65 when both parents are Slavs. Similar results were derived from the clinical-laboratory testing in various Saami subpopulations (Kozlov, Lisitsyn, 1997).

Probably, the change in allele frequencies connected to the gene inflow, yet we can not exclude a selection influence. The combined changes in diet and in genetic structure of the populations make it urgent to study carbohydrate metabolism distinction in indigenous groups.

The study was supported by the RFBR grant 05-06-80427

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Last update: 06-Jul-2012 (11:52:05)