Article Archive: Anthropometry

C-reactive protein (CRP), an acute-phase reactant and marker of inflammatory response, is known to be an important predictor of future cardiovascular mortality, independent of other risk factors. The purpose of this research was to investigate the association between CRP, adiposity, and blood pressure in the Yakut, an indigenous Siberian population undergoing rapid cultural change. We conducted a cross-sectional study of 265 healthy Yakut adults in six villages in rural northeastern Siberia. Plasma CRP was measured by high-sensitivity immunoturbidimetric assay. The median CRP value was 0.85 mg/l, with values for the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentiles of 0.30, 0.85, and 2.28 mg/l, respectively. CRP was positively associated with age (r = 0.19; P = 0.002), but not plasma lipids or smoking status. CRP was associated with measures of central adiposity and characteristics of the metabolic syndrome, particularly in women. We found significantly higher CRP across quintiles (Q) of waist circumference for women (difference = 0.7 mg/l; P = 0.035), but not men (difference = 0.36 mg/l; P = 0.515). CRP was significantly associated with systolic blood pressure in men (difference, Q1 vs. Q5 = 1.1 mg/l; P = 0.044) but not women (difference, Q1 vs. Q5 = 0.03 mg/l; P = 0.713) after adjusting for age, waist circumference, and smoking status. CRP in the Yakut was considerably lower than was reported for other populations. The low CRP levels may be explained in part by a low prevalence of abdominal obesity. Among the Yakut, the high physical-activity demands of a traditional herding lifeway likely play a role through high energy expenditure and maintenance of negative energy balance. Our findings underscore the need for further research on the metabolic activity of adipose tissue, blood pressure, and inflammatory activation in non-Western populations.

OBJECTIVES: This study investigated the lifestyle and anthropometric correlates of impaired fasting glucose and the presence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) among an Indigenous high-latitude herding population from north-eastern Siberia.

STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional study of Yakut (Sakha) adult volunteers.

METHODS: We collected health, lifestyle and anthropometric data among 166 Yakut adults (>or=18 years old; 101 females, 65 males) from the rural village of Tyungyulyu (62 degrees N, 130 degrees E; population 2,500), Sakha Republic (Yakutia), Russia. Measurements of fasting glucose, triglycerides, HDL cholesterol, blood pressure and waist circumference were used to document the presence of MetS based on the updated Adult Treatment Panel (ATP) III definition.

RESULTS: Metabolic syndrome was relatively uncommon among study participants, with only 10% of participants classified as having MetS, including 8% of females and 12% of males. Elevated blood pressure and low HDL cholesterol were the most common features of MetS in Yakut men and women, while elevated fasting glucose and high triglycerides were uncommon in both sexes. Relatively low mean fasting glucose concentrations were documented among Yakut women (4.46+/-0.65 mmol/L) and men (4.41+/-0.76 mmol/L); no participants were classified as diabetic.

CONCLUSIONS: Fasting glucose and MetS are at relatively low levels in this population; however, rising rates of obesity are likely to lead to future increases in MetS and impaired fasting glucose in this population. Further, increasing consumption of market foods, many high in refined sugars, is likely to contribute to an increased presence of impaired fasting glucose and MetS.

Research with humans and non-human primate species has found an association between social rank and individual health. Among humans, a robust literature in industrial societies has shown that each step down the rank hierarchy is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Here, we present supportive evidence for the social gradient in health drawing on data from 289 men (18+ years of age) from a society of foragers-farmers in the Bolivian Amazon (Tsimane'). We use a measure of social rank that captures the locally perceived position of a man in the hierarchy of important people in a village. In multivariate regression analysis we found a positive and statistically significant association between social rank and three standard indicators of nutritional status: body mass index (BMI), mid-arm circumference, and the sum of four skinfolds. Results persisted after controlling for material and psychosocial pathways that have been shown to mediate the association between individual socioeconomic status and health in industrial societies. Future research should explore locally-relevant psychosocial factors that may mediate the association between social status and health in non-industrial societies.