Metabolic disease in the Pacific: Lessons for indigenous populations

Twenty-five percent of the New Zealand population is either Māori or Pacific and are thus indigenous to the region. The New Zealand National Metabolic Service has considerable experience in diagnosing and managing metabolic diseases in this population. The frequencies and phenotypes of inborn errors of metabolism in indigenous people differ from that in Western European populations. Metabolic services need to be aware of these local variations and adapt their screening and treatment protocols accordingly. Likewise, the services themselves need to adopt culturally appropriate practices. This includes an understanding of the language, ideally employment of indigenous people and targeting of the service to meet the needs of the people. Knowledge of the metabolic diseases common within particular ethnic groups is important for the rapid delivery of appropriate management. Newborn screening protocols need to reflect the local populations. With the advent of expanded newborn screening relatively benign forms of fatty acid oxidation disorders have been commonly encountered. This high prevalence may reflect a selective evolutionary advantage as similar conditions have been found in other ethnic groups with traditionally high fat and low carbohydrate diets. HLA haplotypes of indigenous populations are less represented in international stem cell transplant databanks thereby making the option of human stem cell transplant more challenging. The recent discovery that short-chain enoyl-CoA hydratase deficiency is particularly common in New Zealand with nearly a dozen cases identified this year suggests there is still a lot to learn regarding Māori and Pacific and indeed an indigenous metabolic disease.