Relationships between left hemisphere predominance and disturbances of lipid metabolism in different ethnic groups

The purpose of this study was to analyze the relationships between brain hemisphere predominance and disturbance of lipid metabolism in atherosclerosis in different ethnic groups. Three groups of subjects were examined: 52 healthy Selkups (the isolated ethnic population of the Far North), 50 healthy Russian men, living in Novosibirsk, and 78 Russian men, living in Novosibirsk, who had myocardial infarction before the age of 50. Blood cholesterol, low density lypoprotein (LDL) and high density lypoprotein (HDL) levels of the subjects with different brain functional asymmetry were compared. The lack of either hemisphere predominance is the most common among the Selkups. The population of Selkups as a whole showed low concentrations of cholesterol and LDL in comparison with both Russian groups. For all examined groups the pattern of lipid metabolism has been worsened for the subjects showing the left hemisphere predominance. The changes of lipid metabolism indices in subjects with the dominant left hemisphere is discussed.