Lipoprotein profiles in Alaskan Siberian Yupik Eskimos

Coronary heart disease and diabetes, once rare in Eskimos, is on the increase in some Alaskan communities. As part of a detailed assessment of the prevalence of these diseases and associated risk factors in several villages, we report here on the plasma concentrations of lipoprotein and apoprotein in a sample of Siberian Yupik Eskimos aged 40-87 years living in the village of Gambell on St. Lawrence Island. Mean cholesterol levels for females were 242 mg/dl and 223 for males. LDL levels were 161 for females and 149 for males, while HDL levels were 67 for females and 58 for males. The mean ApoB and Apo-A1 values were 112 mg/dl and 167 mg/dl for males and females. Triglycerides were 73 for females and 77 for males. The allele frequency of APOE*3 and APOE*4 were .900 and .100 respectively. There was a total absence of the APOE*2 allele in this sample. Mean total cholesterol concentrations in this sample were markedly higher than those reported in 1958 from this village and from those recently reported for closely related Yupik Eskimos living in Siberia. The cholesterol levels were higher and the triglyceride levels were lower than in U.S. Indian populations. The data suggest the possibility of recent increased risk of cardiovascular disease for this Eskimo population. The new information indicates a need for comprehensive epidemiological studies to identify and characterize cardiovascular disease risk factors in all Alaska Native populations in order to provide a database for meaningful interventions. The lipoprotein profiles reported here are significantly different from Amerind groups, a finding that may reflect both dietary and genetic differences.