Secular trends in average height and age at menarche of ethnic Russians and Komi-Permyaks of the Permsky Krai, Russia.

The aim was to describe the changes in body size and age at menarche in anthropologically distinct ethnic groups - Komi-Permyaks (KP) and Russians (RU) - of Permsky Krai that occurred in the last century, with a special concern to the urban-rural differences. The comparison of the 1861 - 1865 and 1990 birth cohorts (BiCo) revealed following results. In RU rural males the increase in stature (ST) was 10.8 cm (p < 0.001). The chest circumference has increased by 5.9 cm, but it is unsubstantial 0.25 % when measured in relative to ST values. In RU urban males the overall increase in ST was 10.8 cm (p < 0.001), chest circumference increased by 10.5 cm. The peak increase in ST (+1.36 cm per decade) was attained between the 1964 and the 1990 BiCo. The data on body dimensions of RU females available only from the 1960s to 1990. The ST of rural females has not changed, but the absolute and the relative (to ST) values of pelvic width of the 1980 - 1989 BiCo are significantly (p < 0.05) lower than in the 1966 - 1975 and 1965 BiCo. The RU urban females of the 1985 BiCo are 3.6 cm taller than 1964 BiCo (p < 0.001), but over the next 5 years the ST decreased by 2 cm (p = 0.06). The relative pelvic width has decreased from 17.57 % (BiCo 1965 - 1969) to 17.18 % (BiCo 1980 - 1989; p < 0.05). Menarcheal age of Perm females declined from 14.5 yrs in the 1930 - 1939 BiCo to 13.3 yrs in 1950 - 1965 BiCo, then ceased to change. The changes across generations in rural KP were weak. The rural males born in 1885 were 2.1 cm taller than BiCo 1861 - 1865. From the 1925 to 1975 BiCo the average ST increased by 6.2 cm (1.24 cm/decade). KP rural females became 6.4 cm taller from the 1885 to 1985 BiCo. Pelvic width in the 1985 BiCo (27.4 cm) is significantly bigger (p < 0.05) than in the 1975 BiCo (26.9 cm). The changes in ST of urban KP females were more obvious than in rural groups. The 1985 BiCo of urban KP females (ST 161.8 cm) are taller than those born in 1965 (159.4 cm; p < 0.05), but their pelvic width does not differ. In urban and rural KP females age at menarche is earlier in the 1976 - 1985 than in the 1966 - 1975 BiCo (p < 0.01). In all the KP cohorts, urban females have earlier menarche than rural (p < 0.05).

Vitamin D status of northern indigenous people of Russia leading traditional and "modernized" way of life.

BACKGROUND: Vitamin D status in groups of northern indigenous people of Russia leading close to traditional (seminomadic reindeer herding), post-traditional (in settlements) or "modernized" (in towns) way of life was analysed. DESIGN: The survey study groups consisted of 178 Nenets and Komi aged 18-60 living in the Arctic (66-67°N). Urban Komi, Udmurts and Komi-Permiaks (n=150) living in a non-Arctic area (57-61°N) formed a control group. The concentration of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD), as a transport form of vitamin D, was assessed by enzyme immunoassay analysis. RESULTS: The group average 25OHD levels in both rural and urban Arctic residents are within the range of values seen in the non-Arctic urban subjects adjusted for season: 39.7-47.7 nmol/l. Abandoning traditional lifestyle associates with lower vitamin D levels in indigenous Arctic people. Mean±standard deviation 25OHD values among Nenets were lower in those living in the administrative centre (a big settlement) with a population of 1,460 (32.2±12.90 nmol/l) than in the residents of small settlements (39.6±14.08 nmol/l), and in reindeer herders (42.4±13.45 nmol/l; p<0.05 in both cases). Komi townspeople had lower 25OHD concentrations (47.7±12.00 nmol/l) than Komi reindeer herders (68.7±25.20; p<0.01). CONCLUSION: The transition from seminomadic to post-traditional and "modernized" way of life has led to a decrease in the consumption of traditional foods among the indigenous people of the Russian Arctic. Our data support the notion that the traditional northern diet promotes healthy vitamin D levels, while adherence to the "western" type of diet correlates with a lower 25OHD concentration.

The landscape of Y chromosome polymorphisms in Russia.

BACKGROUND: The pattern of diversity for the Y chromosome provides a view of male-driven processes of dispersal and settlement. By virtue of the broad geographic continuity, the genetic signature of movements from Asia to Europe can be detected in populations of north-eastern Europe. AIM: To directly test previous hypotheses on the peopling of Russia, by considering a broader spectrum of potential diversity. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A total of 636 unrelated males (24 samples) from geographically and ethnically defined populations of Russia, Belarus, Azerbaijan and Georgia were analysed for 16 Y-STR loci. Some of the populations represent more or less distinct isolates. RESULTS: Microsatellites alone can have the power of detecting Asian contributions to the gene pool of populations now residing in Europe. Within Europe, a greater heterogeneity among populations sharing the same language than between populations sharing the same ethnic affiliation was found. There was low diversity and marked population differentiation in some Altaic speakers. Sympatry eroded inter-ethnic differentiation. No regular decline in genetic similarity with geography was seen. CONCLUSION: Two layers of overall diversity represent a main feature of the genetic landscape of the population of the European portion of Russia.

Multiple advantageous amino acid variants in the NAT2 gene in human populations.

BACKGROUND: Genetic variation at NAT2 has been long recognized as the cause of differential ability to metabolize a wide variety of drugs of therapeutic use. Here, we explore the pattern of genetic variation in 12 human populations that significantly extend the geographic range and resolution of previous surveys, to test the hypothesis that different dietary regimens and lifestyles may explain inter-population differences in NAT2 variation. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The entire coding region was resequenced in 98 subjects and six polymorphic positions were genotyped in 150 additional subjects. A single previously undescribed variant was found (34T>C; 12Y>H). Several aspects of the data do not fit the expectations of a neutral model, as assessed by coalescent simulations. Tajima's D is positive in all populations, indicating an excess of intermediate alleles. The level of between-population differentiation is low, and is mainly accounted for by the proportion of fast vs. slow acetylators. However, haplotype frequencies significantly differ across groups of populations with different subsistence. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Data on the structure of haplotypes and their frequencies are compatible with a model in which slow-causing variants were present in widely dispersed populations before major shifts to pastoralism and/or agriculture. In this model, slow-causing mutations gained a selective advantage in populations shifting from hunting-gathering to pastoralism/agriculture. We suggest the diminished dietary availability of folates resulting from the nutritional shift, as the possible cause of the fitness increase associated to haplotypes carrying mutations that reduce enzymatic activity.

Northwest Siberian Khanty and Mansi in the junction of West and East Eurasian gene pools as revealed by uniparental markers.

Northwest Siberia is geographically remote territory, which has been settled by indigenous human populations probably since the Upper Paleolithic. To investigate the genetic landscape of Northwest Siberians, we have analyzed mitochondrial and Y chromosome DNA polymorphisms of 169 unrelated individuals from Khanty and Mansi ethnic groups in Northwest Siberia. In addition, HVS-I sequences (N = 3522) and Y chromosome SNP data (N = 2175), obtained from the literature, were used to elucidate the genetic relationships among the North Eurasian populations. The results show clinal distributions of mtDNA and Y chromosome haplogroups along East-West axis of Northern Eurasia. In this context, the Ugric-speaking Khanty and Mansi appear as unique intermediate populations carrying Upper Paleolithic and more recent haplotypes typical for both West and East Eurasian gene pools. This admixture indicates that the Khanty and Mansi populations have resided in the contact zone of genetically distinguishable eastern and western Eurasia.

Genes related to the metabolism of nutrients in the Kola Sami population.

OBJECTIVES: The environmental and life-style conditions of the Kola Sami could have influenced the population-specific frequencies of the AGXTProIILeu allele, and certain alleles of APOE and LCT genes, involved respectively, in the metabolism of animal proteins, lipids and milk sugar. Study Design. DNA samples were collected from the Sami population of Lovozero settlement (Murmansk Region) in 2005. METHODS: The analysis of the traditional diet of the Kola Sami was made using the data of ethnographic studies conducted in the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth centuries. Frequencies of the AGXT ProllLeu, APOE*e4 alleles and LCT gene CC w9 genotype were defined by molecular-genetic analysis. RESULTS: The specificity of the Kola Sami gene pool is in the lower frequency of APOE*e4 allele compared with the Sami of Finland (0.205 and 0.310, respectively) and when compared with other groups (except the Skolt) in the higher frequency of hypolactasia conditioned by the CC(-13910) genotype of the LCT gene (0.484). CONCLUSIONS: The high prevalence of the AGXT allele T bearers among Kola Sami (0.273) does not contradict the hypothesis of the adaptive role this allele plays in populations with a traditionally high intake of meat.

Activity of disaccharidases in arctic populations: evolutionary aspects disaccharidases in arctic populations.

Disorders of dietary sugar assimilation occur more often among native people of the Arctic then in temperate climate inhabitants. It is hypothesized that the limited variety of natural exogenous sugars in the Arctic, and their low content in the traditional diets of native northerners in accordance with a "protein-lipid" type of metabolism weakened selection, favoring diversity of disaccharidase enzymes.

Stress under modernization in indigenous populations of Siberia.

OBJECTIVES: Arterial blood pressure and serum blood glucose concentration, and the level of anxiety, as determined by the Spielberger test, as physical and psychological markers of stress under "modernization", were studied in groups of native Siberians: the Khanty and the Mansi. RESULTS: The fraction of respondents with a high level of anxiety is 64% of the total sample. The average values of systolic and diastolic blood pressure are higher among natives living in large than in small "national" settlements (p<0.05). The arterial blood pressure of town dwellers is even higher. The same patterns are seen in the blood serum glucose concentrations in female samples. The average arterial blood pressure (in males and females) and the blood serum glucose concentration (in females) increases as people diverge from "traditional" lifestyles. CONCLUSIONS: The results demonstrate that "modernization" and urbanization have a serious stressing influence on the aborigines of North Siberia.

Reference values of body mass at. birth among native northern population of Russia.

Infants with body mass at birth deviating from the mean values exhibit higher level of mortality. The absence of the expressed phenotype deviations refers to the preservation and heredity of the most adopted genotypes (reference values). The newborns out of the adaptive norm are morbidity-prone. The reference value for body mass at birth was studied in the indegenous populations of the Kola Peninsula, Siberia, Far East and the Urals. By our data the Arctic Saami and the Far East Nanais show the reference values more distinct from other. Lasting (many-centuries-long) adaptation to specific environmental conditions leads to development of a special phenotype complex. The Saami and Nanais are the most representative populations of the arctic and the monsoon climate zones. Accordingly, the parameters of reference values of their newborns are significantly different from the characteristics of the infants of the moderate climate zone.