Immigration from Ethiopia to Israel exposed subjects from an underdeve
loped environment to that of a westernised, developed country. In prev
ious cross-sectional analyses we found that residence in Israel for mo
re than 2 years was associated with a rise in blood pressure which, in
turn, was associated with a rise in lipids and insulin levels. Herein
we report longitudinal follow-up and baseline examination of 53 young
male Ethiopians who resided in a relatively controlled environment (a
gricultural boarding schools) for 2 years after immigration. Their mea
n age, when re-examined, was 23 +/- 3 years. Body mass index (20 +/- 2
kg/m(2)) and triceps' skinfold (71 +/- 32 mm) were not different from
baseline values. However, over the 2 years blood pressure rose from 1
18 +/- 9/62 +/- 11 to 129 +/- 13/71 +/- 10 mm Hg, P < 0.0001 for both
systolic and diastolic pressures. At 2 years 11 of 53 subjects (20.7%)
had hypertension. Total high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and trig
lyceride levels increased from 131 +/- 27, 36 +/- 8 and 65 +/- 22 mg/d
l to 146 +/- 29, 43 +/- 10 and 98 +/- 42 mg/dl, respectively; P < 0.00
001 for all. Surprisingly, glucose tolerance (to oral 75 g load) impro
ved and the sum of insulin (first and second hour post-load) decreased
significantly and was not correlated with blood pressure changes. Onl
y systolic blood pressure was an independent predictor of incident hyp
ertension (r(2) = 0.33, P < 0.0001) in multiple regression analysis. I
t is concluded that the longitudinal rise in blood pressure and lipids
in Ethiopians residing for 2 years in Israel is substantial, not acco
mpanied by changes in body mass index or adiposity and not related to
insulin levels or sensitivity.