DNA-Polymorphisms and plasma levels of vascular disease risk factors in Greenland Inuit - Is there a relation with the low risk of cardiovascular disease in the Inuit?

Greenland Inuit are a population with a low risk of cardiovascular disease. Recently, we stated that frequencies of potentially high risk alleles of t he apolipoproteins, fibrinogen, factor V, glycoprotein IIIa and factor VII (FVII) genes have different allele frequencies in the Inuit when compared w ith Caucasian populations. We have extended this study and evaluated whethe r or not this was also true for the genetic polymorphisms of tissue-type pl asminogen activator (t-PA), plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), angi otensin-converting enzyme (ACE) and angiotensinogen in a group of 133 Green land Inuit, aged 30-34 y. In addition, we compared the plasma levels of the se factors and those of C-reactive protein (CRP) and D-Dimer in Inuit and i n Danes, comparable for age and gender. Frequencies (f) were assessed of th e alleles that are known as the potential high risk alleles in Caucasians. In the Inuit, the f(insertion allele) of the t-PA intron8ins311 polymorphis m was 0.37 (CI 0.32-0.43), the f(4G allele) of the PAI-1 promoter polymorph ism was 0.88 (CI 0.83-0.91), the f(deletion allele) of the ACE intron16ins2 87 polymorphism was 0.40 (CI 0.33-0.47) and the f(M-allele) of the angioten sinogen M/T353 polymorphism was 0.30 (CI 0.25-0.38). As for fibrinogen and FVII polymorphisms, these frequencies are all significantly different from what is reported for Caucasian populations. In the Inuit, plasma levels of fibrinogen and D-Dimer were higher than in the Danes, the PAI-1 levels were lower and FVII, t-PA and CRP levels were comparable. The observed allele f requencies of the polymorphisms of t-PA, fibrinogen, FVII, ACE, angiotensin ogen and the plasma levels of PAI-1 and D-Dimer were in accordance with the low CVD risk in the Inuit, considering the observed associations between t hese measures and CVD risk in Caucasian populations, but for other measures this was not the case (allele frequencies of the PAI-1 polymorphism, and p lasma levels of fibrinogen, FVII and t-PA). In conclusion there are clear differences in genetic background and plasma levels of risk factors in Greenland Inuit compared with Caucasian populatio ns, and these differences were sometimes, but not always, in accordance wit h the observed low cardiovascular disease risk of the Inuit population.