Study on physiological characteristics and the association with low prevalence of metabolic syndrome in Keriyans, a nomadic tribe, in Taklimakan Desert / 中华内分泌代谢杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the physiological characteristics and the association with low prevalence of metabolic syndrome in Keriyans,a nomadic tribe,in the Taklimakan Desert.Methods An epidemiological survey focusing on diet and standardized physical examinations were made in a randomly selected natural population of 508 Keriyans individuals residing in the Taklimakan desert.In addition,237 of Uyghur subjects from Yutian county were enrolled as controls.Results Between these two populations,statistical significances were observed in body mass index (BMI) [(21.25 ± 3.10 vs 22.66 ± 4.18) kg/m2,P＜0.05],blood pressure (P＜0.01),triglyceride [TG,(0.98 ± 0.77 vs 1.50 ± 1.29) mmol/L,P＜0.01],total cholesterol [TC,(2.23 ± 1.02 vs 3.26 ± 0.85) mmol/L,P＜0.01],low density lipoprotein-cholesterol[LDL-C,(1.41 ± 0.68) mmol/L,P＜0.01],fasting blood glucose [(4.43 ± 1.19 vs 5.56 ± 1.39) mmol/L,P＜0.01],fat and salt intake (P＜0.05).The Keriyans had a low incidence of hypertension(9.94％ vs 29.11％,P＜0.01),raised blood cholesterol and diabetes mellitus(2.2％ vs 11.91％,P＜0.01) compared with the control group.The prevalence of metabolic syndrome was 0.6％ (3/500) in Keriyans and 13.62％ (32/235) in the control group.The prevalence of metabolic syndrome in Keriyans was much lower than that in the control group (P＜0.01).The caloric intake in keriyans group was lower tha than in the control group [(1 502.341 vs 2106.870) kcal,P ＜ 0.01].Conclusions The preliminary results showed that the physiological characteristics with low BMI,blood glucose,and the low levels of TG,TC,LDL-C,as well as they were inured to low salt loading,little smoking and no alcohol drinking,and natural living environment free from pollution,these factors might be associated with the low prevalence of metabolic syndrome in Keriyans.And their low calorie intake might be the most important factor of their low prevalence of metabolic syndrome.