1. ¹Department of Medicine, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
2. ²American Indian Community Development Corporation, Minneapolis, MN, USA
3. ³St Mary's Health Clinics, St Paul, MN, USA
4. ⁴Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Biophysics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA

Correspondence: Dr GL Nelsestuen, 6-155 Jackson Hall, 321 Church St SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA. E-mail: nelse002@umn.edu

Received 26 September 2006; Revised 3 December 2006; Accepted 16 December 2006; Published online 20 February 2007.

Abstract

Obesity and diabetes are serious health problems for Americans and especially for those with American Indian or Mexican ancestry. A preliminary survey by protein analysis rather than classical nucleic acid sequencing methods has suggested a correlation between a newly discovered T45S variant of apolipoprotein C1 (ApoC1), found only in persons with American Indian or Mexican ancestry, and elevated body mass index (BMI). American Indians with the S45 ApoC1 variant (n=36) had an average of 9% higher BMI than those who had only T45 ApoC1 (n=192, P=0.029). Elevated rates of diabetes were reported for parents of subjects with the S45 protein (P=0.006). In five gender-matched sibling pairs, persons with Mexican ancestry showed a 1.34-fold higher BMI for those with S45 ApoC1 (P=0.022). This protein may contribute to the elevated rates of diabetes in relevant ethnic groups and might be more common in isolated populations.