Plasma YKL-40 in Inuit and Danes

• Main Authors: Camilla Nøjgaard, Julia S. Johansen, Peter Bjerregaard, Stig E. Bojesen, Ulrik Becker
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Greenland; inuit
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.658.1543; http://alcalc.oxfordjournals.org/content/alcalc/early/2014/10/20/alcalc.agu072.full.pdf

from The Copenhagen City Heart Study (a population-based, prospective study of the Danish general population). Results: The plasma concentrations of YKL-40 were significantly (P = 0.001) lower in Inuit living in Greenland (median 46 µg/l, range 10–2164, n = 1164) compared with the plasma YKL-40 levels of Inuit living in Denmark (median 63 µg/l, range 20–2827, n = 481) and of Danes living in Denmark (median 55 µg/l, range 10–2909, n = 8899). In Inuit, increased alcohol intake was significantly associated with increased plasma YKL-40 levels (P < 0.001), and high plasma YKL-40 levels were associated with high values of alkaline phosphatase and low values of albumin. Smoking, gender and bilirubin were not associated with the plasma YKL-40 level. High levels of YKL-40 and alcohol were associated with where people lived. Conclusion: The plasma concentrations of YKL-40 are significantly lower in Inuit living in Greenland than Inuit and Danes living in Denmark. A number of factors, including different alcohol intake patterns, nutrition