Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Apol1 Ckd Risk Alleles In New Mexico African American And American Indian Populations: Racial Disparity, Chien-An A. Hu, Amelia Bierle, Matthew Shultz, Vallabh Shah

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

Purpose/Background: Two haplotypes of human apolipoprotein L1 gene (gene: APOL1; protein: ApoL1) harboring three coding sequence mutations have been demonstrated as risk variants associated with non-diabetic chronic kidney diseases (CKD) in African Americans. The first one, termed G1, is a two non-synonymous SNP haplotype (rs73885319 (A>G; p.S342G) and rs60910145 (G>T; p.I384M). The second one, termed G2, is a two codon deletion haplotype rs71785313 (6-bp in frame deletion) These two coding-sequence variants have been discovered in CKD patients of African ancestry and linked to the pathogenesis of primary focal and segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), hypertension-attributed kidney disease, and HIV-associated nephropathy …

Epigenetic Factors Impacting Type 2 Diabetes In American Indians, Alejandra Salazar Gonzalez, Shelley Cole, Ph.D.

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

American Indians have been found to be at higher risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D) than any other ethnic or racial groups in the United States, with an estimated prevalence rate of 33%. Given that T2D prevalence rates amongst the American Indian population are so high, studying the complex factors that contribute to T2D is crucial. Of particular importance to this study is identifying heritable effects involved in development of T2D. Epigenetic effects, heritable changes to DNA that affect gene expression such as DNA methylation (DNAm), have been shown to be associated with T2D phenotypes.

Studies in other subpopulations have …

Native American Weight Loss Movement: Pilot Test Of A Culturally Tailored Weight Loss Program For American Indians, Christine M. Daley, Jason W. Hale, Shelley Bointy, Kelly Berryhill, Joseph Lemaster, Byron J. Gajewski

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

American Indians (AIs) have higher rates of obesity than other racial/ethnic groups, placing them at heightened risk for cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and certain cancers. Culturally appropriate weight loss interventions may be the key to reducing risk. The most successful program used in AI communities has been the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP), which limits enrollment to individuals with a clinical diagnosis of pre-diabetes. The purpose of this pilot project was to modify and culturally tailor a weight loss intervention to AI communities in Kansas to improve weight loss related behaviors among those who do not qualify for the DPP. The Native …