Previously it has been reported that Greenland Inuit (Eskimos) from the Uummannaq district display low levels of plasma cholesterol and triglycerides and relatively high levels of high density lipoprotein (HDL) when compared with healthy Danish control subjects (Lancet 1971;1:1143-1146). Here we present data obtained in 1989 that show the following. In a group of 133 healthy adult Greenland Inuit from Nanortalik, the levels of plasma cholesterol and low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (6.39 and 4.39 mmol/l, respectively) were slightly higher than "normal" values found in western societies, whereas the HDL cholesterol level was markedly higher (1.64 mmol/l). Compared with most Caucasian populations, the Inuit population we studied exhibits a high apolipoprotein (APO)E*4 allele frequency (0.229), whereas the APOE*2 allele frequency was extremely low (0.0 15). In contrast to Caucasian populations, in the Inuit population the apoE polymorphism showed only a minor influence on the plasma lipid and (apo)lipoprotein levels, as evaluated by multiple regression analysis, with the exception of apoE levels. This absence of an effect could be explained by the low very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) plus intermediate density lipoprotein (IDL) cholesterol levels. The contributions of eicosapentaenoic acid and linoleic acid to the total amount of fatty acids in plasma cholesterol esters differed markedly from those reported in 1971 for another Greenland Inuit population (3.2% versus 15.8% and 49.5% versus 20.4%, respectively), thereby resembling values now found in the average western population. Even in those Inuit who reported exclusive consumption of the traditional Inuit diet (13% of the population), the fatty acid composition of the plasma cholesterol esters closely resembled the values measured in western populations. More than 89% of the Inuit regularly drink alcohol. Alcohol consumption was associated with lower levels of VLDL+IDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and apoB and an elevated level of apoA1 and HDL cholesterol. In addition, alcohol consumption was associated with a decreased contribution of linoleic acid and an increased contribution of eicosapentaenoic acid to the total amount of fatty acids in plasma cholesterol esters. Smoking, a common habit in the present-day Inuit, had only a weak influence on the plasma apoB level. In conclusion, when compared with the findings of Bang, Dyerberg, and coworkers in the early 1970s among the Uummannaq Inuit, we found in the Inuit from Nanortalik higher levels of most plasma lipids and (apo)lipoproteins and a more western fatty acid composition of plasma cholesterol esters.
