Dopamine receptor genetic polymorphisms and body composition in undernourished pastoralists: an exploration of nutrition indices among nomadic and recently settled Ariaal men of northern Kenya
Date
2008-06-10
Authors
Eisenberg, Dan T.A.
Campbell, Benjamin
Gray, Peter B.
Sorenson, Michael D.
Version
OA Version
Citation
Dan T.A. Eisenberg, Benjamin Campbell, Peter B. Gray, Michael D. Sorenson. 2008. "Dopamine receptor genetic polymorphisms and body composition in undernourished pastoralists: An exploration of nutrition indices among nomadic and recently settled Ariaal men of northern Kenya." BMC EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY, Volume 8. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2148-8-173
Abstract
Minor alleles of the human dopamine receptor polymorphisms, DRD2/TaqI A and DRD4/48 bp, are related to decreased functioning and/or numbers of their respective receptors and have been shown to be correlated with body mass, height and food craving. In addition, the 7R minor allele of the DRD4 gene is at a higher frequency in nomadic compared to sedentary populations. Here we examine polymorphisms in the DRD2 and DRD4 genes with respect to body mass index (BMI) and height among men in two populations of Ariaal pastoralists, one recently settled (n = 87) and the other still nomadic (n = 65). The Ariaal live in northern Kenya, are chronically undernourished and are divided socially among age-sets.
Description
License
© 2008 Eisenberg et al. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.