Austronesian-speaking people in Papua New Guinea have susceptibility to obesity and type 2 diabetes.

Abstract

Obesity is a common phenomenon in Europe and North America. The increasing prevalence of obesity is, however, not confined merely to these areas. The most striking increase is seen in the pacific region. With the increment of the prevalence of obesity, type 2 diabetes is also increasing across the world. Although the prevalence of diabetes in the Papua New Guinea (PNG) population was reported to be virtually 0% (1), recent surveys showed that type 2 diabetes has become a common disease in some urban Melanesians of PNG (2,3). To clarify the genetic background of this increase of type 2 diabetes in PNG, Pro12Ala substitution in peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)γ2 and Trp64Arg substitution in β3-adrenergic receptor (AR) were analyzed by the PCR/restriction fragment-length polymorphism method …