Genetics of Hyperuricaemia in Blackfeet and Pima Indians

Abstract

Serum uric acid was determined with the uricase spectrophotometric method on 86% of Blackfeet and Pima Indians aged 30 and older living on their respective reservations. Seven per cent of the Blackfeet and about 3% of the Pimas had hyperuricemia. There was a positive association with obesity which was even more marked with body surface. Serum uric acid levels corrected for age, sex, and body surface gave values which were statistically consistent with a perfect normal distribution. Some familial aggregations were present but the distribution was not consistent with simple recessive or dominant inheritance. Analysis as a polygenic trait indicated a rather low heritability, which suggests that the trait is for the most part not a genetic one but is instead largely determined by environmental factors.