Rheumatic diseases in an inuit population

Abstract

Prevalence and incidence rates for rheumatic diseases were found to be minimal among the Inuit people in the Keewatin District of the Northwest Territories, Canada. Patient identification was achieved by a review of medical records. All identified patients were interviewed and examined by a participating rheumatologist. Among women, the prevalence of rheumatoid arthritis, adjusted for age of the Manitoba population, was 1,822 per 100,000 and was comparable with that observed in other populations; no cases of rheumatoid arthritis in men were confirmed. The age-adjusted prevalence of osteoarthritis, 1,219 per 100,000 in men and 2,144 per 100,000 in women, was apparently low. A moderately high incidence of Reiter's syndrome, 24.9 per 100,000, was found. The findings in children suggested a high frequency of seronegative spondylarthropathies (yearly incidence 60.1 per 100,000), although the adjusted yearly incidence for juvenile rheumatoid arthritis also appeared to be high, 23.6 per 100,000. The frequencies of HLA antigens in patient groups were compared with those found in 19 patients with musculoskeletal complaints but no rheumatic disease. Both HLA-B27 and HLA-DR4 appeared to be common in these controls, 36.8% and 63.2%, respectively. Nevertheless, there was a higher frequency of HLA-B27 in patients with seronegative spondylarthropathies (87%) than in controls (P = 0.001). Because of the small numbers of patients who had rheumatoid arthritis, no associations with HLA were made for this condition. Although the findings suggest differences in the distribution of rheumatic diseases compared with those found in other populations, more complete studies are required to confirm these observations.

Immunogenetic Risks of Anti-Cyclical Citrullinated Peptide Antibodies in a North American Native Population with Rheumatoid Arthritis and Their First-degree Relatives

“…The exception is the Tlingit, a Na-Dene people with a high prevalence of RA 4,21 . In these relatively genetically isolated people, high population frequencies of the SE among certain Amerind correlate with high rates of RA, whereas the frequencies of HLA-B27 are highest in Na-Dene and Eskimo-Aleut groups 1,[22][23][24][25] . In North American Native populations studied to date, RA occurs at a young age, carries a severe phenotype, and has a high familial occurrence, all factors suggesting a large genetic contribution 1,4-6 .…”

The epidemiology of rheumatoid arthritis in Rochester, Minnesota, 1955-1985

“…Finally, the observation of high incidence rates of RA among certain North American Indian populations (4,21,22) and the unusually low incidence of RA in the population of northwest Greece (23) lend support to the hypothesis of a host-environment interaction. This possibility has been discussed in detail in a number of recent review articles (12,(24)(25)(26).…”

The early clinical recognition of juvenile‐onset ankylosing spondylitis and its differentiation from juvenile rheumatoid arthritis

“…These forms prevail over other types of chronic arthritis in North American Indians (36,37) and account for up to two-thirds of cases of chronic arthritis in Mexican Mestizo (12) and non-Caucasian patients with undifferentiated SpA or AS (38). The proportion of patients with juvenile-onset AS or any SPA seen in pediatric rheiimatology clinics increased from &16% in the 1970s to 31% in the 1980s (6,3942), after the availability of clinical and tissue type data improved.…”