The evolutionary adaptation of hemochromatosis associated mutations during the neolithic

Delanghe, Joris; Speeckaert, Marijn M.; Buyzere, Marc L. De

doi:10.1002/ajpa.23045

Cited by 5 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…As with other metabolic variants, C282Y has been explored for adaptive benefit relative to environmental stressors. Heath et al (2016a) suggest that thermoregulation factored into the adaptive potential of C282Y among early Neolithic agriculturalists whose migrations carried them into diverse, new ecologies, including the damp and cold (for rejoinders, see Delanghe et al, 2016, Kasvosve, 2016, Heath et al, 2016b, 2016c). The idea is based on the understanding that iron deficiency interferes with the release of thyroid stimulating hormone from the pituitary, the regulation of metabolism, and maintaining thermal homeostasis, such that iron‐deficient bodies are at greater risk for reduced functioning and vulnerability to cold stress.…”

Section: The Changing Context For C282y and Iron Metabolismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Famine, tea, and bread in Ireland: C282Y and modern human microevolution

Burke

Duffy

2022

American Journal of Biological Anthropology

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The HFE gene variant allele C282Y connected with hereditary hemochromatosis occurs at a frequency of about 10%–11% in Ireland, the highest known frequency in the modern global population. In this synthesis, we draw together an interdisciplinary literature to offer an agriculturally‐grounded, biocultural example of modern human adaptation and microevolution that addresses Ireland's comparatively high C282Y frequency. We argue that changing subsistence‐, diet‐, and nutrition‐related stressors framed under colonial governance played a role shaping the biology of Ireland's population historically, maintaining the C282Y variant. A population accustomed to challenges of poverty and difficult living conditions, the Irish fell under the influence of massive ecological stress with the fungus (Phytophthora infestans), the failed potato crops, and the Great Famine of 1845–52. From there, in the post‐Famine era, diet and nutrition altered further as the potato was exchanged for gluten‐rich wheaten bread and stewed black tea. With risks for iron deficiency anemia heightened by the cultural construction of diet and niche, an adaptive iron‐conserving advantage continued to be offered by the C282Y allele, influencing survival into the post‐Famine era. More recently, however, C282Y has been reframed as a potential risk in the context of contemporary, iron fortified diets.

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