Moscow University
Anthropology
Bulletin
Anthropology
Bulletin
1) Lomonosov Moscow State University, Institute and Museum of Anthropology, Moscow; 2) Perm State Humanitarian Pedagogical University, Perm
Introduction. Colonizing Europe, people of the contemporary physical type encountered environmental conditions unfavorable for maintaining bone mineral homeostasis. Insolation at latitudes above 35 degrees north is insufficient for a stable cholecalciferol (D3) autosynthesis throughout the year. Ergocalciferol-rich saltwater fish and fat of marine mammals were unavailable in the inner regions of Europe. As agriculture developed, hunting and fishing provided less food, thereby exacerbating the vitamin deficiency. One of the adaptive strategy could be to increase the amount not of dietary vitamin D (which regulates mineral metabolism), but of calcium, which is a substrate of the metabolism. However, calcium-containing natural products were scarce in mainland Europe. These conditions could have stimulated milk husbandry development, as milk provides high calcium intake and milk sugar (lactose) improves intestinal absorption of calcium by converting it into soluble form. We suppose, that the vitamin D deficiency called for an increase in calcium consumption, and the environmental conditions of Northern Europe governed the selection of the carriers of LCT*T genotype, which determines the stable production (persistence) of the lactase enzyme that allows adults to digest milk. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the relationship between group average 25(OH)D blood serum concentration and the frequency of lactase persistence. Materials and methods: meta-analysis, a technique that quantitatively consolidates already published results, was used. We considered 26 publications containing data on 25(OH)D blood serum concentration along with the prevalence of primary (genetically determined) hypolactasia in 39 ethno-territorial European groups (covered 11460 adult subjects in total). Results and discussion: the share of subjects with primary hypolactasia in a group correlates significantly with latitude (Rsp = - 0,595; p < 0,001; n =39). Id est, the more further to the north a European group resides, the more frequently its adult members potentially have the ability to digest milk and thus could have higher calcium intake (we did not evaluate the actual dietary consumption of milk and dairy products in this study). A negative correlation between the prevalence of hypolactasia and 25(OH)D blood serum concentration (Rsp=-0,46; p=0,003; n=39) shows that the share of adults able to digest milk (lactase persistence) and the vitamin D status of a population in the course of adaptation changed unidirectionally. Conclusion: in the ecological conditions of Europe, an adaptational success in maintaining bone mineral homeostasis was achieved through an integrated response, which included both a compensation for the deficiency of the substance (calcium), and an increase of the amount of the metabolism regulator (vitamin D) of this substance.
anthropology; vitamin D; 25-hydroxivitamin D; 25(OH)D; lactase; hypolactasia; LCT; lactose tolerance
Цит.: Kozlov A.I., Vershubskaya G.G. D-vitamin status and lactase persistence in European populations (review with the elements of meta-analysis) // Moscow University Anthropology Bulletin (Vestnik Moskovskogo Universiteta. Seria XXIII. Antropologia), 2017; 3/2017; с. 68-75
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