Mongolian low birth weight young adults have higher risk of hypertension compared with Han Chinese and Japanese counterparts

Abstract

Low birth weight (LBW) was confirmed as a risk of high blood pressure (BP) in later stages of life (Barker DJ et al, 1989). Low‐grade inflammation and deterioration of autonomic regulation play an important role in hypertension. However, the associations with birth weight are poorly understood. We examined these relationships among Mongolian, Han Chinese and Japanese young adults, and investigated whether ethnicity affected these relationships. We measured BP and heart rate variability at rest and during postural change from a supine to a sitting position in 16 Mongolian, 4 Han Chinese and 21 Japanese healthy volunteers aged 18–34 years. Blood cell counts, and total cholesterol, high‐density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL‐C), low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglyceride, and high sensitivity C‐reactive protein levels were measured. Mongolians had lower levels of HDL‐C than did the Japanese (p < 0.01) and the Han Chinese. In Mongolians, the platelet count was higher in the LBW group than in the normal birth weight (NBW) group (p < 0.05). Following postural change, systolic blood pressure and heart rate showed no significant increases in the Mongolian and Japanese LBW groups, whereas the NBW groups had normal responses (p < 0.05). The Mongolian LBW group displayed a slight decrease in sympathetic nerve activity from a supine to a sitting position, although it increased in the Japanese LBW group (p < 0.05). These relationships were not able to examine in Han Chinese because of the small sample size. We suggested that Mongolian low birth weight young adults have higher risk of hypertension compared with Han Chinese and Japanese counterparts.