title: Plasma fibrinogen in Israeli Moslem and Jewish school-children: distribution and relation to other cardiovascular risk factors. The Petah Tikva project.
abstract: Plasma fibrinogen levels were measured in 1,175 Israeli schoolchildren, aged 9-18 years, originating from diverse ethnic groups. The Moslem children displayed striking differences in levels and age-patterns of fibrinogen compared to Jewish children. Lower mean plasma fibrinogen levels in boys aged 9-10, 13-14 and 16-18 were observed among Moslem boys, compared to their Jewish counterparts born in Israel. Moslem girls showed lower levels of fibrinogen than Jewish Israeli girls at ages 9-10 and 16-18. While the Jewish children displayed an age-associated fibrinogen pattern comparable at the three age groups, the levels for Moslem children increased pre-puberty and decreased post-puberty, peaking at 13-14 years. No significant difference in mean plasma fibrinogen was found between sexes within ethnic groups. A number of statistically significant but low correlations (-0.32 to 0.24) were found between plasma fibrinogen and high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) as a percentage of total cholesterol, triglycerides, blood glucose, uric acid, blood pressure, Quetelet index and sports activity. The difference between fibrinogen levels might point to a possible ethnicity risk factor explanation rather than environmentally acquired factors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine C and Cardiology Service, Rabin Medical Center, Petah Tikva, Israel.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Zahavi
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yaari
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Salman
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Creter
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rudnicki
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Brandis
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ferrara
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Marom
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Katz
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Caneti
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hart
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Goldbourt
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D017677:Age Distribution; D001794:Blood Pressure; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000208:ethnology*; D002648:Child; D008076:Cholesterol, HDL / Q000097:blood; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005340:Fibrinogen / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D007514:Islam; D007557:Israel; D007585:Jews; D008297:Male; D012307:Risk Factors; D017678:Sex Distribution; D013334:Students
chemical_list: D008076:Cholesterol, HDL; D005340:Fibrinogen