Investigation of oxidative stress and dietary habits in Mongolian people, compared to Japanese people.
BACKGROUND
The average life span of Mongolians is 62 years for males and 69 years for females. This life span is about 16 years shorter than that of Japanese. Mongolian people generally eat meat, fat and diary products but less vegetables or fruit. Thus, we investigated the state of oxidative stress and dietary habits of Mongolians.


METHODS
The investigation was performed in Murun city in the northwest area of Mongolia. A total of 164 healthy subjects (24-66 y) were enrolled. As a marker of reactive oxygen species, the levels of reactive oxygen metabolites (ROM) were measured using the d-ROM test. Interviews about dietary habits were performed using the Food Frequency Questionnaire established by the Kagawa Nutrition University.


RESULTS
ROM levels were 429.7 +/- 95.2 Carr U for Murun subjects, whereas Japanese people (n = 220, 21-98 y) showed 335.3 +/- 59.8 (p < 0.001). The levels of serum malondialdehyde-modified low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol and urinary 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine were also high. ROM levels correlated with body fat ratio and inversely correlated with handgrip strength. Handgrip strength in the subjects over 45 years decreased more rapidly than that of age-matched Japanese. Murun subjects ate larger amounts of meat, fat, milk and flour and dairy products than Japanese, but less vegetables or fruit. Serum vitamin A and E levels were the same as Japanese references, but vitamin C levels were lower.


CONCLUSIONS
Murun subjects may be in high oxidative stress, which may have a relationship with early ageing and several diseases, ultimately resulting in their short life span. In order to increase antioxidant capacity and suppress overproduction of ROM, antioxidant food intake is recommended.
Komatsu
Fumio
F
High Technology Research Center, Kagawa Nutrition University, 3-9-21 Chiyoda, Sakado, Saitama, 350-0288, Japan.
Kagawa
Yasuo
Y
High Technology Research Center, Kagawa Nutrition University, 3-9-21 Chiyoda, Sakado, Saitama, 350-0288, Japan.
Sakuma
Mitsuru
M
High Technology Research Center, Kagawa Nutrition University, 3-9-21 Chiyoda, Sakado, Saitama, 350-0288, Japan.
Kawabata
Terue
T
High Technology Research Center, Kagawa Nutrition University, 3-9-21 Chiyoda, Sakado, Saitama, 350-0288, Japan.
Kaneko
Yoshinori
Y
High Technology Research Center, Kagawa Nutrition University, 3-9-21 Chiyoda, Sakado, Saitama, 350-0288, Japan.
Otgontuya
Dugee
D
Public Health Institute, Ministry of Health of Mongolia, Peace Avenue-17, Ulaanbaatar-49, Mongolia.
Chimedregzen
Ulziiburen
U
Public Health Institute, Ministry of Health of Mongolia, Peace Avenue-17, Ulaanbaatar-49, Mongolia.
Narantuya
Luvsanbazar
L
Public Health Institute, Ministry of Health of Mongolia, Peace Avenue-17, Ulaanbaatar-49, Mongolia.
Purvee
Baatar
B
Khuvsgul General Hospital, Khuvsgul Aimag, Mongolia.