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Connective tissue responses in Negroes in relation to disease
Author(s) -
Polednak Anthony P.
Publication year - 1974
Publication title -
american journal of physical anthropology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.146
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1096-8644
pISSN - 0002-9483
DOI - 10.1002/ajpa.1330410107
Subject(s) - connective tissue , disease , biology , muscle hypertrophy , connective tissue disease , immunology , pathology , medicine , endocrinology , autoimmune disease
There is considerable evidence that Negroes have a tendency toward overgrowth of those connective‐tissue components concerned with two functions—protection against infection (macrophages and plasma cells) and repair after injury (fibroblasts and their products). Thus, adaptation to the tropical environment in Africans may have involved a tendency toward connective‐tissue overgrowth, as well as hypertrophy of the pigmentary apparatus. Both tendencies may have consequences in terms of: (1) susceptibility to certain chronic diseases; and (2) responses to disease processes or drug therapies. Some of these possible consequences are discussed.