University of Otago anatomy research fellow Dr Anna Gosling said high serum urate levels were common throughout the Pacific, contributing to the higher-than-average burden of gout among Pacific peoples.
But it also played a critical role in the immunological signalling processes at the beginning of an immune response against malaria infection.
This meant Pacific peoples might have adapted for elevated serum urate levels over time, to help fight against the malaria pathogen and increase their chances of survival.
"This rings true in the context of our research, as we hypothesise that Māori/Pacific populations suffer disproportionately high rates of metabolic diseases, including gout and type-2 diabetes, because of an immune response they might have developed to fight against malaria.
"There is much stigma surrounding metabolic disease, so understanding how ancestors might have adapted these genetic qualities to overcome the challenges they faced is a valuable tool in understanding why this predisposition exists.
"Understanding how this works means we can help remove some of this whakamā surrounding metabolic disease and contribute to better health outcomes with more Māori and Pacific [peoples] seeking treatment."
She is conducting the Marsden-funded research alongside fellow anatomy researcher Prof Lisa Matisoo-Smith, Otago biochemistry researcher Prof Tony Merriman, University of Guam postgraduate researcher Tristan Paulino and Kiribati community researcher Bwenaua Biiri.
Miss Biiri said a large part of her motivation to be part of the research was that there had been few studies into how the genetic makeup of Kiribati people had affected their metabolic health.
She said research like this was important because it contributed to a greater understanding of metabolic diseases and hopefully would result in better health outcomes for the Kiribati population.
Mr Paulino hoped the project would also help reveal the context behind the presence of cardiometabolic genetic variation among Micronesian communities, so researchers could develop better intervention and management strategies for the diseases that might arise from this.
