Larger FVC and FEV1 among Tibetans compared to Han born and raised at high altitude

ABSTRACT Objectives This study compares forced vital capacity (FVC) and Forced Expiratory Volume at 1 Second (FEV1) of Tibetans with those of Han who were born and raised at high altitude. Materials and Methods FVC and FEV1 tests were conducted among 1,063 children and adolescents between the ages of 6 and 20 years, and 184 adults between the ages of 21 and 39 years who had lived their entire lives at 3200 m, 3800 m and 4300 m in Qinghai Provence, Peoples Republic of China. Results Even though FVC and FEV1 values of Han born and raised at high altitude are generally lower than those of Tibetans through age 15 in girls and age 16 in boys, differences are largely explained by variation in stature (height‐squared) and chest circumference. Among older adolescents and adults, the FVC and FEV1 values of Tibetans are significantly larger than those of Han born and raised at high altitude; and are much larger than would be predicted, based on stature and chest circumference. Discussion These results indicate that the large FVC and FEV1 values of Tibetan adults develop primarily from an accelerated pattern of lung growth that begins during mid‐to‐late adolescence and possibly extends into young adulthood. This developmental pattern is not only distinct from that of Han born and raised at high altitude, but also from those of Andean Quechua and Aymara. The pace of lung function growth may therefore represent another feature distinguishing the Tibetan from the Andean pattern of adaptation to high altitude hypoxia. Because of this, a search for features in the Tibetan genome related to this lung function growth phenotype might be productive and important. Am J Phys Anthropol 159:244–255, 2016. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.