A small number of modern humans who carry Neanderthal genes may face significantly increased risk for vascular and inflammatory disease, according to a new study.
According to Swedish and German researchers, homo sapiens may have evolved to develop improved protection against oxidative stress.
The researchers studied the protein glutathione reductase, which protects against oxidative stress, and found that Neanderthals expressed a version of the protein which leads to significantly more reactive oxygen radicals.
Their study found that very few modern humans carry this Neanderthal protein – but it is found in up to 2% of the population of the Indian sub-continent.
Writing in *Science Advances*, they report that the Neanderthal protein significantly increases the risk of vascular and inflammatory disease.
The work was undertaken at the Karolinska Institutet, Sweden, and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Germany.
Researcher Assistant Professor Hugo Zeberg said: “The risk increases we see are large; several times increased risk of inflammatory bowel disease and vascular disease.”
Fellow researcher Professor Svante Pääbo said: “Stopping oxidative stress is a bit like preventing something from rusting. Perhaps the fact that we are living longer has driven these changes.”
A substitution in the glutathione reductase lowers electron leakage and inflammation in modern humans. *Science Advances* 5 January 2022; doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abm1148
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