Vol. 9 No. 2 (2024): (Neo)colonialidades y asimetrías geopolíticas en la bioantropología latinoamericana
Dossier

The use of racial categories in Argentine biomedicine. An analysis of national and international publications.

PDF (Español (España)) HTML (Español (España))
  • Sergio Alejandro Avena,
  • María Gabriela Russo,
  • Magdalena Lozano,
  • Francisco Di Fabio Rocca
Sergio Alejandro Avena
CCNAA-Centro de Ciencias Naturales, Ambientales y Antropológicas (CCNAA), Universidad Maimónides
Bio
María Gabriela Russo
Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, Instituto de Arqueología
Bio
Magdalena Lozano
Centro de Ciencias Naturales, Ambientales y Antropológicas (CCNAA), Universidad Maimónides
Francisco Di Fabio Rocca
Centro de Ciencias Naturales, Ambientales y Antropológicas (CCNAA), Universidad Maimónides
DOI: https://doi.org/10.29112/ruae.v9i2.2325

Published 2024-12-05

Keywords

  • Biomedicina, Argentina, Categorías Raciales, Comunicación Científica, Integración Subordinada
  • Biomedicine, Argentina, Racial Categories, Scientific Communication, Subordinate Integration.
  • Biomedicina, Argentina, Categorias raciais, Comunicação Científica, Integração Subordinada

How to Cite

Avena, S. A., Russo, M. G., Lozano, M., & Di Fabio Rocca, F. (2024). The use of racial categories in Argentine biomedicine. An analysis of national and international publications. Uruguayan Review of Anthropology and Ethnography On Line: ISSN 2393-6886, 9(2). https://doi.org/10.29112/ruae.v9i2.2325

Copyright (c) 2024 Sergio Alejandro Avena, María Gabriela Russo, Magdalena Lozano, Francisco Di Fabio Rocca

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Crossref
Scopus
Google Scholar
Europe PMC

Abstract

One of the focal points of current biomedicine lies in analyzing the relationship between clinical characteristics, population differences and heritability. In approaches originating in the United States, this relationship is largely associated with the classification into human races, responding to a sociohistorical construction that is different in other parts of the world.

In this research we generated a dataset that compiles articles published by Argentinean biomedical researchers in national and international scientific journals that use the term "race" as a population category and surveyed the labels used, their justification and methodology, among other aspects.

The analysis of the articles collected shows that racial conceptualisation is practically absent in publications in local journals. When it is present, it does so in the introduction section, mentioning its use in other countries. On the other hand, in international publications we recorded numerous studies with Argentinean samples classified under racial categories. These were not consistent, explicit or substantiated, nor were the inclusion criteria explained, and frequently the origin of the samples was not stated, giving the idea of a false homogeneity of the population. Furthermore, these categories have been conceived of as exclusive and estimates of sample composition had widely differing values.

The pressure to adopt unusual criteria in everyday life and the incentive to join international consortia with high funding power leads to epistemological challenges and, potentially, public health issues that need to be addressed.

PDF (Español (España)) HTML (Español (España))

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

  1. Ali-Khan, S. E., Krakowski, T., Tahir, R., & Daar, A. S. (2011). The use of race, ethnicity and ancestry in human genetic research. The HUGO journal, 5, 47-63.
  2. Avena SA, Via M, Ziv E, Perez-Stable EJ, Gignoux CR, Dejean CB, Huntsman S, Torres-Mejía G, Dutil J, Matta JL, Beckman K, González Burchard E, Parolin ML, Goicoechea A, Acreche M, Boquet M, Ríos Part MC, Fernández V, Rey J, Stern M, Carnese FR, Fejerman L (2012). Heterogeneity in Genetic Admixture across Different Regions of Argentina. PLoS ONE 7(4): e34695. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0034695
  3. Borrell, L. N., Elhawary, J. R., Fuentes-Afflick, E., Witonsky, J., Bhakta, N., Wu, A. H., ... & Burchard, E. G. (2021). Race and genetic ancestry in medicine—a time for reckoning with racism. New England Journal of Medicine, 384(5), 474-480.
  4. Briones, C. (1). Mestizaje y blanqueamiento como coordenadas de aboriginalidad y nación en Argentina. RUNA, Archivo Para Las Ciencias Del Hombre, 23(1), 61-88.
  5. Busi, L. E., & Sly, P. D. (2018). Validation of the GLI-2012 spirometry reference equations in Argentinian children. Pediatric Pulmonology, 53(2), 204–208.
  6. Carnese, F. R. (2019). El mestizaje en la Argentina: indígenas, europeos y africanos: una mirada desde la antropología biológica. Editorial de la Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, Universidad de Buenos Aires.
  7. Consigli, J., Zanni, M. S. G., Ragazzini, L., & Danielo, C. (2010). Dyschromatosis symmetrica hereditaria: report of a sporadic case. International Journal of Dermatology, 49(8), 918–920.
  8. Correale, J., Ysrraelit, M. C., & Gaitán, M. I. (2011). Vitamin D-mediated immune regulation in multiple sclerosis. Journal of the Neurological Sciences, 311(1-2), 23–31.
  9. Cosatti, M. A., Muñoz, S., Alba, P., Helling, C. A., Roverano, S., Sarano, J., Malm-Green, S., Danielsen, M., Medina Bornachera, D., Alvarez, A., Eimon, A., Pendón, G., Mayer, M., Marin, J., Catoggio, C., & Pisoni, C. N. (2018). Multicenter study to assess presenteeism in systemic lupus erythematosus and its relationship with clinical and sociodemographic features. Lupus, 27(1), 33–39.
  10. Ferrari, G., Guzmán-Habinger, J., Chávez, J.L., Werneck A., Silva D., Kovalskys, I., Gómez, G., Rigotti, A., Cortés, L. Y., Yépez García, M. C., Pareja, R. G., Herrera-Cuenca, M., Drenowatz, C., Cristi-Montero, C., Marques, A., Peralta, M., Leme, A., Fisberg, M. (2021). Sociodemographic inequities and active transportation in adults from Latin America: an eight-country observational study. Int J Equity Health 20, 190 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-021-01524-0
  11. Ferrari, G., Farías-Valenzuela, C., Guzmán-Habinger, J., Drenowatz, C., Marques, A., Kovalskys, I., Gómez, G., Rigotti, A., Cortés, L. Y., Yépez García, M. C., Pareja, R. G., Herrera-Cuenca, M., Marconcin, P., Chávez, J. L., & Fisberg, M. (2022). Relationship between socio-demographic correlates and human development index with physical activity and sedentary time in a cross-sectional multicenter study. BMC Public Health, 22(1), 669.
  12. Fisberg, M., Kovalskys, I., Gomez, G., Rigotti, A., Cortes, L. Y., Herrera-Cuenca, M., ... & ELANS Study Group. (2015). Latin American Study of Nutrition and Health (ELANS): rationale and study design. BMC public health, 16, 1-11.
  13. Flores-Caldera, I., Ramos-Echevarría, P. M., Oliveras-Torres, J. A., Santos-Piñero, N., Rivera-Mudafort, E. D., Soto-Soto, D. M., Hernández-Colón, B., Rivera-Hiraldo, L. E., Mas, L., Rodríguez-Rabassa, M., Bracero, N. J., Rolla, E., & Ibero-American Endometriosis Association. (2021). Ibero-American Endometriosis Patient Phenome: Demographics, Obstetric-Gynecologic Traits, and Symptomatology. Frontiers in Reproductive Health, 3, 667345.
  14. Fuentes, A., Ackermann, R. R., Athreya, S., Bolnick, D., Lasisi, T., Lee, S. H., ... & Nelson, R. (2019). AAPA statement on race and racism. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 169(3), 400-402.
  15. Fuentes, A., Espinoza, U. J., & Cobbs, V. (2024). Follow the citations: Tracing pathways of “race as biology” assumptions in medical algorithms in eGFR and spirometry. Social Science & Medicine, 116737.
  16. Galimberti, R. L., Farias, E. D. R., Parra, I. H., Algranati, L., Kowalczuk, A., Imperiali, N., Greloni, G. C., & Galimberti, G. (2005). Cutaneous necrosis by calcific uremic arteriolopathy. International Journal of Dermatology, 44(2), 101–106.
  17. Gordillo, G. (2020). Se viene el malón. Las geografías afectivas del racismo argentino. Cuadernos De antropología Social, (52). https://doi.org/10.34096/cas.i52.8899
  18. Kreimer, P. (2006). ¿DEPENDIENTES O INTEGRADOS?. La ciencia latinoamericana y la nueva división internacional del trabajo. Nómadas (Col), (24), 199-212.
  19. Lu, C., Ahmed, R., Lamri, A., & Anand, S. S. (2022). Use of race, ethnicity, and ancestry data in health research. PLOS Global Public Health, 2(9), e0001060.
  20. Nano, M. E., Lansingh, V. C., Pighin, M. S., Zarate, N., Nano, H., Carter, M. J., Furtado, J. M., Nano, C. C., Vernengo, L. F., Luna, J. D., & Eckert, K. A. (2013). Risk factors of age-related macular degeneration in Argentina. Arquivos Brasileiros de Oftalmologia, 76(2), 80–84.
  21. Salazar, M. R., Carbajal, H. A., Espeche, W. G., Leiva Sisnieguez, C. E., Balbín, E., Dulbecco, C. A., Aizpurúa, M., Marillet, A. G., & Reaven, G. M. (2012). Relation among the plasma triglyceride/high-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentration ratio, insulin resistance, and associated cardio-metabolic risk factors in men and women. The American Journal of Cardiology, 109(12), 1749–1753.
  22. Segato, R. L. (2002). Identidades políticas/Alteridades históricas una crítica a las certezas del pluralismo global. RUNA, archivo para las ciencias del hombre, 23(1), 239-275.
  23. Segato, R. L. (2007). La nación y sus otros: raza, etnicidad y diversidad religiosa en tiempos de políticas de la identidad. Prometeo Libros Editorial.
  24. Soto-Añari, M., Camargo, L., Ramos-Henderson, M., Rivera-Fernández, C., Denegri-Solís, L., Calle, U., Mori, N., Ocampo-Barbá, N., López, F., Porto, M., Caldichoury-Obando, N., Saldías, C., Gargiulo, P., Castellanos, C., Shelach-Bellido, S., & López, N. (2021). Prevalence of Dementia and Associated Factors among Older Adults in Latin America during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders Extra, 11(3), 213–221.
  25. Steliarova-Foucher, E., Colombet, M., Ries, L. A. G., Moreno, F., Dolya, A., Bray, F., Hesseling, P., Shin, H. Y., Stiller, C. A., & IICC-3 contributors. (2017). International incidence of childhood cancer, 2001-10: a population-based registry study. The Lancet Oncology, 18(6), 719–731.
  26. Tasoulas, J., Farquhar, D. R., Sheth, S., Hackman, T., Yarbrough, W. G., Agala, C. B., Koric, A., Giraldi, L., Fabianova, E., Lissowska, J., Świątkowska, B., Vilensky, M., Wünsch-Filho, V., de Carvalho, M. B., López, R. V. M., Holcátová, I., Serraino, D., Polesel, J., Canova, C., … Amelio, A. L. (2024). Poor oral health influences head and neck cancer patient survival: an International Head and Neck Cancer Epidemiology Consortium pooled analysis. Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 116(1), 105–114.
  27. Velez, D. R., Hulme, W. F., Myers, J. L., Stryjewski, M. E., Abbate, E., Estevan, R., Patillo, S. G., Gilbert, J. R., Hamilton, C. D., & Scott, W. K. (2009). Association of SLC11A1 with tuberculosis and interactions with NOS2A and TLR2 in African-Americans and Caucasians. The International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease: The Official Journal of the International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, 13(9).
  28. Ventura Santos, R., Bastos, J. L., Kaingang, J. D., & Batista, L. E. (2022). Cabem recomendações para usos de “raça” nas publicações em saúde? Um enfático “sim”, inclusive pelas implicações para as práticas antirracistas. Cadernos de Saúde Pública, 38, e00021922.
  29. Wahren, C. (2014). Influencia de la idea de raza en la práctica médica. Una reflexión a partir de un estudio sobre el diagnóstico y tratamiento de la infección de la vía aérea superior en niños en los Estados Unidos. Arch Argent Pediatr 2014;112(3)204-206.
  30. Zhang, Y., Guo, L., Wang, Z., Wang, J., Er, L., Barbour, S. J., Trimarchi, H., Lv, J., & Zhang, H. (2020). External Validation of International Risk-Prediction Models of IgA Nephropathy in an Asian-Caucasian Cohort. Kidney International Reports, 5(10), 1753–1763.