American journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council
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Historical Article
Atherosclerosis in mummified human remains from Vilnius, Lithuania (18th-19th centuries AD): a computed tomographic investigation.
Through the study of preserved human remains, it is now known that atherosclerosis, commonly thought to be a modern disease, also existed in historic and prehistoric periods. To date, however, little evidence of atherosclerosis has been reported in samples of tissues from spontaneously mummified bodies that are often found in European crypts and churches. ⋯ In accordance with recent, significant data, this study further demonstrates the antiquity of this disease. Documentary and ethnographic data suggest that lifestyle may have played a role in the onset of atherosclerosis in these individuals.
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Osteoporosis is a complex disease characterized principally by low bone mineral density (BMD), which is determined by an interaction of genetic, metabolic, and environmental factors. The aim of this study was to analyze the possible association among one polymorphism of LRP5 and three polymorphisms of TNFRSF11B as well as their haplotypes with BMD variations in Maya-Mestizo postmenopausal women. ⋯ Our results show that p.A1330V was significantly associated with BMD variations at all three skeletal sites analyzed; the Val allele and the Val/Val genotype were those most frequently found in our population.
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The relative length of the second-to-fourth digits (2D:4D) has been linked with prenatal androgen in humans. A recent study shows that the 2D:4D ratio in mice is controlled by the balance of androgen to estrogen signaling during a narrow window of digit development. Androgen receptor (AR) activity is higher in digit 4 than in digit 2, and inactivation of AR decreases growth of digit 4, which causes a higher 2D:4D ratio. At the molecular level, the effect of androgens is mediated through the activation of AR. The CAG/GGN repeat polymorphisms of the AR gene are associated with AR activity. Here, we investigate the effect of CAG/GGN repeat polymorphisms in AR on 2D:4D in Chinese. ⋯ In this study, we first found that the left hand 2D:4D ratio was longer than that of the right hand in both males and females. However, we found that both CAG and GGN alleles were not associated with the left hand, right hand, right minus left-hand or mean hand 2D:4D ratios.