BUSM researchers identify genetic markers for testosterone, estrogen level regulation
2012-07-21
(Press-News.org) (Boston) – A research study led by Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom, in collaboration with a global consortium, has identified genetic markers that influence a protein involved in regulating estrogen and testosterone levels in the bloodstream. The results, published online in PLoS Genetics, also reveal that some of the genetic markers for this protein are near genes related to liver function, metabolism and type 2 diabetes, demonstrating an important genetic connection between the metabolic and reproductive systems in men and women.
Andrea D. Coviello, MD, assistant professor of medicine at BUSM and an endocrinologist at Boston Medical Center, is one of the paper's lead authors. This study was done in collaboration with the Framingham Heart Study and investigators from 15 international epidemiologic studies participating in the Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genetic Epidemiology (CHARGE) consortium.
Sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) is the key protein that carries testosterone and estrogen in the bloodstream in both men and women. As the main carrier of these sex hormones, SHBG helps to regulate their effects in different tissues and organs in the body. In addition to effects on reproduction in men and women through regulation of sex hormones, SHBG has been linked to many chronic diseases including type 2 diabetes and hormone-sensitive cancers such as breast and prostate.
Previous family studies have demonstrated that approximately 50 percent of the variation in SHBG concentrations in the bloodstream is inherited from parents, suggesting that SHBG levels are under significant genetic control. However, little has been known about the specific genes that influence SHBG levels.
Investigators examined human genomes from 21,791 men and women to determine which genes influence SHBG levels and validated the results from this genome-wide association study (GWAS) in an additional 7,046 men and women. They identified 12 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), or DNA sequence variations, associated with the concentration of SHBG circulating in the bloodstream. However, these SNPs combined explain only 16 percent of the variation of SHBG in men and eight percent in women, respectively, indicating that SHBG levels are affected by many other factors as well.
The results also showed that the SNPs that influence SHBG levels are near genes related to liver function, fat and carbohydrate metabolism and type 2 diabetes. In addition, there were genes that had stronger effects in one sex compared to the other.
"These findings underscore the connection between the reproductive system and metabolism in both men and women, and may help explain sex differences observed in some metabolic diseases, particularly type 2 diabetes," said Coviello.
###
Funding for this study was provided by multiple sources. For complete information, go to http://www.plosgenetics.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pgen.1002805.
END
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
2012-07-21
Cambridge, Mass – July 20, 2012 – A team led by Harvard computer scientists, including two undergraduate students, has developed a new tool that could lead to increased security and enhanced performance for commonly used web and mobile applications.
Called RockSalt, the clever bit of code can verify that native computer programming languages comply with a particular security policy.
Presented at the ACM Conference on Programming Language Design and Implementation (PLDI) in Beijing, in June, RockSalt was created by Greg Morrisett, Allen B. Cutting Professor of Computer ...
2012-07-21
A research study led by the Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Exeter, and Boston University School of Medicine, in collaboration with a global consortium, has identified genetic markers that influence a protein involved in regulating oestrogen and testosterone levels in the bloodstream.
The results, published online in PLoS Genetics, also reveal that some of the genetic markers for this protein are near genes related to liver function, metabolism and type 2 diabetes, demonstrating an important genetic connection between the metabolic and reproductive ...
2012-07-21
A review article appearing in the July 20, 2012, issue of the journal Science describes groundbreaking discoveries that have emerged from the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory, synergies with the heavy-ion program at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in Europe, and the compelling questions that will drive this research forward on both sides of the Atlantic. With details that help enlighten our understanding of the hot nuclear matter that permeated the early universe, the article is a prelude to the latest ...
2012-07-21
MAYWOOD, Ill. - Caregivers of stroke survivors are at risk for developing depression and complications from chronic stress, according to a study published by researchers at the Loyola University Chicago Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing (MNSON) in the latest issue of Biological Research for Nursing.
Stroke is one of the leading causes of long-term disability, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The National Family Caregiver Association reports that up to 80 percent of stroke survivors are cared for by family members who help them manage their ...
2012-07-21
It may pay to invest, but it might be worth more to invest in companies that do not have political ties, says one University of Alberta researcher.
Sadok El Ghoul, an associate professor at Campus Saint-Jean, and fellow researchers from the American University of Sharjah and the Olayan School of Business recently presented a paper at the annual conference of the International Journal of Accounting that explored the workings of politically connected firms. In a review of firms from 31 countries, they contend that firms that have some level of political connection, direct ...
2012-07-21
UCLA researchers have developed a new transparent solar cell that is an advance toward giving windows in homes and other buildings the ability to generate electricity while still allowing people to see outside. Their study appears in the journal ACS Nano.
The UCLA team describes a new kind of polymer solar cell (PSC) that produces energy by absorbing mainly infrared light, not visible light, making the cells nearly 70% transparent to the human eye. They made the device from a photoactive plastic that converts infrared light into an electrical current.
"These results ...
2012-07-21
Severe influenza doubles the odds that a person will develop Parkinson's disease later in life, according to University of British Columbia researchers.
However, the opposite is true for people who contracted a typical case of red measles as children – they are 35 per cent less likely to develop Parkinson's, a nervous system disorder marked by slowness of movement, shaking, stiffness, and in the later stages, loss of balance.
The findings by researchers at UBC's School of Population and Public Health and the Pacific Parkinson's Research Centre, published online this ...
2012-07-21
A new study shows that a therapeutic intervention called Cognitively-Based Compassion Training (CBCT) appears to improve the mental and physical health of adolescents in foster care. CBCT is a tool that provides strategies for people to develop more compassionate attitudes toward themselves and others.
It is well documented that children in foster care have a high prevalence of trauma in their lives. For many, circumstances that bring them into the foster care system are formidable -- sexual abuse, parental neglect, family violence, homelessness, and exposure to drugs. ...
2012-07-21
The amount of structural damage that radiation causes in electronic materials at the atomic level may be at least ten times greater than previously thought.
That is the surprising result of a new characterization method that uses a combination of lasers and acoustic waves to provide scientists with a capability tantamount to X-ray vision: It allows them to peer through solid materials to pinpoint the size and location of detects buried deep inside with unprecedented precision.
The research, which was conducted by post-doctoral fellow Andrew Steigerwald under the supervision ...
2012-07-21
NASA's Aqua satellite has been tracking the remnants of Tropical Depression Khanun, and infrared data revealed that it has moved over northeastern China where it is now dissipating.
NASA's Aqua satellite passed over Khanun on July 18, 19 and 20 and tracked the northeastern progression of the tropical cyclone after it made landfall. On Wednesday, July 18 at 1659 UTC (12:59 p.m. EDT/U.S.), Tropical Depression Khanun's center was still in the Yellow Sea (west of South Korea). At that time, the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument onboard NASA's Aqua satellite saw ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
[Press-News.org] BUSM researchers identify genetic markers for testosterone, estrogen level regulation
