BAGHAEI, FARIBA, ROLAND ROSMOND, LARS WEST-BERG, MONICA HELLSTRAND, ELIAS ERIKSSON, GÖ RAN HOLM, AND PER BJÖ RNTORP. The CYP19 gene and associations with androgens and abdominal obesity in premenopausal women. Obes Res. 2003;11: 578-585. Objective: Elevated androgens in women are associated with type 2 diabetes and are dependent on the conversion to estrogens by aromatase cytochrome P450. Polymorphisms of a tetranucleotide repeat [TTTA] n in the fourth intron of the CYP19 gene are associated with endocrine-dependent diseases and were examined in relation to hormone levels and disease risk factors in premenopausal women.
Research Methods and Procedures:A population sample of women born in 1956 (n ϭ 270) were genotyped for this polymorphism and the results set in relation to steroid hormones, including saliva cortisol, anthropometric variables, estimates of insulin, glucose and lipid metabolism, and blood pressure. Results: Seven tetranucleotide repeat [TTTA] n alleles were detected with allelic sizes of 168 to 195 bp, with a TCT deletion/insertion (168/171 bp) upstream of this microsatellite. Smoking was associated with elevated androgens (p ϭ 0.005 to 0.019). Using the median (average stretch, 177.5 bp) as a dividing line, nonsmoking women with the shorter microsatellite had higher free testosterone (p ϭ 0.018) and lower sex hormone binding globulin (p ϭ 0.033). These differences were pronounced with the 168-bp allele.Such women were also characterized by a less-substantial decrease of morning cortisols ("unwinding"; p ϭ 0.035) and central obesity (abdominal sagittal diameter, p ϭ 0.049) and had waist/hip circumference ratios of borderline significance (p ϭ 0.064).
Discussion:The results indicate that, in premenopausal women, a short microsatellite in the fourth intron of the CYP19 gene, caused by a TCT deletion upstream the [TTTA] n tract, is associated with elevated androgens, perturbed regulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, and abdominal obesity.
The interaction of poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) with a series of cosolutes has been studied by means of viscosity, solubility, dialysis, and electrophoresis methods. The cosolutes comprise a number of mono‐ and divalent acids and their salts, and most of the natural amino acids. It is found that appreciable interaction occurs with divalent acids and salts, with hydroxy acids, aromatic acids, and with amino acids which possess either aromatic or other ring structures. The interactions are probably related to a saltingout process, and a qualitative mechanism is suggested which accounts for the observed charge and specific effects in terms of dielectric attraction and repulsion between the cosolute anion and the pattern of polar and nonpolar sections of the PVP molecule.
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