Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), which is defined as carbohydrate intolerance of variable severity with onset or first recognition during the present pregnancy [1], is associated with adverse outcomes of pregnancy including macrosomia, birth trauma and metabolic complications of the newborn [2±4]. Although most women with GDM have a normal glucose tolerance when tested several weeks postpartum, impairment of insulin secretory capacity or increased insulin resistance or both have been reported in these women [5,6], and a substantial proportion of the women with previous GDM will eventually develop Type II diabetes mellitus [7±9]. The reported prevalence of GDM has ranged widely from less than 1 % to more than 10 % [10]. To some extent, this wide variation is thought to reflect a lack of a standardization of screening test procedures and diagnostic criteria of GDM. However, it may also be attributed to the heterogeneous nature of GDM with respect to ethnic or racial influence or both, genetic factors, admixture Diabetologia (1998) Summary We examined the associations between demographic characteristics including short stature and the prevalence of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) in Korean women. In this study, a total of 9005 pregnant women underwent universal screening for GDM. Oral glucose tolerance tests (100 g OGTT) were performed in positive screenees (1 h plasma glucose ³ 7.2 mmol/l) and GDM was diagnosed using National Diabetes Data Group criteria. Women with GDM were older and heavier than those with a positive screen and normal OGTT, as well as those with a negative screen. However, height of women with GDM was significantly shorter than those with a positive screen and normal OGTT, and a negative screen. When the study subjects were stratified according to height quartiles, the plasma glucose at the screening test decreased as height increased. Furthermore, the prevalence of GDM was highest in the shortest quartile ( £ 157 cm) group; the odds ratio for GDM was two times greater compared with the highest quartile ( ³ 163 cm) group, even after controlling for age and body mass index (BMI). In addition, multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that greater prepregnancy BMI, age, weight gain, a parental history of diabetes mellitus, and shorter maternal height were directly and independently associated with the prevalence of GDM. We have found that short stature is an independent risk factor for GDM in the racially homogenous population of Seoul, Korea. It is suggested that this propensity may be conveyed primarily by environmental influences. However, genetic factors may also modify the response to the environmental insult. Our findings also emphasize the heterogeneity of factors which predispose to GDM. [Diabetologia (1998) 41: 778±783]

Solar ultra-violet (UV) radiation and the ensuing photo-damage are adverse factors affecting human skin directly exposed to the sun. Stress responses induced by UV radiation (UVR) elicit premature skin ageing (photoageing), resulting in extensive damage to dermal connective tissue. Disruption of the normal dermal structure of skin connective tissue, primarily collagen, impairs a variety of skin functions and is considered to be the main cause of wrinkle formation. Matrix metalloproteases (MMPs) may be responsible for the degradation of collagen and other extracellular matrix proteins, which are major targets for relieving skin photoageing. Herein, we demonstrated that Sirt1, a putative anti-ageing enzyme, reduced MMP-9 transcriptional expression in skin. The known agonists of Sirt1, resveratrol and metformin, also significantly inhibited MMP-9 expression and appeared to protect collagen from degradation after UVR. These studies suggest that the Sirt1 activator could be used as a novel therapeutic agent to delay skin photoageing.

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Estrogen is known to play a critical role in both skeletal maturity and the rate of bone loss. This suggests the possibility that the estrogen receptor (ER) gene is one of the candidate genes that determines peak bone density and/or bone turnover rate. We investigated two established restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs) in intron 1 at the ER gene, represented as PvuII and XbaI. In 598 healthy Korean women aged 20-74 years, we examined the association of these ER genotypes with bone mineral density (BMD) and bone turnover status. The distribution of the PvuII and XbaI RFLPs was as follows: pp 205 (34.3%), Pp 308 (51.5%), PP 85 (14.2%) and xx 384 (64.2%), Xx 180 (30.1%), XX 34 (5.7%), respectively (where capital letters signify the absence of, and lower-case letters signify the presence of, the restriction site of each RFLP). No significant genotypic differences were found in BMD and bone markers. We grouped the subjects into three categories according to their menstrual status: 104 premenopausal women with regular menstruation, 182 perimenopausal women who had amenorrhea of not less than 3 months and not more than 12 months' duration, and 312 postmenopausal women whose last menstruation was at least 12 months previously. No significant genotypic difference in either BMD or bone markers was found in any of these three groups. Furthermore we categorized women in peri- and postmenopause into a high loser group and a normal loser group according to the level of bone resorption markers. There was no difference in genotypic proportions between the high and normal loser groups. Our data suggest that these ER polymorphisms are not associated with BMD or bone turnover in Korean women.