Osteoporosis and its Association with Vitamin D Receptor, Oestrogen α Receptor, Parathyroid Receptor and Collagen Type I alpha Receptor Gene Polymorphisms with Bone Mineral Density: A Pilot Study from South Indian Postmenopausal Women of Tamil Nadu.

The involvement of many putative genetic factors makes osteoporosis a complex disease. With increasing longevity of the Indian population, it's now being realized that, as within the West, osteoporotic fractures are also a significant explanation for morbidity and mortality in postmenopausal women. Studies have suggested that the genetic component liable for bone mass could be linked to single nucleotide polymorphisms. Therefore, this study is aimed to research the role of seven gene polymorphisms previously associated with bone phenotype in a cohort of postmenopausal South Indian women from Tamil Nadu. The subjects for the study (n = 300) included 100 osteoporotic women (age 59.3 ± 9.26), 100 osteopenic women (age 55.6 ± 8.17) and 100 non-osteoporotic women as controls (age 55.4 ± 8.85).Genetic polymorphisms were determined by polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-restriction fragment length polymorphism. Case-control genetic association analysis of BsmI of the VDR and BstBI of the PTH gene showed a significant allelic association with low bone mineral density amongst the osteoporotic postmenopausal women. The association of BMD with the VDR gene polymorphisms revealed that the average BMD in the BsmI polymorphism with the recessive genotype GG in osteoporotic women was significantly reduced compared with the average BMD in osteoporotic women with AA and AG genotypes. In the BstBI polymorphism, the BMD in the osteoporotic subjects were significantly lower in the AA group than in the GA and GG groups. These results provide evidence for an independent association between BMD and rs1544410 in VDR and rs6254 in PTH and may contribute in being a possible genetic marker for predicting the disease susceptibility in the population tested.

Diel variations in antibody response to bovine serum albumin in Oreochromis mossambicus (Peters).

Influence of time of antigen administration on antibody response to bovine serum albumin in the fish, O. mossambicus and variations in serum antibody titre during a 24 hr cycle are reported. Significant variations were observed in magnitude of antibody response in groups of fishes immunized at different times of the day. Magnitude of the response was maximal in fish immunized at 16 hr and minimal in those immunized at 4 hr. Serum antibody titres in a 24 hr study also varied markedly with general elevation during day time, reaching the maximum at 12 hr and depression during night with the lowest titre at 4 hr. These results can be positively correlated to diel variation in number of leucocytes or proportion of lymphocytes which in turn is possibly correlated (negatively) to the periodicity in plasma corticosteroid level.