Telomere length and cognitive function in southern Chinese community-dwelling male elders.

Background: telomere attrition has been associated with an increased risk of different age-related diseases and is widely accepted as a marker of cellular ageing. On the other hand, it is well known that cognitive function declines with age. The telomere length may therefore act as a marker for the pathway associated with cognitive function.

Sex-specific effect of Pirin gene on bone mineral density in a cohort of 4000 Chinese.

Background: Osteoporosis is a common condition among elderly. Genetic mapping studies repeatedly located the distal short arms of X-chromosome as the quantitative trait loci (QTL) for BMD in mice. Fine mapping of a syntenic segment on Xp22 in a Caucasian female population suggested a moderate association between lumbar spine (LS) BMD and 2 intronic SNPs in the Pirin (PIR) gene, which encodes an iron-binding nuclear protein.

Older men with higher self-rated socioeconomic status have shorter telomeres.

Background: previous studies examining the relationship between socioeconomic status and telomere length showed conflicting results, one study finding shorter telomere length in subjects with lower socioeconomic status and one showing no relationship.

Design: cross-sectional study.

Setting: community-living elderly Chinese in Hong Kong.

Association between HLA-A alleles and Alzheimer's disease in a southern Chinese community.

Background/aim: HLA-A is a locus of the major histocompatibility complex situated on chromosome 6p21.3. Several genome-wide linkage analyses suggested that a putative locus predisposition for Alzheimer's disease (AD) is found on chromosome 6p21.