Nuclear receptor coactivator-3 alleles are associated with serum bioavailable testosterone, insulin-like growth factor-1, and vertebral bone mass in men.

Context: Nuclear receptor coactivator-3 (NCOA3) is a member of the steroid receptor coactivator family that interacts with nuclear hormone receptors to enhance their transcriptional activation function and may play a role in somatic growth.

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the relationships between the CAG/CAA (glutamine) length variation at the NCOA3 locus, sex steroid hormone, and IGF-I levels and bone mineral density (BMD) in a cohort of older Caucasian men.

Design And Methods: We analyzed the association between potentially functional alleles at this locus, serum sex steroid hormone, and IGF-I levels and lumbar spine and proximal femur BMD (Hologic QDR) in 263 community-dwelling Caucasian men (age 66 +/- 7 yr, mean +/- sd; range 51-84 yr).

Genetic epidemiology of osteoporosis: past, present, and future.

Research during the past several decades has unequivocally established a role of heredity in the etiology of osteoporosis. Major efforts are currently underway to identify the genes and allelic variants that confer genetic susceptibility to this common and disabling condition. Genome-wide linkage mapping in families, candidate gene association studies in unrelated individuals, and quantitative trait locus mapping in animal models are the primary strategies being used to search for the genetic contributors to osteoporosis.

Relationships between perceived stress, coping behavior and cortisol secretion in women with high and low levels of internalized racism.

Aim: It is hypothesized that a chronic defeat response to social or environmental stressors increases the likelihood of dysfunction of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis with dysregulation of cortisol, accumulation of abdominal fat and development of glucose intolerance. Recent studies show that African-Caribbean women who have a high level of internalized racism (INR) are at increased risk for abdominal obesity and glucose intolerance. The aim of the current study was to determine if African-Caribbean women with high and low INR differ in their levels of perceived stress and defeat coping style, and in the relationship of these factors to cortisol secretion.