Short stature, abdominal obesity, insulin resistance and alterations in lipid profile in very low-income women living in Maceió, north-eastern Brazil.

OBJECTIVE: To test the hypothesis that short stature is associated with abdominal obesity, insulin resistance and lipid profile changes. METHODS: Anthropometric data were collected from 237 women (18-60 years old), residents of a shantytown in Maceió. Biochemical profiles of 60 individuals drawn from this population were determined. RESULTS: Total and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels and insulin resistance rose with increasing waist : hip circumference ratio, particularly in women. Short, overweight individuals exhibited larger biochemical alterations than overweight individuals of average stature. CONCLUSION: Short stature, when associated with overweight, is a risk factor for increased insulin resistance and alterations in lipid profile.     

A leg ulcer as manifestation of metastatic squamous cell vaginal carcinoma

Cutaneous metastasis of vaginal carcinoma is extremely rare. So far, the total number of reported skin metastasis of vaginal carcinoma is only one. We present another case with an unusual manifestation of vagina carcinoma metastasis: skin metastasis presenting as a leg ulcer on the lower leg.     

Localization of a gene for otosclerosis to chromosome 15q25-q26

Among white adults otosclerosis is the single most common cause of hearing impairment. Although the genetics of this disease are controversial, the majority of studies indicate autosomal dominant inheritance with reduced penetrance. We studied a large multi- generational family in which otosclerosis has been inherited in an autosomal dominant pattern. Five of16 affected persons have surgically confirmed otosclerosis; the remaining nine have a conductive hearing loss but have not undergone corrective surgery. To locate the disease- causing gene we completed genetic linkage analysis using short tandem repeat polymorphisms (STRPs) distributed over the entire genome. Multipoint linkage analysis showed that only one genomic region, on chromosome 15q, generated a lod score >2.0. Additional STRPs were typed in this area, resulting in a lod score of 3.4. STRPs FES (centromeric) and D15S657 (telomeric) flank the 14. 5 cM region that contains an otosclerosis gene.