ABSTRACT
The effect of current energy intake and energy expenditure of activity on the familial transmission of five adiposity phenotypes was assessed using data from 473 nuclear families from the Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh, India. Three measures of fatness, body mass index, the sum of six skinfolds, and the sum of three trunk skinfolds, and two measures of fat patterning, the ratio of trunk to extremity subcutaneous fat and the ratio of the subscapular skinfold to the sum of the subscapular and suprailiac skinfolds, were analyzed. Maximum likelihood estimates of the transmissibility of each phenotype were obtained under a pseudopolygenic model, after adjusting for the effects of (1) age within sex, and (2) current energy intake, energy expenditure of activity, and age within sex. The transmissible variance component for each phenotype was less after adjustment for age and energy than after adjustment for age alone. This difference was greater for the three measures of fatness than it was for the fat patterning phenotypes. However, even after adjusting for the effects of age, energy intake and energy expenditure, there is evidence of a low to moderate, but significant, transmissible component, which accounts for 4-22% of the variance in each of the five phenotypes. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
ABSTRACT
Using 22 finger dermatoglyphic variables (radial and ulnar ridge counts on each of the 10 fingers, total number of whorls and total number of loops per individual), affinities among the five endogamous populations of Andhra Pradesh with contrasting ethnohistorical backgrounds were examined. The samples constitute rolled fingerprints of 1,334 individuals of all ages, 736 males and 598 females, and were drawn from the three southern districts of Andhra Pradesh. Univariate analysis of variance, cluster analysis of Mahalanobis' D2 -values, and stepwise discriminant analysis were employed to study the extent of population heterogeneity and nature of relationships among them. The observed dermatoglyphic affinities conform to the known ethnohistorical and geographical backgrounds. The smallest set of 9 most discriminating variables gives the best configuration expected under ethnohistorical backgrounds. Addition of more variables, although further augmenting the dispersion among the group centroids, distrots the picture of known ethnohistorical relatiohships. © 1992 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
ABSTRACT
The hypothesis of a major gene effect for systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) was examined in families from Andhra Pradesh, India, where consanguinity and marriage within caste are commonly practiced. The data were examined separately by noninbred versus complete (inbred + noninbred) families, both before and after correction for residual skewness. For SBP in the noninbred sample prior to skewness transformation, evidence consistent with a relatively common major recessive gene (q = 0.31) accounted for approximately 30% of the variance. In the combined sample, although Mendelian τs were rejected, the major gene estimates were similar to those in the noninbred data, and failure to account for inbreeding in the likelihood function may have influenced the results. After transformation of the data for residual skewness only a multifactorial component resulted, which accounted for about 80% (complete sample) and 100% (noninbred sample) of the offspring variance, and less than 10% of the parental variance. Even though the major gene effect disappeared after skewness transformation, the putative recessive major gene found for SBP prior to the transformation may be genuine since the tests on the transmission probabilities supported Mendelian transmission while the equal τs hypothesis was rejected. For DBP, both a major nontransmissible effect accounting for about 20% of the variance and a multifactorial component accounting for about 55% (offspring) and about 15% (parents) was found. For the noninbred DBP data, transformation for residual skewness removed the major non-Mendelian effect altogether. These data suggest inbreeding effects for SBP, with a pattern of smaller variances due to multifactorial sources (i.e., polygenic and/or cultural) in the sample which included consanguineous families. Adding inbred families reduced the evidence for Mendelian transmission of the major effect. © 1992 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
