Is an Obscure Member of the Herpes Virus Family Causing Infertility?

A new study has found that the little-known member of the human herpesvirus family called HHV-6A infects the lining of the uterus in 43% of women with unexplained infertility but cannot be found in uterine lining of fertile women. The study was conducted by investigators at the University of Ferrara, Italy.

The study also found that the response of the immune system to the virus may contribute to making the uterus less hospitable to a fertilized egg. The virus seems to activate immune cells called natural killer cells in the uterus, and lead those cells to produce chemicals called cytokines. Cytokines are tools the immune system uses to orchestrate an attack on a foreign invader, like a virus. However, the activated immune system cells and abnormal levels of certain cytokines may make it harder for a fertilized egg to lodge in the uterus, and grow into a baby.

link.

Fertility & Agiculture in PreColumbian Western Argentina

Agricultural suitability and fertility in occidental piedmont of Calchaquíes Summits (Tucumán, Argentina)

Authors:

Vattuone et al

Abstract:

Our study area is located in the piedmont of Calchaquíes Summits (Tucumán Province, Northwest Argentina). The objectives of this paper are to improve the knowledge of Pre-Hispanic agricultural practices on landscape and soils, and to provide new knowledge about land fertility of agricultural areas, taking into account the environmental settings. Physical and chemical features, such as structure, texture, pH, calcium, organic and inorganic phosphorus, and available copper, manganese, and iron were taken into account. After photointerpretation and field surveys, two agricultural terraced geomorphological units were sampled. Samples were made in comparable off-site locations and the archaeological sites. After Principal Component Analysis, physicochemical analysis showed that texture is the most significant difference between the two archaeological sites. Agricultural practices introduced high chemical variations, despite the substantial differences between agricultural and off-site profiles. This is the first approach of this nature in Northwest Argentina.

Autism: An X Chromosome Linked Trait?

New research from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) and The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), both in Toronto, Canada provides further clues as to why Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) affects four times more males than females. The scientists discovered that males who carry specific alterations of DNA on the sole X-chromosome they carry are at high risk of developing ASD. The research is published in the September 15 issue of Science Translational Medicine.

ASD is a neurological disorder that affects brain functioning, resulting in challenges with communication and social interaction, unusual patterns of behaviour, and often, intellectual deficits. ASD affects one in every 120 children and a startling one in 70 boys. Though all of the causes of ASD are not yet known, research has increasingly pointed towards genetic factors,. In recent years, several genes involved in ASD have successfully been identified.

The research team was led by Dr. John B. Vincent, Senior Scientist and head of CAMH's Molecular Neuropsychiatry and Development Laboratory and Dr. Stephen Scherer, Senior Scientist and Director of The Centre for Applied Genomics at SickKids, and Director of the McLaughlin Centre at the University of Toronto. The scientists analyzed the gene sequences of 2,000 individuals with ASD, along with others with an intellectual disability, and compared the results to thousands of population controls. They found that about one per cent of boys with ASD had mutations in the PTCHD1 gene on the X-chromosome. Similar mutations were not found in thousands of male controls. Also, sisters carrying the same mutation are seemingly unaffected.

"We believe that the PTCHD1 gene has a role in a neurobiological pathway that delivers information to cells during brain development – this specific mutation may disrupt crucial developmental processes, contributing to the onset of autism." said Dr. Vincent. "Our discovery will facilitate early detection, which will, in turn, increase the likelihood of successful interventions."

"The male gender bias in autism has intrigued us for years and now we have an indicator that starts to explain why this may be," says Dr. Scherer. "Boys are boys because they inherit one X-chromosome from their mother and one Y-chromosome from their father. If a boy's X-chromosome is missing the PTCHD1 gene or other nearby DNA sequences, they will be at high risk of developing ASD or intellectual disability. Girls are different in that, even if they are missing one PTCHD1 gene, by nature they always carry a second X-chromosome, shielding them from ASD." Scherer adds, "While these women are protected, autism could appear in future generations of boys in their families."

There was a relatively recent study that found that autism was more common in affluent caucasian families with older parents. It went rather contrary to the environmental causes hypothesis. If I have time (HA!) I'll find and put a link to that one.

It makes me wonder if this can be directly linked to postponing having kids: we already know of increased rates of other issues such as down's and whatnot. Perhaps the damage is being caused by meiosis potentially going slightly off tracks in (some) older women. As more women postpone their fertility, the number of autistic children rises and will continue to do for generations afterwards because their daughters might be carriers of the damaged regions on their inherited X chromosomes.

I can't imagine that this will be a popular study result or my hypothesis either.

Late Baring Women Live Longer

Women who have babies naturally in their 40s or 50s tend to live longer than other women. Now, a new study shows their brothers also live longer, but the brothers' wives do not, suggesting the same genes prolong lifespan and female fertility, and may be more important than social and environmental factors.

"If women in your family give birth at older ages, you may well have a chance of living longer than you would otherwise," says the study's lead author, demographer Ken R. Smith, a professor of family and consumer studies at the University of Utah. "If you have a female relative who had children after age 45, then there may be some genetic benefit in your family that will enhance your longevity."

For descendants of the Utah and Quebec pioneers studied, "you may be able to look at the ages when your female ancestors gave birth – rather than just their longevity – in estimating how long you may live," says Smith, whose study will be published online May 4 and in the June 10 print issue of the Journal of Gerontology: Biological Sciences.

The researchers examined high-quality genealogical records from the Utah Population Database at the University of Utah with its records of 1.6 million Utah Mormon pioneers and their descendants. They also used the University of Montreal's Program on Demographic History Research, which has records on 400,000 people who lived in heavily Catholic Quebec between 1608 and 1850.

Specifically, the study involved the records of 11,604 Utah men who were born between 1800 and 1869 and who had at least one sister who lived at least to age 50; and the records of 6,206 Quebec men who lived between 1670 and 1750, and had at least one sister who lived to 50 or older. The key findings:

• Women who had "late fertility" – a birth at age 45 or older – were 14 percent to 17 percent less likely to die during any year after age 50 than women who did not deliver a child after age 40. That confirmed earlier studies. But those studies did not determine if the women gave birth later and lived longer because of genes or because of social and environmental factors such as good nutrition or healthy living.
• Brothers who had at least three sisters, including at least one sister who gave birth at age 45 or later, were 20 percent to 22 percent less likely to die during any year after age 50 than brothers who had no "late fertile" sisters. That indicates what earlier studies did not, namely, the same genes may influence the lifespan of both sexes and women's ability to give birth at older ages.
• The brothers' wives didn't have longer lives, suggesting any environmental or social factors that influence lifespan had only a weak influence, and that genes may explain why brothers lived longer when they had a sister who gave birth in her 40s.

The study didn't address how much longevity is due to genetics, but Smith says scientists believe genes account for up to 25 percent of differences in longevity.

Wow. No time again, but very, very interesting.