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Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the correlation of spouse selection with short tandem repeats (STRs) in DNA and with the number of fingertip lunulae to investigate the role of heredity in spouse selection., Methods: We randomly selected a total of 286 couples (husband and wife) as a couple group while 200 paired subjects (a man randomly matched with a woman as a pair of subjects) were selected as a non-spouse group for DNA typing, and to investigate lunulae in spouse selection, a total of 554 couples were selected as a couple group and 500 pairs of subjects were selected as a control group., Results: A significant difference of STR matching number (a large value implies a higher genetic similarity) between spouse group and non-spouse group were observed (12.3 ± 2.7 vs. 11.8 ± 2.6; p < 0.05). A significant difference of the lunula matching number (difference of lunula counts between a paired subjects, a lower value implies a higher genetic similarity) between two groups were also observed for the lunula counts (1.55 ± 1.88 vs. 3.53 ± 2.40; p < 0.01)., Conclusion: Significant and unprecedented relationships were found between the couples and polymorphic STRs, and between spouse selection and lunula counts. Polymorphic STRs and fingertip lunulae counts provide an initial insight into the potentially important contributions that genetic characteristics may play a key role in spouse selection., (© 2023. Japanese Environmental Mutagen Society.)

Objective: To investigate genes associated with coronary heart disease (CHD) screened with a novel cross-validation design., Methods: On the basis of age at the onset of the first episode of CHD, stratified sampling by age (<50 years, 50-59 years, 60-69 years, 70-79 years and >80 years) was performed. Alleles of the nine CODIS STR loci including D3S1358, vWA, FGA, D8S1179, D21S11, D18S51, D5S818, D13S317, and D7S820, were determined using the STR Profiler Plus PCR amplification kit. Allele frequencies were compared with a control population. The mean age of patients with and without the alleles was compared. Cross-validation was based on differences in both frequency values and ages instead of adjustment procedure for multiple testing., Results: There were statistical differences in frequency values between the CHD group and the control population for three alleles, and also statistical differences in the age at first onset of CHD for two alleles; at least one allele, D21S11-28.2, was statistically different with regards to both frequency values and age. It was confirmed that D21S11-28.2 is truly related with CHD., Conclusions: A single true CHD-related allele could be discriminated from the sampling errors through cross-validation. It appears that CHD-related genes may be located near to loci D21S11., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The objective of this study was to investigate the quantitative characteristics of short tandem repeat (STR) variations deduced on the basis of the number of STRs that are beneficial for human survival. The longevity group included 60 nonagenarian subjects, and the control group included 250 reference adults (age, 20-50 years). Alleles of 15 Combined DNA Index System STR loci were determined using a commercial polymerase chain reaction kit. An STR with the highest frequency distribution in a population (control group) was considered as a conservative STR, and the number of core unit repeats of this STR allele was considered as the median repeat number in the STR locus (STRm). The absolute difference between the STRm and the number of core unit repeats of other STR alleles can be considered as the quantitative marker of variation for that particular STR allele (M value). The mean M values of CSF1TPO in the longevity group were significantly higher than those in the control group (P < 0.05). These findings appear to suggest that at least one of the STR loci may be associated with longevity. The M value of STR may be a new and high-efficacy genetic marker.