Distribution of some erythrocytary enzymes in the Piaroa Indians of Venezuela

Eight enzyme gene markers were studied in a sample of Piaroa Indians of Venezuela. ADA, DIA, PGD and AK markers seemed to be non-polymorphic whereas the following markers were found to be polymorphic: ACP1, where the only common electrophoretic alleles present were ACP1*A and ACP1*B (.955); ESD (ESD*1 = .781); PGM1 (PGM1*1 = .736) for which the subtypes (PGM1*1S = .546; PGM1*1F = .190; PGM1*2S = .140; PGM1*2F = .124) were also tested, and GLO1 (GLO1*1 = .347). Some showed a certain heterogeneity in distribution within the Piaroa population. The Piaroa Indians turned out to be different from other ethnic groups living in the same territory

Variations of somatotype in elderly Sardinians

Somatotyping is an effective technique for the study of anthropometric variations and body composition in elderly subjects, even though it has not often been used in this field. The present study was conducted on a sample of 280 healthy Sardinians (134men and 146 women) of age 60–89 years, subdivided into three age classes (60–69 years; 70–79 years; and 80–89 years). Somatotypes were computed according to Carter and Heath (Somatotyping—Development and Applications.Cambridge,England:CambridgeUniversityPress; 1990).The results showa dominance of the endo- and mesomorphic components in the elderly subjects, with less development of ectomorphy than in younger individuals. In a comparison with other populations, our sample shows strong development of endomorphy and especially of mesomorphy, while ectomorphy values are generally low. Age-related variations are significant in both sexes and consist in a progressive reduction of the endomorphic component, particularly in the 80–89-year class (endomorphy in the three age classes: 6.4, 6.1, and 5.3 inmen; 8.1, 7.8, and 6.8 in women). Themesomorphic component is characterized by stability (age variations: 6.4, 6.4, and 5.9 in men; 6.3, 6.4, and 6.3 in women) and the ectomorphic component by a slight increase (age variations: 0.5, 0.6, and 0.8 inmen; 0.4, 0.3, and 0.5 inwomen). Sex differences are significant and especially large for the endomorphic component,with generally higher values in women. The sexual dimorphism tends to decrease with age. The results are discussed with regard to the biology of aging, with emphasis on the potential application of somatotype to studies of the elderly population