Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gxg78 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T17:50:33.031Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Sex ratios in otosclerotic families

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 June 2007

W. H. James
W. H. James*
Affiliation:
London
*
Dr William H. James, Ph.D., MRC Mammalian Development Unit, Wolfson House, (University College London), 4 Stephenson WayLondon NW1 2HE
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The sex ratio (proportion of males) of offspring of otosclerotics is significantly and substantially below expectation. To account for this and other features of the condition, it has been suggested elsewhere that otosclerosis is subject to autosomal dominant transmission with intrauterine selection against male heterozygotes. To test this hypothesis, a search was made for published data on the sexes of sibs of otosclerotics. These sibs do not have an unusual sex ratio, thus casting doubt on the hypothesis. Accordingly it is suggested here that both the condition and the sex ratios are causally related to levels of steroid hormones.

Type
Main Articles
Information
The Journal of Laryngology & Otology , Volume 103 , Issue 11 , November 1989 , pp. 1036 - 1039
Copyright
Copyright © JLO (1984) Limited 1989

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Beales, P.H. (1981) Otosclerosis. John Wright, Bristol, 10–11.Google Scholar
Bulmer, M. G. (1970) The Biology of Twinning in Man. Clarendon Press, Oxford.Google Scholar
Canalis, E. and Raisz, L. G. (1978) Effect of sex steroids on bone collagen synthesis in vitro. Calcified Tissue Research, 25: 105–110.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davenport, C. B., Milles, B. L. and Frink, L. B. (1933) The genetic factor in otosclerosis. Archives of Otolaryngology, 17: 135–170.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Guild, S. R. (1944) Histologic otosclerosis. Annals of Otology, Rhinology and Laryngology, 53: 246–266.Google Scholar
James, W. H. (1986) Hormonal control of sex ratio. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 118: 427–441.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
James, W. H. (1987a) The human sex ratio. Part I: a review of the literature. Human Biology, 59: 721–752.Google Scholar
James, W. H. (1987b) The human sex ratio. Part 2: a hypothesis and a program of research. Human Biology, 59: 873–900.Google Scholar
James, W. H. (1989) Parental hormone levels and mammalian sex ratios at birth. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 139: 59–67.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Larsson, A. (1960) Otosclerosis: a genetic and clinical study. Acta Otolaryngologica Supplement 154: 1–86.Google ScholarPubMed
Morrison, A. W. (1967) Genetic factors in otosclerosis. Annals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, 41: 202–237.Google ScholarPubMed
Ribári, O., Faredin, I. and Sziklai, I. (1985) Endogene Steroide und die Otosklerose. HNO (Berlin), 33: 183–186.Google Scholar
Riggs, B. L., Jowsey, J., Kelly, P. J., Jones, J. D. and Maher, F. T. (1969) Effect of sex hormones in primary osteoporosis. Journal of Clinical Investigation, 48: 1065–1072.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ross, R., Bernstein, L., Judd, H., Hanisch, R., Pike, M. and Henderson, B. (1986) Serum testosterone levels in healthy young Black and White men. Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 76: 45–48.Google ScholarPubMed
Schaap, T. and Gapany-Gapanavicius, B. (1978) The genetics of otosclerosis (i) distorted sex ratio. American Journal of Human Genetics, 30: 59–64.Google ScholarPubMed