A study was conducted to investigate the contribution of physical fitness evaluated by speed at onset of blood lactate accumulation (OBLA-SP), sex hormones and sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) on high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c) in 12 young male endurance athletes. These athletes has a higher level and wide range of intraindividual variance (44 to 93 mg/dl) for HDL-c. The serum estradiol level was significantly and positively correlated with the level of apoprotein AI (Apo AI), and serum testosterone level was significantly and positively associated with the levels of both HDL3-c and apoprotein All (Apo All) . The SHBG level was positively associated with the levels of both HDL-c and HDL2-c. Age, certain anthropometric parameters such as percentage body fat, body mass index, and body fat distribution evaluated by waist to hip ratio, and physical fitness levels were not associated with HDL-c and other lipids and apoproteins. These results suggest that the HDL-c level in endurance athletes is strongly associated with not only male but also female hormones, and SHBG, being independent of age, body composition and physical fitnesss level.

Advances in genetic medicine has rapidly been applied to clinical practice. However, many medical students have not studied biology or genetics in high school. There is little chance to think in Japan medical education about how to treat genetic information appropriately in the setting of clinical medicine. The timing and contents of a clinical genetics education program in medical school has hardly been discussed in Japan. This paper discusses the clinical genetics educationduring the medical-science and clinical-medicine stages at Nippon Medical School.
1) An exercise on information gathering and role-play (for 180 minutes) about color vision deficiency were performed during the second-year molecular genetics course.
2) A clinical genetics course (45 minutes 18 classes) in the fourth year was started in 2002 as a part of an integrated medical curriculum with courses classified by organ system.
3) This clinical genetics course included systematic lectures for knowledge acquisition, lectures by patient support groups, exercises in drawing pedigrees, role-play, and discussions of ethical issues. Students evaluated this course favorably.
4) Some topics in clinical genetics can be effectively presented at an early stage of medical education as part of an introduction to medicine. To maximize the educational effects and increase the possibility that students understand the importance of medical genetics, clinical genetics education in medical school will be performed after the student have grasped a basic understanding of diseases through lectures about clinical subjects.