Disease relevance of Far East

• Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a prevalent cancer in sub-Saharan Africa and eastern Asia. Hepatitis B virus and aflatoxins are risk factors for HCC, but the molecular mechanism of human hepatocellular carcinogenesis is largely unknown [1].
• OPLL is a common disorder among elderly populations in eastern Asia and is the leading cause of spinal myelopathy in Japan. We performed a genomewide linkage study with 142 affected sib pairs, to identify genetic loci related to OPLL [2].
• In the high HCC incidence regions of sub- Saharan Africa and the Far East, an etiology common to the two disorders, HBV and possibly other hepatitis viruses, seems to account for the majority of cases [3].
• The results of this study led to three conclusions: chancroid is a relatively common disease in the Far East, the causative organism can be isolated by most clinical microbiology laboratories with proper technique, and erythromycin is an effective drug in the treatment of chancroid [4].
• We therefore propose a borderline between Kyushu and Amamiohshima Island for the geographical distribution of RNA coliphages in the domestic drainage of South and East Asia. Moreover, one strain (ID2) was inactivated to some extent with the antisera of four groups of RNA phages [5].

Psychiatry related information on Far East

• Substance abuse problems in the Magadan Region of the Russian Far East [6].

High impact information on Far East

• To test the hypotheses of modern human origin in East Asia, we sampled 12,127 male individuals from 163 populations and typed for three Y chromosome biallelic markers (YAP, M89, and M130) [7].
• Most strains isolated in or epidemiologically linked with the Far East are relatively resistant to tetracycline in vitro, are phenotypically wild-type or proline-dependent auxotypes, and carry a plasmid with a molecular weight of 5800 000 (5-8 X 10(6)) daltons coding for beta-lactamase production [8].
• In contrast, predominant CagA proteins specified by H. pylori strains isolated in East Asia, where gastric carcinoma is prevalent, had a distinct tyrosine phosphorylation sequence at the region corresponding to the repeat sequence of Western CagA [9].
• The dated co-occurrence of Homo erectus and Gigantopithecus blacki at Tham Khuyen helps to establish the long co-existence of these two species throughout east Asia during the Early and Middle Pleistocene [10].
• New Zealand Maori, who have a high prevalence of Type 2 diabetes, have genetic origins in South East Asia. Amylin gene mutations could therefore predispose New Zealand Maori to Type 2 diabetes [11].

Chemical compound and disease context of Far East

• The authors conclude that kanamycin is safe, economical and very effective in the treatment of gonorrhoea caused by the strains of penicillinase-producing Neisseria gonorrhoeae in South East Asia [12].
• Penicillin-resistant and even multiresistant pneumococci have spread worldwide, but primarily in the United States, some European countries, South Africa, and the Far East. A similar trend is evidenced by ampicillin-resistant Hemophilus influenzae, whereas Moraxella catarrhalis almost invariably produces beta-lactamases [13].

Biological context of Far East

• Using Y-chromosome biallelic markers, we investigated the ancient human-migration patterns in eastern Asia. Our data indicate that southern populations in eastern Asia are much more polymorphic than northern populations, which have only a subset of the southern haplotypes [14].
• We examined the genotypes of HPA-2 and TR polymorphism in three different races from Eastern Asia; the Japanese (n = 103), Korean (n = 101) and Chinese population (n = 177) [15].
• DNA sequence motifs of vacAm1 (middle region) alleles formed a cluster that was distinct from those of east Asia and the West, whereas the cagA sequences of Calcutta and Western strains were closely related [16].
• NMS for citrin deficiency (frequency of homozygote with SLC25A13 mutation: 1/10,000-1/38,000 in East Asia) will be useful for clarification of the clinical course, treatment, and prevention of this disease [17].
• The cytotoxicity of natural glycosides from Ginseng, semisynthetic analogues and related triterpenes of the dammarane series, isolated from the leaves of the Far-East species of the genus Betula was studied in order to elucidate structure-activity relationships [18].

Anatomical context of Far East

• Japonicum in the Far East. Renal involvement occurs mostly with S. hematobium infection as a consequence of fibrosis and calcification of tissue-trapped ova in the lower urinary tract, leading to obstruction, reflux, infection, and stone formation [19].

Associations of Far East with chemical compounds

• BACKGROUND/AIMS: Intrahepatic calculi, which are characterized by cholesterol-rich pigment stones, are highly prevalent in East Asia. Their pathogenesis remains unknown [20].
• Chloroquine-resistant strains of Plasmodium falciparum, for example, which originally appeared in South-East Asia and South America are now found in East Asia and sub-Saharan Africa(1) [21].
• In the Far East, dibekacin and kanamycin were widely used in the past and more recently amikacin has been frequently used [22].
• MICs for the ciprofloxacin-resistant isolates that emerged increased, and these isolates had mutations in gyrA and parC similar to those observed in the Far East [23].
• Although proguanil (chloroguanide) is recommended by several sources because of its safety, disturbing reports of chemoprophylaxis failure in Africa and a well-documented lack of efficacy in South East Asia would suggest that its usefulness may be limited [24].

Gene context of Far East

• Extracts from 12 plants (4.5%), including Arnebia euchroma, a medicinal plant used in the Far East to treat inflammation, inhibited the stimulation of COX-2 promoter activity [25].
• In the present study, we identified a novel mutation IVS6+1G>C in a Japanese CTLN2 patient and widely screened 12 SLC25A13 mutations found in Japanese patients in control individuals from East Asia to confirm our preliminary results that the carrier frequency was high in Asian populations [26].
• The heterozygosity level ranges from 22% in Europe to 13.6% in Southwest Asia with the lowest value of 7.4% in Siberia/East Asia. The present study provides evidence of clinal distribution of POLG gene heterozygosity in North Eurasian populations [27].
• Although south and east Asia contain nearly one half of the global population, the origins and frequencies of SLC26A4 mutations in these regions are unknown [28].
• G6PD Canton a common deficient variant in South East Asia caused by a 459 Arg----Leu mutation [29].

Analytical, diagnostic and therapeutic context of Far East

• Mecillinam, a new prophylactic for travellers' diarrhoea. A prospective double-blind study in tourists travelling to Egypt and the Far East [30].
• PCR using Japanese cagA primers resulted in PCR products in 99-6 % of strains from East Asia but no non-Asian strains [31].
• Slavic ethnomedicine in the Soviet Far East. Part I: Herbal remedies among Russians/Ukrainians in the Sukhodol Valley, Primorye [32].
• The majority of the strains (24/30) were resistant to, or showed decreased sensitivity to, doxycycline with minimum inhibitory concentrations between 1 and 8 mg/l, consistent with the Far East origin [33].
• Nasopharyngeal carcinoma is a common cancer in South East Asia. In the early stages, radiotherapy alone may achieve sustained control, but once metastasis occurs, it becomes an incurable disease with limited survival time [34].

References