Disease relevance of Byelarus

• Identification of an env G subtype and heterogeneity of HIV-1 strains in the Russian Federation and Belarus [1].
• Taken together these results support the concept that RET/PTC activation plays a central role in the pathogenesis of thyroid papillary carcinomas in both Ukraine and Belarus after the Chernobyl accident [2].
• The mutational spectrum of p53 differed greatly between the childhood thyroid carcinomas from Belarus and the control groups [3].
• When cancer incidence data from Belarus are compared to data from the U.S., there is a higher incidence of thyroid cancer and a slightly higher incidence of Hodgkin's disease and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in Belarus, but a lower reported incidence of leukemia and brain tumors [4].
• We stratified children from rural areas of Belarus (caesium [137Cs] contamination >5 Ci/km(2)) by their 137Cs loads into three distinct groups (group 1, <5 Bq/kg body weight [BW]; group 2, 38.4 +/- 2.4 Bq/kg BW; group 3, 122 +/- 18.5 Bq/kg BW) [5].

High impact information on Byelarus

• Childhood thyroid cancer in Belarus [6].
• RESULTS: The env sequences derived from eight individuals infected in Russia and Belarus belong to subtype A (one), B (four), C (two), and D (one) [1].
• PATIENTS: A cohort of children infected after exposure to nonsterile needles during the epidemic in 1988-1989 in southern Russia (Elista, n = 12 and Rostov-on-Don, n = 10), and eight HIV-seropositive subjects from Belarus (Minsk), infected via sexual (n = 7) and parenteral (n = 1) infection [7].
• STUDY DESIGN: In this multinational (European Community-funded) trial, a series of 3,175 consecutive female patients were examined for HPV status (by Hybrid Capture II) at six clinics in Russia, Belarus, and Latvia [8].
• The ret/PTC1 rearrangement is a common feature of Chernobyl-associated papillary thyroid carcinomas from Belarus [9].

Biological context of Byelarus

• Within the Belarus cohort, mutation rate was significantly greater in families with higher parental radiation dose estimated for chronic external and internal exposure to caesium-137, consistent with radiation induction of germline mutation [10].
• p53 polymorphisms in Russia and Belarus: correlation of the 2-1-1 haplotype frequency with longitude [11].

Associations of Byelarus with chemical compounds

• The 1986 Chernobyl accident initiated a major and early increase in childhood thyroid cancer that resulted from ingestion of iodine-131 (131I) by young children living in the most heavily contaminated areas of Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia [12].
• As a result of the Chernobyl accident in 1986, exposure to radioactive cesium is still a concern in the contaminated regions of Belarus [13].
• Russia and Belarus were "conservative" having a lower level of total consumption and using lesser quantities of penicillins, cephalosporins, macrolides, quinolones, carbapenems but greater amounts of aminoglycosides and chloramphenicol [14].
• Determination of irradiated reactor uranium in soil samples in Belarus using 236U as irradiated uranium tracer [15].
• The "Atlas of caesium deposition on Europe after the Chernobyl accident" was prepared within the framework of the Joint Study Project 6 (JSP6) of the collaborative programme on the consequences of the Chernobyl accident between the European Commission and the Ministries responsible for Chernobyl affairs in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine [16].

Gene context of Byelarus

• In Drosophila melanogaster, two new variants affecting the activity of phenoloxidase were found in natural populations at Gomel in Belorussia and at Krasnodar in Russia [17].
• Childhood leukemia (ICD 204-208 [1]) incidence rates in the different regions of Belarus are reported for a period before and after the Chernobyl accident (1982-1994) [18].
• The input of the model includes an extensive data set of the (137)Cs activity per unit area deposited during the Chernobyl accident, the rainfall data for different regions of Belarus, the (131)I/(137)Cs ratio in the deposit and the start of the grazing period in Belarus in April/May 1986 [19].
• In 2002 and 2004, peaks of 137Cs were detected in two residents from Gomel, which was heavily contaminated by the CNPP accident, one from Minsk (Belarus) and one from Kiev (Ukraine), but another resident from Minsk showed no 137Cs peaks [20].
• The results of the EURAD (EURopean Acid Deposition) model, predicting the deposition patterns of 131I and 137Cs in Belarus and Ukraine after the Chernobyl accident, are discussed [21].

Analytical, diagnostic and therapeutic context of Byelarus

• Chernobyl-related thyroid cancer in children of Belarus: a case-control study [22].
• The difference between the features of childhood thyroid cancer in Japan and Belarus may be due to the difference in the process of carcinogenesis, but more direct evidence and further analysis by molecular epidemiology are needed in Belarussian cases [23].

References