East Asia is most at risk of human flu epidemic, experts say.
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Day M
PROVIDER: S-EPMC1261177 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Oct
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Publications
East Asia is most at risk of human flu epidemic, experts say.
BMJ (Clinical research ed.) 20051001 7522
Similar Datasets
Project description:Recent studies of ancient genomes have suggested that gene flow from archaic hominin groups to the ancestors of modern humans occurred on two separate occasions during the modern human expansion out of Africa. At the same time, decreasing levels of human genetic diversity have been found at increasing distance from Africa as a consequence of human expansion out of Africa. We analyzed the signal of archaic ancestry in modern human populations, and we investigated how serial founder models of human expansion affect the signal of archaic ancestry using simulations. For descendants of an archaic admixture event, we show that genetic drift coupled with ascertainment bias for common alleles can cause artificial but largely predictable differences in similarity to archaic genomes. In genotype data from non-Africans, this effect results in a biased genetic similarity to Neandertals with increasing distance from Africa. However, in addition to the previously reported gene flow between Neandertals and non-Africans as well as gene flow between an archaic human population from Siberia ("Denisovans") and Oceanians, we found a significant affinity between East Asians, particularly Southeast Asians, and the Denisova genome--a pattern that is not expected under a model of solely Neandertal admixture in the ancestry of East Asians. These results suggest admixture between Denisovans or a Denisova-related population and the ancestors of East Asians, and that the history of anatomically modern and archaic humans might be more complex than previously proposed.
| S-EPMC3215044 | biostudies-literature
Project description: Not available
| S-EPMC1531641 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Facing the challenge of effective prevention type 2 diabetes (T2DM) in China (as part of global health) requires knowledge about both the temporal trend and risk factors variation in T2DM. We searched the PubMed, CNKI, WANFANG, and International Diabetes Federation (IDF) databases for data on the prevalence of T2DM/ IGT (impaired glucose tolerance) published from January 1, 1980 to December 31, 2014 in China, Japan and Korea. The prevalence of T2DM was estimated with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) using random-effects meta-analysis. T2DM prevalence trend in the next 10 years was estimated by using a time series regression model based on the 35 years of data. The 621 articles covered 11.8 million Chinese people, 1.64 million Japanese, and 37.69 million Koreans. The aggregate prevalence of T2DM in China has increased sharply from 1.3% in 1980-1989 to 4.5% in 1990-1999, 6.8% 2000-2009, and 8.7% in 2010-2014. We estimated that by 2025, T2DM prevalence will have grown to 12.5%. Central obesity is the largest preventable cause of T2DM. We also found that female having a very high BMI (body mass index, ≥28 kg/m2) and being an older (≥50 years old) female are next-highest risk factors for T2DM compared with male. Consistent with the patterns characterized for China, T2DM prevalence in Japan increased with aging, and men were more likely to develop T2DM. It was the same as Korea. In the Far East, especially in China, T2DM prevalence will continue to increase until 2025. Statistical analyses were conducted using Stata 12.0 and SPSS 19.0.
| S-EPMC5805508 | biostudies-literature
Project description: Not available
| S-EPMC5598255 | biostudies-literature
Project description:East Asia is one of the world's largest tobacco epidemic regions. Although several international studies have evaluated the status of tobacco control in this region, the findings have not been integrated with knowledge on domestic activities at the national and municipal levels. We analysed the current tobacco control situation in three East Asian countries, Japan, China and the Republic of Korea, using both international and domestic data sources. We collected data between 2008 and 2011 in each country according to the framework of WHO's MPOWER (Monitoring, Protect, Offer, Warn, Enforcement and Raise) approach for guiding implementation of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. Analysis revealed that 37-53% of adult men were current smokers and that smoking prevalence among middle-aged men reached 63%. Less than 20% of male smokers plan to quit and the use of nicotine replacement drugs was 14% at maximum. Forty-six percent or more of men and 20% or more of women were exposed to passive smoking at workplaces and at home, respectively. Many tobacco industry activities remain unrestricted and prevalent. Our findings indicate an urgent need for the following set of policies: raise cigarette prices to increase the quit attempt rate, particularly among adult men; develop a multi-component quitting assistance system to provide adequate assistance for smoking cessation; implement effective smoke-free policies in workplaces and public places to reduce exposure to passive smoking; and rebuild the administrative structure to denormalise tobacco industry activities. The importance of these standard approaches should be reaffirmed by all tobacco control policymakers in East Asia.
| S-EPMC4078676 | biostudies-literature
Project description:East Asia harbors substantial genetic, physical, cultural and linguistic diversity, but the detailed structures and interrelationships of those aspects remain enigmatic. This question has begun to be addressed by a rapid accumulation of molecular anthropological studies of the populations in and around East Asia, especially by Y chromosome studies. The current Y chromosome evidence suggests multiple early migrations of modern humans from Africa via Southeast Asia to East Asia. After the initial settlements, the northward migrations during the Paleolithic Age shaped the genetic structure in East Asia. Subsequently, recent admixtures between Central Asian immigrants and northern East Asians enlarged the genetic divergence between southern and northern East Asia populations. Cultural practices, such as languages, agriculture, military affairs and social prestige, also have impacts on the genetic patterns in East Asia. Furthermore, application of Y chromosome analyses in the family genealogy studies offers successful showcases of the utility of genetics in studying the ancient history.
| S-EPMC3687582 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The current severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic has emphasized the vulnerability of human populations to novel viral pressures, despite the vast array of epidemiological and biomedical tools now available. Notably, modern human genomes contain evolutionary information tracing back tens of thousands of years, which may help identify the viruses that have impacted our ancestors-pointing to which viruses have future pandemic potential. Here, we apply evolutionary analyses to human genomic datasets to recover selection events involving tens of human genes that interact with coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2, that likely started more than 20,000 years ago. These adaptive events were limited to the population ancestral to East Asian populations. Multiple lines of functional evidence support an ancient viral selective pressure, and East Asia is the geographical origin of several modern coronavirus epidemics. An arms race with an ancient coronavirus, or with a different virus that happened to use similar interactions as coronaviruses with human hosts, may thus have taken place in ancestral East Asian populations. By learning more about our ancient viral foes, our study highlights the promise of evolutionary information to better predict the pandemics of the future. Importantly, adaptation to ancient viral epidemics in specific human populations does not necessarily imply any difference in genetic susceptibility between different human populations, and the current evidence points toward an overwhelming impact of socioeconomic factors in the case of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
| S-EPMC8223470 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundIncidence and mortality rates for gastric cancer, the fifth most commonly diagnosed and third most deadly cancer worldwide, are highest in East Asia. We sought to identify gastric cancer risk biomarkers among eight prospective studies from China, Japan and Korea.MethodsThis pooled nested case-control study included 1608 incident non-cardia gastric cancer cases and 1958 matched controls. Pre-diagnostic antibody levels to 15 Helicobacter pylori proteins were assessed using multiplex serology. Conditional logistic regression models were used to calculate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs).ResultsSero-positivity to 10 H. pylori antigens (Omp, CagA, VacA, HcpC, HP 0305, GroEL, NapA, HyuA, Cad, HpaA) was associated with a 1.29- to 3.26-fold increase in odds of gastric cancer. Omp and HP 0305 consistently remained associated with gastric cancer risk after mutually adjusting for all other markers. Sero-positivity to both Omp and HP 0305 was associated with an over 4-fold increase in gastric cancer incidence (OR, 4.09; 95% CI 3.26-5.13). When limited to only those who are CagA+ H. pylori+, Omp/HP 0305 sero-positivity remained strongly associated with an over 3-fold increase in the odds of gastric cancer (OR, 3.34; 95% CI 2.27-4.91). The results were highly consistent among the cohorts.ConclusionsWe have confirmed new H. pylori biomarkers that are strongly associated with gastric cancer risk, even among those infected with the known H. pylori virulence factor CagA. These results may help to design cost-efficient prevention strategies to reduce gastric cancer incidence in East Asia.
| S-EPMC5841796 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta) is the only extant species of the genus Crocuta, which once occupied a much wider range during the Pliocene and Pleistocene. However, its origin and evolutionary history is somewhat contentious due to discordances being found between morphological, nuclear, and mitochondrial data. Due to the limited molecular data from east Asian Crocuta, and the difficulty of extracting ancient DNA from this area, here we present proteomic analysis of cave hyenas from three locations in northern China. This marks the first proteomic data generated from cave hyenas, adding new molecular data to the east Asian populations. Phylogenetic analysis based on these protein sequences reveals two different groups of cave hyenas in east Asia, one of which could not be distinguished from modern spotted hyenas from northern Africa, tentatively the result of previously suggested gene flow between these lineages. With developments of instrumentation and analytical methods, proteomics holds promising potential for the phylogenetic reconstruction of ancient fauna previously thought to be unreachable using ancient DNA.
2020-10-19 | PXD020530 | Pride
Project description:The 2007 discovery of fragmentary human remains (two molars and an anterior mandible) at Zhirendong (Zhiren Cave) in South China provides insight in the processes involved in the establishment of modern humans in eastern Eurasia. The human remains are securely dated by U-series on overlying flowstones and a rich associated faunal sample to the initial Late Pleistocene, >100 kya. As such, they are the oldest modern human fossils in East Asia and predate by >60,000 y the oldest previously known modern human remains in the region. The Zhiren 3 mandible in particular presents derived modern human anterior symphyseal morphology, with a projecting tuber symphyseos, distinct mental fossae, modest lateral tubercles, and a vertical symphysis; it is separate from any known late archaic human mandible. However, it also exhibits a lingual symphyseal morphology and corpus robustness that place it close to later Pleistocene archaic humans. The age and morphology of the Zhiren Cave human remains support a modern human emergence scenario for East Asia involving dispersal with assimilation or populational continuity with gene flow. It also places the Late Pleistocene Asian emergence of modern humans in a pre-Upper Paleolithic context and raises issues concerning the long-term Late Pleistocene coexistence of late archaic and early modern humans across Eurasia.
| S-EPMC2984215 | biostudies-literature