, 2009). They suggested that hspMaori is a marker for the entire Austronesian expansions rather than only for Polynesians and their findings point to Taiwan as the source of the Austronesian expansions. They determined that hspMaori was widespread among aboriginal Taiwanese tribes and their phylogenetic analysis also showed that the genetic diversity was significantly higher in Taiwanese hspMaori than in non-Taiwanese

hspMaori. The non-Taiwanese hspMaori haplotypes formed selleck chemical a single clade, the Pacific clade, which originates from one of several clades among indigenous Taiwanese haplotypes. Polynesians, Melanesians, and Filipinos were included in this Pacific clade. This might explain the presence of East Asian type H. pylori strains in Philippines; however, the majority of CagA type was Western type. It is possible that the intermarriages of the various races and

nationalities with the indigenous ethnic groups and the strong Western influence and culture in the Philippines have resulted in more Western-type H. pylori strains in the country. hpEurope is common in Europe and countries colonized by Europeans (Yamaoka et al., 2008). The Philippines was a former colony of Spain (333 years), and it has also extensive relations and communications with Western countries. Compared with other East or Southeast Asian Sirolimus price countries, the incidence of gastric cancer in the Philippines is quite low. This may be a reflection of the mostly Western CagA type of Philippine H. pylori strains; however, gastric cancer is a multifactorial disease (Hatakeyama, 2009) and incidence cannot be solely attributed to the type of bacteria or bacterial virulence factor. Investigations on a greater number of H. pylori strains isolated

from Philippine patients need to be carried out. In conclusion, the present study found that Cepharanthine cagA is present all H. pylori strains examined from the Philippines. Philippine populations are considered to originate from Austronesian expansions; however, the major type of CagA in the Philippines is the Western type. These findings support that the modern Western influence has resulted in more Western-type H. pylori strains in the Philippines, which may explain the low incidence of gastric cancer, and H. pylori-infected Filipinos can be considered to be at a low risk of developing gastric cancer. In addition, J-Western strains are unique in Okinawa and different from other Western CagA-positive strains in Asian countries such as the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. We thank Ms Kumiko Sueyoshi for her technical assistance. This work was partly supported by funds from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. “
“This review article summarizes current knowledge on regulation, functions, and capacities of stem cells in the female and male reproductive tract.