Biomedical subjects

Y Ohno

Publications and source records attributed to Y Ohno.

At least 163 records · Page 9Linked to original sources

PubMed1999

Favorable life-style modification and attenuation of cardiovascular risk factors.

In order to develop an effective counseling system for prevention of cardiovascular diseases, the association of a favorably changed life-style with improved risk factors was examined. Participants were 7,321 office workers aged 30-69 years from in and around Nagoya city. The age-adjusted odds ratio (OR) and its 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated to assess the likelihood of risk factor improvement by favorable life-style modifications during a 3-year period. Those who began to eat breakfast and increased their vegetable intake normalized their previously abnormal diastolic blood pressure with more than twice the likelihood (adjusted OR [95% CI] 2.89 [1.29-6.46] and 2.60 [1.18-5.75], respectively). 'Began to eat breakfast' was also significantly associated with normalized total cholesterol (TC) (1.84, [1.05-3.21]). 'Stopped eating till full' significantly normalized the body mass index (2.03; [1.25-3.28]), uric acid (1.65; [1.07-2.52]) and TC (1.43; [1.04-1.97]). Those who started regular exercise significantly normalized their high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) abnormality with 1.69-times the likelihood (1.69; [1.24-2.29]) and those who began to walk briskly also improved their TC abnormality (1.85; [1.19-2.89]). HDL-C was normalized with 2.55-times the likelihood in those who quit smoking (2.55; [1.68-3.86]). Because favorable life-style modifications can attenuate abnormal cardiovascular risk factors, then proper advice on specific risk factors should be routinely given at each health check-up in order to prevent the onset of cardiovascular diseases in subsequent years.

Adult↗

PubMed1999

[The role of general pharmacological studies and pharmacokinetics in the evaluation of drugs (2): Pharmacokinetics].

Pharmacokinetics studies are performed to clarify the absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion of drug candidates. The data are not only useful for the planning of animal toxicity studies and pharmacological studies but also required for establishing the efficacy and safety in humans by indicating the pharmacokinetically appropriate drug formulation and drug usage. Identification of the major metabolic enzymes related to the major metabolism of a drug is also essential for predicting pharmacokinetic drug interactions. Use of human tissues in drug metabolism studies becomes more and more important for rational and efficient drug development. It is necessary to establish an organization in Japan for supplying human tissues originating from the Japanese population.

Animals↗

PubMed1999

Comparative toxicokinetic study of rubber antioxidants, 2-mercaptobenzimidazole and 2-mercaptomethylbenzimidazole, by single oral administration in rats.

Toxicokinetics of 2-mercaptobenzimidazole (MBI) and 2-mercaptomethylbenzimidazole (MMBI), rubber antioxidants with thioureylene structure, were compared after single oral administration in rats. Male Wistar rats received single oral administration of 2, 10, 50 and 250 mg/kg of MBI or MMBI. The serum and urine concentrations of MBI and MMBI were determined by HPLC. MBI and MMBI showed similar Cmax values, but the former disappeared slower in the serum than the latter and resulted in its larger AUC values. Analyses of MBI, MMBI and their desulfurated metabolites in urine suggested that these differences were due to their metabolic elimination rates. On the other hand, MBI and MMBI caused similar acute toxicities, such as loss of locomotive activity, ataxic gait, adoption of prone or side position and coma, being severer with higher serum concentrations at the moment. Similar acute toxicities between MBI and MMBI were explained by similar Cmax values at the same dose. It was suggested from these results that the slower disappearance and larger AUC values of MBI in the serum compared to MMBI might explain the strong thyroid toxicity which has been observed by repeated administration of MBI, but very weak thyroid toxicity by MMBI.

Administration, Oral↗

PubMed1999

Agreement between self- and partner reports obtained by a self-administered questionnaire: medical and lifestyle information.

We examined agreement between the subjects' self- and partner-reports of such epidemiological information as medical and family history, smoking and drinking habit and physical activity. Information was obtained by a self-administered questionnaire which was completed by 224 workers (subjects) and by their partners in 1997. Agreement was assessed by calculating kappa statistic, intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), and per cent agreement. Per cent agreement ranged from a low of 76.2 for general life stress to a high of 98.0 for angina/myocardial infarction and diabetes mellitus as present illness. Kappa values ranged from a low of 0.34 for general life stress to a high of 0.86 for smoking habit. Compared to subjects, their partners tended to report lower level of both exposures (continuous variables) and presence (dichotomous variables). The average kappa was 0.64 for wife-surrogates, whereas 0.53 for husband-surrogates. Overall, our finding suggested that partners could provide acceptable information for the concrete and directly-observable variables (e.g. such present illness as hypertension which required daily medication, or smoking/drinking habit itself), but not so for detailed/subjective variables (e.g. number of cigarettes smoked per day or general life stress).

Adult↗

PubMed1999

A simple food frequency questionnaire for Japanese diet--Part I. Development of the questionnaire, and reproducibility and validity for food groups.

We developed a simple food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) based on one-day dietary records (DRs) among 1001 subjects in Nagoya, Japan. A total of 97 foods and dishes were selected through a two-step procedure; first by ranking food items according to the contribution to the population intake of nutrient variables, and second by stepwise multiple regression analyses of individual food items as the independent variables and of total nutrient intake as the dependent variables. For simplicity, questions on portion sizes were not included except for a few selected food items, which resulted in short time (about 20 minutes) to complete the questionnaire. This FFQ was validated for food groups by referring to four 4-day DRs among 88 men and women in central Japan, from 1996 to 1997. The energy-, sex- and age-adjusted test-retest correlation coefficients between the two FFQs administered at an one year interval ranged from 0.34 to 0.78. The de-attenuated, energy-, sex- and age-adjusted correlation coefficients between the second FFQ and the DRs were larger than 0.40 for most food groups, indicating the usefulness of this simple FFQ with its sufficient validity in epidemiological surveys.

Adult↗

PubMed1999

A simple food frequency questionnaire for Japanese diet--Part II. Reproducibility and validity for nutrient intakes.

A self-administered 97-item simple food frequency questionnaire (FFQ), without portion size questions for most items, was completed twice at an one-year interval by 88 men and women in central Japan to evaluate its reproducibility. This FFQ was further validated by referring to four 4-day weighed dietary records (DRs) which were performed at 3-month intervals. Mean energy and 18 nutrient intakes measured by the first and the second FFQs were quite similar to those measured by the DRs. In our reproducibility study, Pearson and intraclass correlation coefficients, adjusted for energy intake, sex and age, ranged from 0.48 to 0.82 (median = 0.67). In the validation study, adjusted and de-attenuated correlation coefficients between the second FFQ and the DRs ranged from 0.42 for iron to 0.83 for calcium (median = 0.61). The proportion of subjects classified by the FFQ into the same or adjacent quintiles defined by the DRs was between 65.9% and 83.0% (median = 69.9%). These findings essentially suggested that our FFQ is well reproducible and sufficiently valid, and therefore, reasonably useful for nutritional epidemiological studies for Japanese diets, particularly for those of Tokai Area.

Adult↗

PubMed1999

Life-style related factors and idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy--a case-control study using pooled controls.

A case-control study was conducted to investigate how basic habits of life including dietary habit, physical activity, cigarette smoking, and drinking, are involved in the development of idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). Collection of cases was entrusted to the clinical research group of DCM, and national pooled controls established by sex and age category by the epidemiological research group of intractable diseases were used to ensure representativeness of the controls. Fifty-eight cases of DCM which developed in and after January 1991 were collected, and 5,912 controls matched with the cases by residential area, sex, and age were selected. Analysis of the results of the study showed that items in the questionnaire suggestive of viral infection, such as "susceptibility to common cold" and "susceptibility to diarrhea", items concerning dietary habit, including "taking no breakfast", "ingestion of salty food", and "ingestion of fatty food", and such items as "cigarette smoking" and "lack of sleep" tended to be observed in the case group at significantly higher frequencies. Since viral infection has been suspected as a causative factor of DCM, further research of this area is thought to be of particular importance for determining the etiology of DCM.

Adult↗

PubMed1999

[Statistical analysis of localized non-Hodgkin's lymphomas of the head and neck--multivariate analysis of prognostic factors and evaluation of therapeutic modalities].

Prognostic factors and treatment outcome of 48 patients with Stage I (29) or II (19) non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of the head and neck were analyzed retrospectively. There were 26 males and 22 females, aged from 15 to 89 years old, with an average age of 57. The primary lesion was located in Waldeyer's ring in 25 patients, the nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses in 13, cervical lymph nodes in 8, and others in 2. Histologically, 2 had low grade lymphoma, 42 had intermediate grade disease, and 1 had high grade disease. The patients were treated with radiation alone (5 patients), chemotherapy according to a cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, prednisone- (CHOP) regimen (8 patients), or a combination of both treatments (35 patients). In univariate analyses, an unfavorable prognosis was associated with age > or = 60, Stage I disease, and extralymphatic lesion. Multivariate analysis showed that an extralymphatic lesion was a significant independent risk factor for death (p = 0.0093). The overall five-year survival rate was 73.5%. Differences in the treatment was not reflected in the outcome. Our results suggest that a combination of chemotherapy (CHOP) and radiation is an appropriate treatment for lymphatic stage I and II non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of the head and neck. However, more intensive therapy is necessary for patients with extralymphatic head and neck NHL.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1999

A case of T-lineage lymphoblastic lymphoma/leukemia with t(4;11)(q21;p15) that switched to myelomonocytic leukemia at relapse.

A 51-year-old Japanese woman, initially diagnosed with T-lineage (CD2+, CD7+, CD3-, CD4-, CD8-) lymphoblastic lymphoma with t(4;11)(q21;p15), relapsed with acute myelomonocytic leukemia with the identical chromosomal abnormality. Southern-blot analysis revealed clonal rearrangements of an immunoglobulin heavy chain gene (JH) and T-cell receptor genes (J delta 1, J gamma 1, C beta 1) at first presentation, but germ line configurations of these genes at relapse. Leukemias with t(4;11)(q21;p15) may involve a hematopoietic progenitor capable of multilineage differentiation.

CD3 Complex↗

PubMed1999

Monitoring of human herpesviruses after allogeneic peripheral blood stem cell transplantation and bone marrow transplantation.

Herpesviruses frequently cause serious complications after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (allo-BMT). Recent studies have shown more rapid immune reconstitution after allogeneic peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (allo-PBSCT) compared with allo-BMT. However, it has not been clarified whether the improved immune reconstitution after allo-PBSCT is associated with a lower incidence of herpesvirus infections. We monitored the emergence of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), cytomegalovirus (CMV), human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) and HHV-7 DNA by a nested-double polymerase chain reaction in peripheral blood leucocytes from 22 allo-BMT and 16 allo-PBSCT patients. Each virus had an unique temporal profile of detection. HHV-6 DNA was detected most frequently at 3 weeks after transplantation, whereas CMV and EBV DNA were detected later (2-3 months). Detection rates of HHV-6 DNA at 3 and 4 weeks after allo-BMT were significantly higher than those after allo-PBSCT (9/16 v 2/13 at 3 weeks, P < 0.01; 10/21 v 1/15 at 4 weeks, P < 0.01). Detection rates of the other three herpesviruses after the two types of allogeneic transplantation were not significantly different throughout observation period. Furthermore, detection of HHV-6 DNA within the first 4 weeks was associated with delayed platelet engraftment after both allo-BMT and allo-PBSCT (P < 0.01). These results suggest an advantage for allo-PBSCT over allo-BMT in terms of suppression of HHV-6 reactivation and prevention of subsequent complications.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1999

Mast cell sarcoma with tissue eosinophilia arising in the ascending colon.

Mast cell sarcoma is a rare disease. We report an unusual case of this neoplasm arising in the ascending colon of a 32-year-old Japanese woman who presented with abdominal pain. An ulcerating mass in the colon was resected, along with enlarged mesenteric lymph nodes. Two years after surgery, the neoplasm recurred as left cervical lymphadenopathy and an intra-abdominal mass. Despite predonine and radiation therapy, the disease progressed, and the patient died. The tumor cells had abundant fine granular or clear cytoplasm, and oval, lobulated, or indented nuclei. Numerous mature eosinophils were intermingled with the tumor cells. Immunohistologic studies on paraffin sections demonstrated that the majority of the tumor cells were strongly positive for CD45RB, CD68, and mast cell tryptase. They were unreactive, however, with a broad spectrum of antibodies against myelomonocytic and lymphocytic antigens. The mast cell nature of this rare type of tumor can be best identifiable by immunostains for mast cell tryptase.

Adult↗

PubMed1999

[Role of metabolic polymorphisms in lung carcinogenesis].

Metabolism of most chemical carcinogens in humans is thought to occur in two distinct phases. The carcinogens exert their effect only after being metabolically activated to intermediates (phase I), which are capable of binding to DNA and causing mutations. The most ubiquitous phase I catalysts are the cytochrome P450s (CYPs). There is convincing epidemiological evidence that lung cancer risk associated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) is mediated in part by aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase (AHH), which is used as an indicator of the phenotype of CYP1A1. Since AHH is responsible for the activation PAHs in cigarette smoke, it may be important in the causation of lung cancer. Kellermann et al. reported a significant positive correlation between AHH inducibility and susceptibility to lung cancer. The finding, however, has been both supported and refuted by subsequent investigators. Advances in molecular biology have allowed many allelic variants of several drug metabolizing enzymes so that individuals with the susceptible genotypes can be determined easily. A close association between development of lung cancer and homozygous rare genotypes in MspI and Ile-Val polymorphisms of CYP1A1 gene has been recently reported in some Japanese populations. The association between GSTM1 polymorphism and lung cancer risk is not so strong, however. Following the phase I reaction, phase II enzymes such as glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) are responsible for detoxification of activated forms PAH-epoxides. GSTs form a superfamily of genes consisting of four distinct families, named Alpha, Mu, Pi and Theta. The GSTM1, GSTT1 and GSTP1 genes are polymorphic in humans. The phenotypic absence of GSTM1 activity is due to a homozygous inherited deletion of the gene, the null genotype. The homozygous deletion of GSTM1 genes has been shown to occur in approximately 50% of the populations of various ethnic origins. The GSTM1 null genotype confrs a moderately increased risk of smoking-related lung cancer, however. Genetically determined susceptibility to lung cancer may depend on the metabolic balance between phase I and phase II enzymes. Risk of lung cancer, especially squamous cell carcinoma is shown to be remarkably increased in individuals with a combination of a homozygous rare allele of the CYP1A1 gene and the nulled GSTM1 gene, compared with those having other combinations of genotypes. Individuals with susceptible genotypes may become important for the prevention of lung cancer.

Aryl Hydrocarbon Hydroxylases↗

PubMed1999

[Evidence-based medicine and 'The Cochrane Collaboration'].

In Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM), a clinical decision is based neither on pathophysiological theories nor personal experience but on the results derived from scientifically designed clinical epidemiological studies (i.e., evidence). EBM is used in various clinical applications, such as therapy, diagnosis, and prognosis prediction. The process includes (1) asking a clinical question consisting of the three elements of "patient", "exposure", and "outcome"; (2) searching for the best evidence using MEDLINE or Cochrane Library; (3) appraising critically the validity of the method and the magnitude and probability of the result; and finally (4) applying the evidence of the patient. In actual clinical practice, clinical expertise and patient preferences should be as much regarded as research evidence. 'The Cochrane Collaboration' supplies systematic reviews of clinical trials carried out all over the world to its consumers. Its fruit, 'The Cochrane Library (CD-ROM),' is a highly valuable resource. 'The Cochrane Collaboration' serves as the infrastructure for EBM. EBM, which was originally developed for the individual patient care, can also be applicable to community- or workplace-healthcare and policy making by governments. Thus, EBM is both a philosophy and a method to provide people with the most appropriate medical practice.

Databases as Topic↗

PubMed1999

[Histological study of early postmortem changes in various organs: comparison of the paraffin embedding method and the epoxy resin embedding method].

For the purpose of morphological assessment of the early postmortem interval, Wistar rats were killed by cervical dislocation and left at 23 degrees C for 1, 3, 5, 10, 15 and 24 hours. After a given postmortem interval, tissue samples taken from kidney, pancreas, liver, heart and skeletal muscle were embedded in paraffin or epoxy resin and examined by light microscopy. Specimens obtained from the paraffin block did not show a good correlation between histological changes and postmortem interval, because the postmortem changes continued during the fixation period. On the other hand, the time course of histological changes in specimens obtained from the epoxy block, particularly the development of clumping of nuclear chromatin and cytoplasmic vacuolation in each organ, reflected the postmortem interval because of the rapid fixation by glutaraldehyde. These histological changes were characteristic of each organ up to 24 hours after death. In addition, the semithin epoxy resin section made high-resolution light microscopy possible. Therefore, the epoxy resin embedding method is superior to the paraffin embedding method for the purpose of estimation of the time of death. The morphological changes characterising time after death are as follows: at 1 hour after death, cytoplasmic vacuolization and slight clumping of nuclear chromatin in pancreatic acinar cells; at 3 hours after death, slight clumping of nuclear chromatin in distal tubules, cytoplasmic vacuolization in skeletal muscle, and edema in cardiac muscle; at 5 hours after death, clumping of nuclear chromatin in proximal tubules as well as distal tubules, and cytoplasmic vacuolization in hepatocytes; at 10 hours after death, edema in proximal tubules, condensation of nuclear chromatin (apoptosis) and edema in distal tubules, and atrophy of acinar cells in the pancreas; at 15 hours after death, cytolysis of distal tubules; at 24 hours after death, cytolysis of hepatocytes and clumping of chromatin in skeletal muscle. Thus we can conclude that the time course of histological changes is useful for the estimation of postmortem interval.

Animals↗

PubMed1999

[Intra- and inter-individual variations in diets of the middle-aged and the elderly].

This study was conducted to examine intra- and inter-individual variations in diets of the middle-aged and the elderly (40 years or older, 46 men and 42 women). The coefficients of variations for intakes of nutrients and food groups were computed from four 4-day weighed dietary records performed at 3-month intervals from June 1996. The results were as follows: a) The highest intra-individual variation (%) for nutrient intake was observed in retinol (men 293.5, women 283.8) and the lowest in carbohydrate (men 17.7, women 22.1). b) The highest inter-individual variation (%) was found in retinol (58.2) in men, and in carotene (56.7) in women. The lowest inter-individual variation (%) was observed in magnesium (17.0) in men, and in carbohydrate (14.4) in women. c) Nuts and seeds showed the highest intra-individual variation (%) for food group intake (men 291.5, women 391.8), while rice presented the lowest (men 30.5, women 38.9). d) The highest inter-individual variation for food group intake (%) was seen in milk and dairy products (111.7) in men and in alcoholic beverages (162.3) in women. The lowest inter-individual variation was observed in potatoes and starches (20.7) in men and in pulses (26.0) in women. e) The number of days necessary to estimate true average nutrient intake was much longer for such vitamins as retinol and carotene (over 50 days) than for macronutrients (3-5 days) except for fat. More than one year was required to estimate intake of nuts and seeds in both sexes and alcoholic beverages or seaweeds in women, whereas only 9-15 days for intake of rice. In conclusion, energy, protein and carbohydrate can be estimated by short-period dietary recalls or records, since their intra-individual variations were relatively small. On the other hand, many days, were found to be required to estimate usual dietary intake of such vitamins as retinol or carotene and that of each food group except for rice. It would therefore be very difficult to estimate usual intake of these nutrients and food groups by short-period dietary recalls or records.

Diet↗

PubMed1999

[Sudden death of clinically unknown origin. An overview of postmortem examinations in Japan].

To elucidate the possible causes of sudden unexpected deaths (SUD) in Japan, we over-viewed autopsy findings described in the Annual of the Pathological Autopsy Cases in Japan, Vol. 35-37, 1992-1994. A total of 313 cases of SUD of clinically unknown origin (age > = 5 year) were found among the 95,142 autopsy cases listed in the above compilation. The direct causes of death, if identified, were described with their incidences. When the direct cause was undetermined, the most dominant pathological finding was listed. The difference in age between identified and unidentified groups was also studied. In 225 (72%) out of 313 SUD, direct causes of death were clarified as follows: cardiovascular diseases in 140 (acute myocardial infarction in 75), pulmonary diseases in 32, cerebrovascular diseases in 17, and gastrointestinal or hepatic disease in 17 cases. Even among 88 cases whose direct causes of death were unclear, 55 had cardiovascular abnormalities including myocardial hypertrophy and ischemic changes. No life-threatening abnormalities were found in 23 SUD cases, most of whom were men in their forties or younger. This study indicates that autopsy is helpful to reveal the cause of SUD. It also suggests cardiovascular diseases are the leading causes of SUD of clinically unknown origin.

Autopsy↗

PubMed1999

Analysis of circulating hematopoietic progenitor cells after peripheral blood stem cell transplantation.

We investigated the kinetics of posttransplant circulating progenitor cells (PTCPC) in the early phase after autologous (auto-) and allogeneic (allo-) peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (PBSCT). We analyzed the number of myeloid progenitor cells (CFU-GM) per 10 ml of peripheral blood (PB) on days 0 (just prior to transplantation), 1 (12-15 hours after completion of first transplantation), 2, 3, 5, 7, 10, 14, 17, 21 and 28 (after auto-PBSCT), and also additionally on day 35 after allo-PBSCT. A standard methylcellulose colony assay was used for analysing the number of CFU-GGM and BFU-E on all of the days. In addition, high proliferative potential-colony forming cells (HPP-CFC) of the harvested PBSC from donors and day 1 PB from recipients were assayed in 5 allo-PBSCT patients. Furthermore, a proportion of CD38- cells among CD34+ cells in the harvested PBSC and day 1 PB was evaluated by two-color flow cytometric analysis in 5 allo-PBSCT patients. The number of CFU-GM on day 1 ranged from 7 to 119 per 10 ml PB after auto-PBSCT, and from 15 to 61 per 10 ml PB after allo-PBSCT. After these transient increases, PTCPC diminished rapidly. Then, PTCPC emerged again on day 7 after auto-PBSCT and on day 10 or 14 after allo-PBSCT along with neutrophil recovery. A proportion of HPP-CFC among myeloid colonies from day 1 PB of recipients was significantly higher than that from the harvested PBSC from donors (65.6 +/- 12.7% vs. 17.4 +/- 13.0%, respectively, n = 5, P = 0.0013). In addition, two-color flow cytometric analysis revealed that the proportion of CD34+CD38- cells was significantly higher in day 1 PB of recipients than in the harvested PBSC from donors (57.5 +/- 17.6% vs. 11.7 +/- 4.9%, n = 5, P = 0.005). These observations suggest that both primitive and committed transplanted myeloid progenitor cells may circulate in the very early period following PBSCT.

Adult↗

PubMed1999

hOGG1 Ser326Cys polymorphism and lung cancer susceptibility.

The human homologue of the yeast OGG1 gene, hOGG1, has been cloned, and its genetic structure has been determined. Several polymorphisms in the hOGG1 gene were detected in the Japanese populations, and among them, the Ser-Cys polymorphism at codon 326 has been shown to have a functional difference in complementation of mutant Escherichia coli that is defective in the repair of 8-hydroxyguanine. Activity in the repair of 8-hydroxyguanine is greater in hOGG1-Ser326 protein than in hOGG1(326) protein. Because many environmental carcinogens produce 8-hydroxyguanine residue and mismatching to this modified base potentially causes oncogenic mutations, the capacity to repair these lesions can be involved in cancer susceptibility in human beings. We, therefore, examined allele distributions of the Ser326Cys polymorphism in a case-control study of male lung cancer in Okinawa. The analyses based on 241 cases and 197 hospital controls disclosed the following findings. (a) Those with the Cys/Cys genotype were at an increased risk of squamous cell carcinoma and nonadenocarcinoma compared to those with the Ser/Cys and those with the Ser/Ser genotypes combined. The odds ratios adjusted for age and smoking history were 3.01 (95% confidence interval, 1.33-6.83) and 2.18 (95% confidence interval, 1.05-4.54), respectively. (b) The odds ratios for other histological subtypes of lung cancer or those in total were not significant. Those for Cys/Cys or Ser/Cys genotype against Ser/Ser did not reach statistical significance in any cell type. (c) The distributions of this polymorphism varied for different populations (Chinese, Japanese, Micronesians, Melanesians, Hungarians, and Australian Caucasians), with much less prevalence of Cys allele in the latter three populations. Although our sample size was limited, these results indicate that the Ser326Cys variant may be related to squamous cell lung cancer susceptibility. The Cys/Cys genotype appears to be more susceptible to squamous cell carcinoma, although the risk is less than that previously reported to be associated with the CYP1A1 gene. Further studies are needed to assess the importance of the interpopulation variation to cancer susceptibility.

Adult↗