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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2002

Genome-wide multipoint linkage analyses of multiplex schizophrenia pedigrees from the oceanic nation of Palau.

The oceanic nation of Palau has been geographically and culturally isolated over most of its 2000 year history. As part of a study of the genetic basis of schizophrenia in Palau, we genotyped five large, multigenerational schizophrenia pedigrees using markers every 10 cM (CHLC/Weber screening set 6). The number of affected/unaffected individuals genotyped per family ranged from 11/21 to 5/5. Thus the pedigrees varied in their information for linkage, but each was capable of producing a substantial LOD score. We fitted a simple dominant and recessive model to these data using multipoint linkage analysis implemented by Simwalk2. Predictably, the most informative pedigrees produced the best linkage results. After genotyping additional markers in the region, one pedigree produced a LOD = 3.4 (5q distal) under the dominant model. Seven of nine schizophrenics in the pedigree, mostly 3rd-4th degree relatives, share a 15-cM, 7-marker haplotype. For a different pedigree, another promising signal occurred on distal 3q, LOD = 2.6, for the recessive model. For two other pedigrees, the best LODs were modest, slightly better than 2.0 on 5q and 9p, while the fifth pedigree produced no noteworthy linkage signal. Similar to the results for other populations, our results suggest there are multiple genes conferring liability to schizophrenia even in the small population of Palau (roughly 21,000 individuals) in remote Oceania.

Genome, Human↗
PubMed2002

In-country and community-based postgraduate family practice training for Micronesian physicians--the Palau AHEC: a collaborative effort.

The U.S. Institute of Medicine in its 1998 review of the health care systems among the U.S.-Associated Pacific Islands (USAPI) identified promotion of primary health care (PHC) and training of the regional health workforce including postgraduate training for physicians as priorities. With the support of the health leadership of the USAPI and the Republic of Palau, the John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM) of the University of Hawaii captured U.S. federal Area Health Education Center (AHEC) funds to implement a postgraduate program to train Family Practitioners - physician specialists in primary care for the region. The Palau AHEC has evolved into ajoint activity of JABSOM, the University of Auckland Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (UAFMHS), the School of Public Health & Primary Care--Fiji School of Medicine, and Palau Community College to provide Diploma-level training in Family Practice and Community Health for Micronesian physicians.

Area Health Education Centers↗
PubMed1999

Genetic epidemiological study of schizophrenia in Palau, Micronesia: prevalence and familiality.

We are studying the genetic etiology of schizophrenia in the Republic of Palau, a remote island nation in Micronesia that has been geographically and ethnically isolated for approximately 2,000 years. The first epidemiological phase sought to estimate the lifetime prevalence of schizophrenia and evaluate the familiality of the illness based on complete ascertainment of cases and families segregating schizophrenia. A total of 160 strictly defined cases of schizophrenia were ascertained in a population of 13,750 adults who were 15 years of age and older. The lifetime prevalence of strictly defined schizophrenia in Palau was 1.99% overall and 2.77% in males vs. 1.24% in females. This greater than 2:1 male-to-female risk ratio for schizophrenia was accompanied by an earlier mean age of onset for males (23.3 years) than for females (27.5 years). These 160 cases of strict schizophrenia represent 59 separate families each identified by a single common founder. Eleven of these families have 5 to 14 cases and represent nearly half of the strict schizophrenia cases in Palau. Although schizophrenia is clearly aggregating in these 11 families, cases are distributed sparsely throughout the large sibships. In the entire sample of 160 cases of strict schizophrenia, there were only 11 sib-pairs and 2 sib-trios. When a family was defined to include third-degree relatives, only 11 cases (6.9%) were nonfamilial. The majority of the ascertained cases can be linked together into extended pedigrees with complex multilineal inheritance patterns. These intricately interconnected families may pose challenges for traditional linkage techniques. However, these Palauan families represent a valuable resource for studying the genetic etiology of schizophrenia because there may be fewer susceptibility genes for schizophrenia in this genetic isolate than in the heterogeneous populations that are common throughout the world today.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2002

Spatial working memory deficits in schizophrenia patients and their first degree relatives from Palau, Micronesia.

Spatial working memory deficits associated with dorsolateral prefrontal dysfunction have been found in Caucasian samples of schizophrenia patients and their first-degree relatives. This study evaluated spatial working memory function in affected and unaffected members of multiplex schizophrenia families from the Republic of Palau to determine whether the spatial working memory deficits associated with schizophrenia extend to this non-Caucasian population. Palau is an isolated island nation in Micronesia with an elevated prevalence of schizophrenia and an aggregation of cases in large multigenerational families. Our objective was to evaluate the potential for spatial working memory function to serve as one of multiple endophenotypes in a genetic linkage study of these Palauan schizophrenia families. A spatial delayed response task requiring resistance to distraction and a sensorimotor control task were used to assess spatial working memory in 32 schizophrenia patients, 28 of their healthy first-degree relatives, and 19 normal control subjects. Schizophrenia patients and their relatives were significantly less accurate than normal control subjects on the spatial delayed response task but not on the sensorimotor control task. On both tasks, patients and relatives were slower to respond than the normal controls. There were no age or gender effects on accuracy, and working memory performance in schizophrenia patients was not significantly correlated with medication dosage. In summary, spatial working memory deficits that have been found in Caucasian schizophrenia patients and relatives were confirmed in this isolated Pacific Island family sample. These results suggest that spatial working memory deficits may be a potentially useful addition to the endophenotypic characterization of family members to be used in a comprehensive genome wide linkage analysis of these Palauan families.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Genome-wide distribution of linkage disequilibrium in the population of Palau and its implications for gene flow in Remote Oceania.

Linkage disequilibrium (LD) between alleles on the same human chromosome results from various evolutionary processes and is thus telling about the history of populations. Recently, LD has garnered substantial interest for its value to map and fine-map disease genes. We examine the distribution of LD between short tandem repeat alleles on autosomes and sex chromosomes in the Remote Oceanic population of Palau to evaluate whether the data are consistent with a recent hypothesis about the origins of genetic variation in Palau, specifically that the population experienced extensive male-biased gene flow following initial settlement. Consistent with evolutionary theory based on effective population size, LD between X-linked alleles is stochastically greater than LD between autosomal alleles, however, small but detectable LD occurs for autosomal markers separated by substantial distances. By contrast, while Y-linked alleles experience only one-third the effective population size of X-linked alleles, their mean value for pairwise LD is only slightly larger than X-linked alleles. For a small population known to experience at least two extreme bottlenecks, 56 six-locus Y haplotypes exhibit remarkable diversity (0.96), comparable to Y diversity of Europeans, however, autosomal and X-linked markers display significantly less diversity, as measured by heterozygosity (4.1% less). Palauan Y haplotypes also fall into distinct clusters, again unlike that of Europe. We argue these data are consistent with waves of male-biased gene flow.

Alleles↗
PubMed2002

The Pacific Center for Emergency Health: an anatomy of collaborative development and change--the Palau perspective.

Many Pacific Islands Countries (PICs) by their geographic location, isolation, and lack of resources, are at risk for both environmental and man-made disasters. Disaster management (DM) and mitigation is frustrated by the general underdevelopment of DM planning and lack of adequate emergency medical services (EMS) to deal with daily emergencies let alone large-scale emergencies and disasters. To address this, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) developed and implemented the Pacific Emergency Health Initiative (PEHI) to review and make recommendations regarding the current level of DM/EMS development of select PICs. As a practical next step, a collaborative demonstration project--the CDC--Palau Community College Center for Emergency Health--was established in the Republic of Palau with the purpose of providing training and technical assistance in DM/EMS development for the region. In September 2001 the Center conducted two simultaneous training programs addressing Public Health Disaster Planning (one-week) and pre-hospital First Responder Care (two-weeks). Sixty participants included public health planners, physicians, and fire and police officials from eleven PIC jurisdictions and representatives from the Secretariat of the Pacific Community, South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission, and the Fiji School of Medicine. Eleven country and state public health disaster plans were initiated. Through CDC's PEHI additional Center training programs are planned through FY 2003.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S.↗
PubMed2002

New apratoxins of marine cyanobacterial origin from Guam and Palau.

Two collections of the marine cyanobacterium Lyngbya sp. from Guam and Palau that both afforded the potent cytotoxin apratoxin A (1) each yielded different structural analogues with lower degrees of methylation. The new apratoxins, termed apratoxins B (2) and C (3), were evaluated for their in vitro cytotoxicity along with semisynthetic E-dehydroapratoxin A (4) to identify key structural elements responsible for the cytotoxicity and to initiate SAR studies on this novel family of depsipeptides. All analogues 2-4 displayed weaker cytotoxicity than 1, but to different extents. While compound 3 closely approached the cytotoxicity of 1, compounds 2 and 4 exhibited significantly reduced activity, possibly also related to a conformational change. The 16S rRNA genes of the different apratoxin producers have partially been sequenced and compared, and other genetic differences are currently being revealed.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1993

Otitis media in the Republic of Palau. A case-series study.

Race is a known epidemiologic determinant for the development of otitis media. This study assessed the severity of otitis media in a subpopulation (N = 73; mean age, 13.2 years) receiving care from the ear clinic in the Republic of Palau, a US Trust Territory, through a questionnaire and an otologic examination. The mean age of patients with otorrhea (2.5 years) was found to be significantly different from the mean age at which they began to swim (4 years). Otitis media-related sequelae were found to involve more than half of ears or subjects examined. No statistical difference was noted when various patient characteristics were compared with the severity of disease. Our clinical impression is that this subpopulation is severely affected by otitis media and its sequelae. Prospective studies are required to identify risk factors present in the population at large.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

A new macrocyclic trichothecene, 12,13-deoxyroridin E, produced by the marine-derived fungus Myrothecium roridum collected in Palau.

A new macrocyclic trichothecene, 12,13-deoxyroridin E (1), and three known compounds, roridin E (2), verrucarin A (3), and verrucarin J (4), were obtained as cytotoxic components from the marine-derived fungus Myrothecium roridum, isolated in Palau. 12,13-Deoxyroridin E is the second example of a macrocyclic trichothecene possessing a double bond at C-12-C-13 and was about 80-fold less cytotoxic than roridin E, the epoxide variant.

Animals↗
PubMed2001

Enantioselective strategy to the spirocyclic core of Palau'amine and related bisguanidine marine alkaloids.

[structure: see text] An enantioselective strategy to the spirocyclic core found in the oroidin-derived family of bisguanidine marine alkaloids has been devised, premised on a biosynthetic proposal. Herein, we describe the successful implementation of this strategy, which entails a Diels-Alder reaction and a chlorination/ring contraction sequence that delivers the fully functionalized spirocyclic core. In this initial report, an intermolecular chlorination delivers a cyclopentane that is epimeric at C17 relative to the palau'amines and epimeric at C11 relative to the axinellamines.

Alkaloids↗
PubMed1998

Evidence for a chromosome 2p13-14 schizophrenia susceptibility locus in families from Palau, Micronesia.

A large multiplex schizophrenia pedigree ascertained from the Micronesian nation of Palau was genotyped with 406 microsatellite DNA markers evenly distributed throughout the genome. Assuming autosomal dominant inheritance, the highest genome-wide lod scores were found for DNA loci mapping to 2p13-14; the maximum lod score was 2.17 (theta = 0.05) at D2S441. A nonparametric APM analysis was also suggestive at D2S441 (APM score = 2.96, P = 0.011). Of the 14 affected cases in this extended family, eight share a large haplotype in this region spanning approximately 11 cM. When 16 other families containing 65 schizophrenic cases were typed in a follow-up study of this region, the maximum lod score remained positive (maximum at D2S441 1.69, theta = 0.20). APM results also remained positive at D2S441 for all 17 families (APM score = 4.87, P = 0.0006). The linkage and haplotype sharing results provide suggestive evidence for a 2p locus predisposing to schizophrenia in a subset of families in the Palauan population.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

The very old of Palau: health and mental state.

In this epidemiological study of physical and mental health of very old Palauans, all residents of Palau over 90 years of age were interviewed in their places of residence. All 31 subjects lived with relatives or a spouse in widely scattered small villages on three main islands, but the majority were in Koror, the largest population centre. The proportion of the total population over 90 years of age was approximately that in the US: 0.2% versus 0.3%. However, there was a large number of centenarians, 1/2000. The prevalence of dementia as determined by clinical assessment was high: 25% mild and 42% moderate or severe. This prevalence was lower (44%) as determined by the Global Deterioration Scale. Physical illness and functional mental illness were infrequent low but most subjects had at least one chronic illness, the most common being arthritis. Most chewed betel nut. Few used alcohol or smoked. An adaptation of the Wechsler logical memory test and the Global Deterioration Scale appeared to be useful in assessing cognitive function in this non-Western culture.

Aged↗
PubMed1988

A population-genetic study of crab-eating macaques (Macaca fascicularis) on the island of Angaur, Palau, Micronesia.

Blood protein polymorphisms of an introduced population of the crab-eating macaques on Angaur Island, Palau, Micronesia, were examined electrophoretically to assess genetic variability. Results showed a high degree of genetic heterozygosity and some distinctive features in the genetic constitution of this island population. Negative evidence is presented regarding ancestry from a single pair of macaques. Their origin is discussed in relation to the genetic structure of the present population.

Alleles↗
PubMed1983

Schizophrenia in Palau: a descriptive study.

The authors systematically studies 35 Palauan schizophrenic patients. Although these Western Pacific people demonstrated many of the usual features of schizophrenia, the sample showed an unusual 4:1 male predominance, a proclivity toward violence and substantial affective symptomatology. Male patients extensively abused alcohol and cannabis. The authors postulate that toxic, social change and cultural factors interact in Palau to place men at increased risk for schizophrenia.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Pilot workshops at the Palau Center for Emergency Health: a model for international collaborative operations training and planning.

The Emergency Public Health Planning Workshop demonstrated that national with different backgrounds, capabilities, knowledge bases, and concepts of operations can work together to develop complementary emergency public health plans. Results of the First Responder Emergency Medical Workshop demonstrated that, despite having similarly inconsistent backgrounds, emergency responders can develop complementary response protocols. Lectures presented in both workshops are now available in the public domain. They can be used to improve regional public health emergency capabilities whether the region considered is local, state, or international.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S.↗