title: Helicobacter pylori in North and South America before Columbus.
abstract: We present a molecular epidemiologic study, based on an analysis of vacA, cagA and cag right end junction genotypes from 1042 Helicobacter pylori isolates, suggesting that H. pylori was present in the New World before Columbus. Eight Native Colombian and Alaskan strains possessed novel vacA and/or cagA gene structures and were more closely related to East Asian than to non-Asian H. pylori. Some Native Alaskan strains appear to have originated in Central Asia and to have arrived after strains found in South America suggesting that H. pylori crossed the Bering Strait from Asia to the New World at different times.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Veterans Affairs Medical Center and Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA. yyamaoka@bcm.tmc.edu
authors.forename: Yoshio
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yamaoka
authors.forename: Etsuro
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Orito
authors.forename: Masashi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mizokami
authors.forename: Oscar
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Gutierrez
authors.forename: Naruya
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Saitou
authors.forename: Tadashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kodama
authors.forename: Michael S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Osato
authors.forename: Jong G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Francisco C
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Ramirez
authors.forename: Varocha
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Mahachai
authors.forename: David Y
authors.initials: DY
authors.lastname: Graham
mesh_terms: D000569:Americas / Q000453:epidemiology; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D001208:Asia / Q000453:epidemiology; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D016481:Helicobacter Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016480:Helicobacter pylori / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006801:Humans; D007198:Indians, North American; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny
chemical_list: D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; C074689:VacA protein, Helicobacter pylori; C080866:cagA protein, Helicobacter pylori