Cambodian Population Research Articles

Comparative analysis of genetic diversity of sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) from Vietnam and Cambodia using agro-morphological and molecular markers

The purpose of this study was to comparatively analyze the genetic diversity of sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) using agro-morphological and molecular markers. Twelve sesame populations collected from three regions in Cambodia and Vietnam were used in this study. A high genetic variation was revealed both by agro-morphological and RAPD markers within and among the 12 sesame populations. The range of agro-morphological trait based average taxonomic distance among populations (0.02 to 0.47) was wider than that of RAPD based genetic distance (0.06 to 0.27). The mean distance revealed by agro-morphological markers (0.23) and RAPD markers (0.22) was similar. RAPD based analysis revealed a relatively higher genetic diversity in populations from South Vietnam as compared to the other two regions. Interestingly, populations from this region also had higher values for yield related traits such as number of capsules per plant, number of seeds per capsule, and seed yield per plant suggesting positive correlation between the extent of genetic variation within population and yield related traits in sesame. A highly significant positive correlation (r = 0.88, P < 0.001) was found between agro-morphological and RAPD markers in estimating the genetic distance between populations. Both methods suggested the existence of a substantial amount of genetic diversity both in the Vietnamese and Cambodian populations. Although both agro-morphological and RAPD markers were found to be useful in genetic diversity analysis in sesame, their combined use would give superior results.

After the First Trial: A Population-Based Survey on Knowledge and Perceptions of Justice and the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia

On July 26, 2010, Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch, was convicted of crimes against humanity and grave breaches of the 1949 Geneva Conventions for events that took place three decades earlier under the Khmer Rouge regime. Following this important milestone for the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), the present study was implemented to (1) monitor public awareness and knowledge of the ECCC’s work, as well as of outreach and victim participation initiatives organized by the tribunal and local non-governmental organizations; (2) assess attitudes about justice and the desire for reparations for past crimes; and 3) recommend ways in which the ECCC, civil society, and the international community can continue to engage Cambodians in the work of the ECCC. This report presents the results of a survey of 1,000 Cambodians, aged 18 or above, randomly selected throughout the country to be representative of the adult population. The interviews were conducted anonymously and confidentially in December 2010 by a team of trained interviewers using a structured questionnaire. This is the second population-based survey conducted in Cambodia by the Initiative for Vulnerable Populations at UC Berkeley’s School of Law Human Rights Center. It is hoped that the findings will contribute to establishing a dialogue between the ECCC, the government, the Cambodian population, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the international actors on the role and impact of the ECCC, expectations of the population, and beyond the Court, what must be done to deal with the violent past.

Population Pharmacokinetic-Pharmacogenetic Study of Nevirapine in HIV-Infected Cambodian Patients

The aims of this ANRS12154 open-label, single-center, multiple-dose pharmacokinetic study were to characterize nevirapine pharmacokinetics in a Cambodian population of HIV-infected patients and to identify environmental and genetic factors of variability, focusing on the CYP2B6, CYP3A5, and ABCB1 (MDR1) genes. A total of 170 Cambodian HIV-infected patients were included. Nevirapine trough concentrations were measured after 18 and 36 months of starting antiretroviral treatment and in samples drawn during a dosing interval in a subset of 10 patients. All data were analyzed by nonlinear mixed-effects modeling. The effect of covariates was investigated using the population pharmacokinetic model. Patients carrying homozygous loss-of-function alleles CYP3A5 6986A>G, CYP2B6 516G>T, CYP2B6 1459C>T, and ABCB1 3435C>T represent 42.4%, 9.2%, 0%, and 18% of the population, respectively. The median nevirapine trough concentrations did not differ after 18 and 36 months of treatment (5,705 ng/ml [range, ≤50 to 13,871] and 5,709 ng/ml [range, ≤50 to 15,422], respectively). Interpatient and intrapatient variabilities of nevirapine apparent clearance were 28% and 17%, respectively. CYP2B6 516G>T and creatinine clearance were found to significantly affect nevirapine apparent clearance. The estimated nevirapine apparent clearances were 2.95 liters/h, 2.62 liters/h, and 1.86 liters/h for CYP2B6 516GG, CYP2B6 516GT, and CYP2B6 516TT genotypes, respectively. The impact of creatinine clearance was small. This study demonstrates that 95% of the patients had sustained nevirapine exposure well above the 3,000-ng/ml threshold. Nevirapine clearance was shown to be affected by CYP2B6 516G>T genetic polymorphism and creatinine clearance, although this explained only part of the interpatient variability, which remains low compared to that for other antiretroviral drugs.

Exploring the relationship between acculturation and smoking behavior within four Southeast Asian communities of Minnesota

This study sought to measure the prevalence of smoking among the Hmong, Vietnamese, Lao, and Cambodian communities of Minnesota and explore the relationship between smoking and acculturation within these communities. A community-based participatory research framework was used through all phases of this study. Standard as well as community-developed measures of acculturation were used. Data were obtained by face-to-face and telephone interviews with 1,628 respondents from July 2006 to March 2007. Vietnamese and Cambodian men smoke at higher rates than men in the U.S. general population (35% and 58% compared with 20%, respectively). Most men across the Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Lao populations started smoking prior to immigration to the United States, although most former smokers quit smoking after immigration to the United States. Most male Hmong respondents started smoking after immigration. Education was predictive of smoking status across genders, with less education associated with greater odds of being a smoker. Logistic regression found some acculturation measures to be predictive of smoking status across both genders: Less acculturated male respondents and more acculturated female respondents are more likely to be smokers. Results of this study suggest that the role of acculturation in tobacco use may not be straightforward as has been presented previously. Other factors, such as social norms and cultural or linguistic isolation, may also be playing a role in tobacco use patterns and may play different roles for different subgroups. Further research is needed within each population and subgroups within those populations to understand these relationships and how they affect smoking behavior.

Seasonal variations in frontoethmoidal meningoencephalocele births in Cambodia

Frontoethmoidal meningoencephalocele (fMEC) is relatively common in many Southeast Asian countries, with devastating aesthetic and social consequences for affected children. No cause has been detected to date. Among other factors, the authors of this paper attempt to identify a statistically significant difference in the spread of fMEC births throughout the year compared with other births. This seasonal variation in the incidence of fMEC births may provide clues to the causes of this condition. From a group of 175 children with fMEC who underwent surgery at the authors' humanitarian institution (Children's Surgical Centre) in Phnom Penh between 2004 and 2008, 86 children were studied. These children were born at full term and had an accurately recorded date of birth. The birth dates of this fMEC group were compared with a group of > 15,000 other live births at one of the main maternity units in Phnom Penh in 2005 and 2006. Seasonal variation in incidence of fMEC by month of birth was highly statistically significant (p < 0.001), with the peak of births occurring in the dry season (between March and May). This is in contrast to the control group, in which there was an equal distribution of births throughout the year. More than 85% of the parents of children with fMEC who the authors treated were farmers, but this figure reflects the composition of the Cambodian population. Uneven spread in the incidence of fMEC births throughout the year suggests that a seasonal factor during the wet season may be suspected in the pathogenesis of fMEC in Cambodia.

Influenza activity in Cambodia during 2006-2008

BackgroundThere is little information about influenza disease among the Cambodian population. To better understand the dynamics of influenza in Cambodia, the Cambodian National Influenza Center (NIC) was established in August 2006. To continuously monitor influenza activity, a hospital based sentinel surveillance system for ILI (influenza like illness) with a weekly reporting and sampling scheme was established in five sites in 2006. In addition, hospital based surveillance of acute lower respiratory infection (ALRI) cases was established in 2 sites.MethodsThe sentinel sites collect weekly epidemiological data on ILI patients fulfilling the case definition, and take naso-pharyngeal specimens from a defined number of cases per week. The samples are tested in the Virology Unit at the Institut Pasteur in Phnom Penh. From each sample viral RNA was extracted and amplified by a multiplex RT-PCR detecting simultaneously influenza A and influenza B virus. Influenza A viruses were then subtyped and analyzed by hemagglutination inhibition assay. Samples collected by the ALRI system were tested with the same approach.ResultsFrom 2006 to 2008, influenza circulation was observed mainly from June to December, with a clear seasonal peak in October shown in the data from 2008.ConclusionInfluenza activity in Cambodia occurred during the rainy season, from June to December, and ended before the cool season (extending usually from December to February). Although Cambodia is a tropical country geographically located in the northern hemisphere, influenza activity has a southern hemisphere transmission pattern. Together with the antigenic analysis of the circulating strains, it is now possible to give better influenza vaccination recommendation for Cambodia.

A new subspecies of Batagur affinis (Cantor, 1847), one of the world’s most critically endangered chelonians (Testudines: Geoemydidae)

Estuarine Batagur are among the most critically endangered chelonian species. We assess the taxonomic status of the recently discovered Cambodian relic population of Batagur by phylogenetic analyses of three mitochondrial (2096 bp) and three nuclear DNA fragments (1909 bp) using sequences from all other Batagur species and selected allied geoemydids. Furthermore, we calculated haplotype networks of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene for Cambodian terrapins, B. affinis, B. baska, and B. kachuga and compare external morphology of estuarine Batagur populations. Genetically, Cambodian Batagur are closely related with, but distinct from B. affinis from Sumatra and the west coast of the Malay Peninsula. Morphologically, Cambodian Batagur resemble the distinctive B. affinis populations from the eastern Malay Peninsula that were not available for genetic study. We suggest that the Batagur populations from the eastern Malay Peninsula and Cambodia represent a new subspecies of B. affinis that once was distributed in estuaries surrounding the Gulf of Thailand (Batagur affinis edwardmolli subsp. nov.). Its patchy extant distribution is most probably the result of large-scale habitat alteration and century-long overexploitation. In addition, our phylogenetic analyses suggest repeated switches between riverine and estuarine habitats during the evolution of the extant Batagur species.

Shattering Silence: Traumatic Memory and Reenactment in Rithy Panh's &lt;i&gt;S-21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine&lt;/i&gt;

. . . official silence . . . prevents public witnessing. It forges a secret history, an act of political resistance through keeping alive the memory of things denied. The totalitarian state rules by collective forgetting, by denying the collective experience of suffering, and thus creates a culture of terror. Arthur and Joan Kleinman1 This essay addresses the uses of documentary film in exploring a notorious Asian genocide2 and challenging the official silence that followed in its wake. During the Pol Pot regime (1975-79) nearly two million people, roughly a quarter of the Cambodian population, were systematically destroyed by means of starvation, overwork, torture, and execution. Filmmaker Rithy Panh, who is considered by many to be the cinematic voice of Cambodia,3 is himself a survivor of the Khmer Rouge's killing fields. Arguably his best known and most affecting documentary is S-21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine/S-21, la machine de mort Khmere rouge (FR/KH, 2003), in which he recuperates memory to represent speechless horror and thereby shatter silence. With its unsettling reenactments, S-21 allows us to observe how memory and time may collapse to render the past as present and by doing so reveal the ordinary face of evil. During the Pol Pot regime, Rithy Panh's family was deported from Phnom Penh to a rural village, where, one by one, all but Rithy died of starvation, physical and psychological exhaustion, or disease. He was placed in a forced labor camp at eleven and escaped at age fourteen, eventually finding his way to a refugee camp in Thailand and then ultimately to France where he studied at IDHEC (l'Institut des Hautes Etudes Cinematographiques), graduating in 1985. He has since produced over fifteen award-winning dramatic narratives and documentaries, many inspired by the Cambodian genocide and its aftermath. His works include Site 2 (DE/FR, 1989), a documentary about a family of Cambodian refugees in a camp on the Thai-Cambodian border in the 1980s; Neak Sre/The People of the Rice Field, Les gens de la riziere(CH/DE/FR/ KH, 1994), a lyrical narrative about a rural family struggling with life in post- Khmer Rouge Cambodia, which introduced Panh to international audiences at the Cannes Film Festival; Bophana: A Cambodian Tragedy/Bophana, une tragedie cambodgienne (FR/KH, 1996), a documentary about a young woman and a former Buddhist monk turned Khmer Rouge cadre; and The Burnt Theater/ Les Artistes du Theatre Brule (FR/KH, 2005), a dramatic narrative based on the lives of actors and dancers trying to maintain their art in the burned-out shell of Cambodia's national theater. In 2006, Panh helped found Bophana, an audiovisual resource center in Phnom Penh dedicated to collecting and preserving Cambodia's audiovisual heritage and training a new generation of filmmakers. Panh's most recent works include Paper Cannot Wrap Up Embers/ Le papier ne peut pas envelopper la braise (FR, 2007), a documentary about the lives of Cambodian sex workers, and The Sea Wall/Un barrage contre le pacifique (BE/FR/KH, 2008), a fiction film starring Isabelle Huppert, based on a novel by Marguerite Duras. It was inevitable that S-21 would become the subject of one of Panh's films. S-21 was the code name for Tuol Sleng, a high school in Phnom Penh that was used as the prison where an estimated 17,000 Cambodians-men, women, and children-were interrogated, tortured, and executed. Only seven people survived: three were alive when Panh began the film, and two agreed to participate.4 Vann Nath is one, and he credits his survival to the fact that his paintings5 of Pol Pot and other high-ranking cadres were favored by the prison staff. Nath functions as the film's conscience and the filmmaker's alter ego, calmly holding up a mirror to each of his ex-captor's acts of inhumanity. . . . He seems the only man in full possession of his path, as one writer noted.6 The other survivor in the film is Chum Mey, an engineer, who plays a smaller role in this modern interrogation of the interrogators. …

Resolving a zoological mystery: the kouprey is a real species

The kouprey is a rare and enigmatic forest ox discovered by scientists in Cambodia only in 1937. Numerous morphological hypotheses have been proposed for the origin of the kouprey: that it is a species closely related to banteng and gaur, two other wild oxen of southeast Asia; a morphologically divergent species placed in a separate genus, named Novibos; a wild species linked to aurochs and domestic cattle; a vicariant population of banteng; a feral cattle; or a hybrid of banteng with either zebu cattle, gaur or water buffalo. In a recent paper, which gained a lot of media coverage, Galbreath et al. analysed mitochondrial DNA sequences and concluded that the kouprey never existed as a wild, natural species, and that it was a feral hybrid between banteng and zebu cattle. Here we analyse eight DNA markers-three mitochondrial regions and five nuclear fragments-representing an alignment of 4582 nucleotides for the holotype of the kouprey and all related species. Our results demonstrate that the kouprey is a real and naturally occurring species, and show that Cambodian populations of banteng acquired a mitochondrial genome of kouprey by natural introgressive hybridization during the Pleistocene epoch.

Cambodian cancer incidence rates in California and Washington, 1998–2002

Among the many diverse Asian ethnic groups living in the US, Cambodian immigrants comprise a small fraction (1.8%) of the total Asian population. Because of their small numbers, Cambodian vital statistics are often combined into Southeast Asian (SA) cancer data consisting of Vietnamese, Thais, Laotians, and Hmong. The 2000 Census counts were used for 2 Cambodian populations, Cambodians alone and Cambodians alone and in combination with any other racial/ethnic group for California and for Seattle (Puget Sound area), Washington. Then the cancer incidence rates were calculated using cancer cases from the California and Puget Sound cancer registries between 1998-2002. The 1998-2002 annual age-adjusted incidence rates, upper bound rates (based on the Cambodian alone population), lower bound rates (based on the Cambodians alone or in combination population) are reported and compared with the rates in the non-Hispanic White (NHW) population in these regions. The top 5 cancers in Cambodian males are lung and bronchus, liver, prostate, colorectal, and stomach cancers. The sites where the rates are higher in male Cambodians than NHW males are (in ascending rank) nasopharynx, liver, stomach, myeloma, and lung and bronchus. The top 5 cancers for female Cambodians are breast, lung, colon and rectum, cervix, and thyroid. The sites where female rates are greater than NHW female rates are (in ascending rank) nasopharynx, liver, stomach, cervix uteri, oral cavity, and thyroid. The challenges to address the health issues of Cambodians are complicated by historical events that caused their emigration to the US. Many of the immigrants are survivors of the holocaust in Cambodia. Health programs for Cambodians must deal with the consequences of these issues as well as cultural issues of language and religion in helping Cambodians to reduce their cancer disparities.

The phoenix population: Demographic crisis and rebound in Cambodia

The study of mortality crises provides an unusual and valuable perspective on the relationship between mortality and fertility changes, a relationship that has puzzled demographers for decades. In this article, we combine nationally representative survey and demographic-surveillance system data to study fertility trends around the time of the Khmer Rouge (KR) regime, under which 25% of the Cambodian population died. We present the first quantitative evidence to date that attests to a one-third decline of fertility during this regime, followed by a substantial "baby boom" after the fall of the KR. Further analyses reveal that the fertility rebound was produced not only by a two-year marriage bubble but also by a surge in marital fertility that remained for nearly a decade above its precrisis level. Our results illustrate the potential influence of mortality on fertility, which may be more difficult to identify for more gradual mortality declines. To the extent that until recently, Cambodian fertility appears to fit natural fertility patterns, our findings also reinforce recent qualifications about the meaning of this core paradigm of demographic analysis.

Screening for Depression and PTSD in a Cambodian Population Unaffected by War

The Hopkins Symptom Checklist depression scale (HSCL-D) and the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire (HTQ) have been used extensively in international studies, particularly among refugees and conflict-affected populations. Like many other screening measures, however, the HSCL-D and HTQ have not been subjected to extensive epidemiologic testing, particularly among communities not affected by war. The present study examined the psychometric properties of the HSCL-D and HTQ by comparing the measures with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID) among ethnic Cambodians living in Surin, Thailand, a community that was spared the long period of mass violence that affected Cambodia proper. The PTSD data of the HTQ were then contrasted with those obtained from a refugee clinic. The main finding was that in the Surin study, the screening measures showed greater agreement with the SCID in identifying noncases (negative prediction) than cases (positive prediction). In contrast, in the earlier clinic study, the HTQ showed high positive and moderately low negative prediction. The results support previous observations that clinical interviews such as the SCID may be more conservative in identifying cases. We raise the possibility, however, that structured interviews may perform differently across clinic and community populations. In particular, clinicians may be more accurate in identifying cases than noncases in highly symptomatic clinic populations, with the converse applying in low prevalence community populations. These issues warrant further investigation to specify more clearly the value of using the two approaches to case identification.

Atypical Hemoglobin H Disease Due to Compound Heterozygosity for -α3.7 and --SEA Deletions and Heterozygosity for the β-Chain Variant Hemoglobin Raleigh (β1 VAL→ALA).

The co-existence of Hemoglobin H (Hb H) disease and heterozygosity for β-chain structural variants is a rare occurrence. Hb H disease has been reported in conjunction with Hb E, Hb C, Hb S, and Hb Hamilton. The combination of Hb H disease with Hb C and Hb S reportedly results in a mild hemolytic anemia without detectable Hb H. We present a new case of atypical Hb H disease that was also heterozygous for the rare β-chain variant Hb Raleigh. The patient is a 27-year-old Cambodian female referred for the evaluation of microcytic anemia unresponsive to iron. She had a lifelong history of generalized fatigue, exertional dyspnea, and weakness in her legs. Physical exam was unremarkable except for pallor of mucuous membranes. There was no hepatosplenomegaly. She had a Hb of 9.7, HCT 30.8, MCV 56, MCH 17.6, MCHC 31.5, ferritin 92. Hb analysis on IEF revealed Hb A, Hb A2, and an abnormal band slightly more anodic to Hb A. No Hb H was observed. On cation exchange HPLC, she had 49.7% Hb A, 48.1% Hb X, and 2.2% Hb A2. Reverse phase HPLC revealed a βx chain eluting immediately before βA. Oxygen affinity was slightly reduced. PCR amplification and sequencing of the β-globin gene revealed heterozygosity for Hb Raleigh (Exon 1, codon 1, GTG→GCG, VAL→ALA). The patient was also found to be a compound heterozygote for -α3.7 and --SEA deletions. This case represents a novel interaction of a structural β-chain variant with Hb H disease. Hb Raleigh has previously been reported in Caucasians and in two Swedish families. It has decreased oxygen affinity. This is the first report of this variant in a Cambodian population. The absence of any detectable Hb H likely results from the inability of variant β-chains to form a viable tetramer with a resultant decrease in βA. The low oxygen affinity did not negatively impact on the degree of anemia. This case, like some others reported previously, shows that the accurate diagnosis of Hb H disease in association with structural β-chain variants can be established by molecular methods, and the detection of Hb H on electrophoretic and chromatographic analyses may not always be reliable.

S‐21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine

S-21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine. (2002). Dir. Rithy Panh, Prod. Cati Couteau. 105 minutes. First Run/Icarus Films, Inc. (32 Court Street, 21st floor, Brooklyn, NY 11201). During the start of the fall 2004 semester, I opened my Comparative Economic Systems course with selections from this documentary film. It worked by provoking student interest in the genocide problem, without the need for bloody images or piles of mangled corpses. It is an attention grabber but in a much different way. The Cambodian carnage of 1975-1978 is staggering and difficult to comprehend. The death estimates cluster around 2 million, at a time when the entire population of Cambodia was less than 8 million. That means that 25 percent of the Cambodian population was murdered by their own ruling government. This is genocide, clear and simple. In 1970, the Vietnam War was extended to Cambodia as a result of a successful coup against Prince Sihanouk by forces friendly to the Khmer Rouge (KR). The American forces subsequently bombed the countryside (it is alleged that 600,000 Cambodians died as a result of these bombings). The military purpose was to keep Cambodians from crossing the border and joining hostile combat against the American forces on location in Vietnam. These aerial bombings became the pretext for an anti-capitalist/anti-USA genocide of vast scope and dimension. After all, went the reasoning, bombing campaigns must surely require local spies on the ground to give away strategic positions, and is the job of the defending national forces to root out these spies in our midst and silence them. One well-known killing center was named S-21. It is a former public school located directly in Phnom Penh itself that now serves as a museum for curious tourists and a memorial honoring the legions of victims that passed through its portals to be interrogated, tortured, and subsequently shipped to a field for summary execution. In 1975, the victorious Khmer Rouge marched into the capital of Cambodia and ordered the residents out of the city. The KR closed this school and all other schools. All textbooks were burned, the local currency was abolished, all religions were banned, and the KR proceeded to set up centrally planned labor camps. Rooting out capitalist institutions requires the joint remedies of terror and execution, which Stalin pioneered during the 1930s. Cambodia would be no exception. In this documentary film, the story of S-21 is told largely through the eyes of several S-21 survivors. include at least one former prisoner (Heng Nath) and several prison guards, who were asked to come to Phnom Penh for a poignant reunion and a tearful reliving of what happened nearly a quarter-century ago. The film opens with closeups of a typical Cambodian wooden house and its inhabitants carrying on the normal daily routines of family living. A tiny newborn is being cared for, and life in rural southeast Asia looks exactly as the textbooks describe. We quickly learn that one of the family members has a terrible past--he served as a prison guard at S-21! This film is about confronting this man and several of his colleagues who survived the period and are here today (2002) to both recall that past and discuss openly on camera. One former guard confesses that he is sick all day long this and every day of his life. Furthermore, he didn't want to do it but, after all, he had no alternative. The slightest expression of remorse or moral concern would have meant his immediate death. His mother summarizes what happened to her son most succinctly: They turned my son into a thug that killed people. Curiously, her son never pulled a trigger, since his job description did not include the actual executions themselves. He was stationed at S-21, which limited its activities to beatings and torture as part of the interrogation procedure, not executions. His story is that of a tiny cog in a killing machine. …

Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) mutations in Cambodia: G6PD Viangchan (871G&gt;A) is the most common variant in the Cambodian population

We conducted a survey of malaria diagnoses and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) testing in remote areas of Cambodia. Blood specimens from 670 people were collected by the finger-prick method. Of these people, 24.9% were found to have malaria, and 7.0% of people were G6PD deficient. In the Khmer, the largest ethnical population in Cambodia, the G6PD deficiency rate of males was 12.6% (25/199) whereas the rates in the minorities of the Tum Pun and the Cha Ray were 1.1% (1/93) and 3.2% (2/63), respectively. Of the G6PD-deficient subjects, 97.9% (46/47) were G6PD Viangchan (871G>A), and only one case (2.1%) was G6PD Union (1360C>T). Since G6PD Mahidol (487G>A) is common in Myanmar according to our previous study, the current finding suggests that the Cambodian population is derived from homogeneous ancestries and is different from the Myanmar population. All G6PD Viangchan cases were linked to two other mutations of 1311C>T and IVS-11 nt93T>C in the G6PD gene.

G6PD Viangchan (871G&gt;A) is the most common G6PD-deficient variant in the Cambodian population

Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency is the most common hereditary enzymopathy among Southeast Asians. We studied G6PD mutations in 108 migrant Cambodian laborers in Chanthaburi province and cord blood samples from 107 Cambodian newborns at Buriram Hospital. Thirty-one (26.1%) of 119 Cambodian males and three of 96 (3.1%) females were G6PD deficient and were assayed for G6PD mutations. G6PD Viangchan (871G>A) was identified in most G6PD-deficient Cambodians (28 of 34; 82.4%); G6PD Union (1360C>T) and G6PD Coimbra (592C>T) was found in one case each. We concluded that G6PD Viangchan (871G>A) was the most common mutation among Cambodians. This finding is similar to G6PD-deficient Thais and Laotians, suggesting a common ancestry of people from these three countries.

Betel quid-associated oral lesions and oral Candida species in a female Cambodian cohort.

Betel quid chewing (BQC) is still prevalent among elderly Cambodian women and is associated with a wide variety of oral mucosal lesions. BQC has also been associated with a reduced rate of dental caries and changes in the oral microbiological flora. Since no studies were available on the impact of BQC on the oral carriage of Candida species, in this study oral swabs (Fungiquick, Hain Diagnostika, Germany) were taken from the tongue and palate of 48 Cambodian women with BQC habit (study group) and 13 control subjects without BQC habit (control group) to determine the spectrum of Candida species in these two groups. In addition, we investigated lesions of the oral mucosa likely to be associated with BQC habit in both study and control groups. The median duration of BQC was 10 years (range 10 months-30 years). The following oral lesions were found in the study group: betel chewer's mucosa (85.4%), oral leukoplakia (8.3%), leukoedema (37.5%) and oral lichen planus (4.2%). Oral candidiasis was seen neither in BQ-chewers nor in controls. Candida spp. were found in 70.8% of the cases (controls 69.2%). Whilst C. albicans was isolated from 27.1% of the study cohort, C. tropicalis was the second most common isolate. One control case was colonised by C. dubliniensis--the first report of this organism from a Cambodian population. There was no significant difference in the candidal carriage rate or the Candida species isolated between the study and the control group. Mycological findings from the present study do not indicate that BQC has a significant effect on oral colonisation by Candida species.

Betel chewer's mucosa in elderly Cambodian women.

A total of 102 rural Cambodian women with a mean age of 60 +/- 8.5 years (range 39 to 80 years) who chewed betel quid were examined for oral mucosal lesions, in particular betel chewer's mucosa. The average duration of betel quid chewing was 15.5 +/- 12.8 years. The average number of daily betel quids was 5.4 +/- 2.9. Forty women (39.2%) used betel quids overnight. Thirty-eight (37.3%) did not show any oral mucosal lesion. Sixty-two (60.8%) showed betel chewer's mucosa. Homogeneous leukoplakia was found in three women (2.9%). Out of 130 sites affected by chewer's mucosa, the buccal mucosa was the most frequently involed (n = 68). In thirty-two subjects (31.4%) more than one location was affected. The presence of a lesion was significantly associated with the duration of the habit (P < 0.01) and the number of betel quids per day (P < 0.001). Betel chewing seems to be prevalent in elderly Cambodian women, while younger people do not seem to have taken up this habit. The risk for oral cancer in the Cambodian population is presently unknown.

Prevalence study of oral mucosal lesions in a selected Cambodian population

The aim of this study was to investigate the epidemiology of oral mucosal lesions in a selected Cambodian population to obtain pilot data useful in planning an oral health data base for the country. Due to unstable conditions in Cambodia, the validity of population data related to present census information is highly questionable. Therefore, prior to this investigation a census registration was carried out using local health workers as registrars in nine villages of a commune. In the period July 4-31, 1991, a total of 1319 individuals (953 women, 366 men, 15-99 yr) were examined by one oral surgeon in the nine villages of Kok Trop Commune, Kandal Stung District, southwest of the capital Phnom Penh. Clinical diagnoses were based on WHO criteria. Information on smoking habits, betel nut chewing habits, and alcohol use was collected by 4 Khmer dental personnel. In total, 71 lesions were recorded in 64 (4.9%) individuals. Leukoplakia was found in 1.1%, lichen lesions in 1.8%, candidosis in 1.4%, submucous fibrosis in 0.2%, cancer in 0.1% and other diagnoses in 0.8%. The prevalence of leukoplakia was 2.2% and 0.6% among men and women respectively, a statistically significant difference (P < 0.05). There were significantly more smokers (P < 0.01) among subjects with leukoplakia (64.3%) than among those without this lesion (28.6%). All subjects with lichen lesions were women. The age-adjusted relative risk for developing lichen among betel nut chewers as compared to non-chewers was 3.3.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Cambodia since the Election: Peace, Democracy and Human Rights?

This article examines the recent political and social context of Cambodian experience and relates it to Cambodia's tragic human rights legacy. It explores the salience of the Cambodian kitting fields in popular memory and juxtaposes this with the operations of UNTAC's Human Rights component. The idea of promoting a culture of human rights in this unlikely environment is discussed and related to measures of human rights education, social justice, and improvements in civil society which will he continued by the United Nations and other organizations in the to come. Ultimately it is argued that UNTAC has had a profound impact on Cambodian society and that the prospects for increasing respect for human rights are good in the ahead. Pre-election Cambodia: A Tragic Social History The past two have constituted a period of dramatic change in the political and social fabric of Cambodia. This remote, ill-fated region of Southeast Asia survived the zero years of the Khmer Rouge only to languish in economic and international isolation. Among the most over whelming of the many changes experienced by the Cambodian population has been in the area of human rights. Cambodia's recent history has been one of untrammelled human rights violations, culminating in the genocide of the Khmer Rouge. It is not surprising, therefore, that the activities of the United Nations