This study examines the body cooling effects of immersion in high-concentration artificial carbonic acid water.
The subjects’ core (tympanic) temperature was increased by a pedaling ergometer. They then immersed their
lower legs in carbonic acid water or tap water. The decrease in tympanic temperature was observed. The tympanic
temperature significantly decreased more during immersion in stirred 25 / 30°C CO2 water than in tap water. The
results suggest that immersing the lower legs in stirred 25 / 30°C carbonic acid water can suppress skin vascular
constriction and reduce core temperature elevated by heat stress / exercise more effectively than stirred tap water of
the same water temperature.
Our longitudinal exome-wide association studies previously detected a total of 210 genetic determinants of
nine complex disorders examined, using single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and longitudinal medical examination
data from 6022 Japanese individuals who have undergone annual health checkups for several years. According
to information on 1000 Genomes Project database, allele frequencies of seven disease-associated SNPs appear to
have largely changed since the divergence of East Asian and other ethnic groups. Of the seven SNPs, one might be a
Japanese-specific SNP associated with dyslipidemia. In this review, I summarize the East Asian- or Japanese-specific
genetic variants identified by our longitudinal exome-wide association studies in Japanese population.
Modern human (homo sapience) have spread out over the world during the ice age, this means they needed to
adapt to cold environments. Recent studies suggest that the importance of non-shivering thermogenesis (NST) generating
from brown adipose tissue (BAT), and the uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1) gene plays an important role in BAT
activity. Thus, this manuscript summarizes the relationship between human cold adaptation and the importance of
UCP1 genotype to individual and populational differences of NST.
Modern humans dispersed into East Asia approximately 40K years ago and genetically adapted to unprecedented
environmental conditions. Signatures of local genetic adaptations, which are engraved in our genome, can be
detected using population genomics approaches. Human genome variation data have enabled a comprehensive search
for genetic variants showing such signatures as well as for those associated with phenotypic variation. Although our
knowledge about local genetic adaptations has increased due to recent research efforts, little is known about what
selective pressures acted on the selected variants.