BACKGROUND/AIMS: Although it has been known that folate will participate in colorectal carcinogenesis, the relationship between blood folate level and colorectal cancer is less consistent. The blood folate level does not reflect the systemic folate status. By contrast, serum homocysteine has become a sensitive marker for the folate deficiency. We attempted to explain the correlation between folate and colorectal cancer according to the serum homocysteine level. METHODS: We reviewed the clinical records, including alcohol history of 184 patients taking the colonoscopy and measurement of the serum homocysteine level at Health Promotion Center from 2001 to 2002. One hundred fifty-one of 184 were included, excluding 33 patients with previous history of colonic polyp, cerebrovascular, cardiovascular attack and thromboembolism. They were divided into the normal control (n=111) and the adenomatous polyp group (n=40). We had selected the colorectal cancer group (n=50) from the collection list of the tissue and blood bank less than 3 months storage interval. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in the mean serum homocysteine level among three groups. However, in the subjects with high alcohol consumption, there was a significant difference in the mean serum homocysteine between the normal control (n=7) and the adenomatous polyp group (n=9) (10.2 vs 15.1 micromol/L, p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: There was no correlation of serum homocysteine and colorectal tumor. However, in the subjects with high alcohol consumption, high serum homocysteine might be related to the development of adenomatous polyp.
Adenomatous Polyps/*blood/pathology ; Alcohol Drinking/blood ; Colonoscopy ; Colorectal Neoplasms/*blood/pathology ; Female ; Homocysteine/*blood ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged

OBJECTIVE: To explore the relationship between the Helicobacter pylori (H.pylori) infection and gastric mucosa change and blood-lipid in people undergoing the physical examination in Changsha. METHODS: A total of 2 264 people undergoing physical examination were divided into an H. pyloripositive group (n=1 068) and an H. pylori-negative group (n=1 196). Gastric mucosa change was diagnosed by gastroscopy, blood-lipid and blood sugar were detected, and the statistical analysis was performed. RESULTS: The incidence rate of H.pylori infection was 47.2%. The incidence rate of gastric mucosal erosion, gastric ulcer, duodenal ulcer, gastric mucosal atrophy, gastric polyp, dyslipidemia, increase of triglyceride were (TG) and decrease of the high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) in the H.pylori-positive group were all higher than those in the H.pylori-negative group (P<0.01 or P<0.05). In the H. pylori-positive group, the level of TG in people with gastric mucosal erosion, gastric ulcer and duodenal ulcer was higher than that in people with normal gastric mucosa or mild gastritis, and HDL-C was lower than that in people with normal gastric mucosa or mild gastritis. CONCLUSION H. pylori infection can induce the gastric mucosa injury and dyslipidemia, which may result in the occurrence and development of coronary heart disease by increasing TG and decreasing HDL-C, thus increasing the risk of atherosclerosis.
Adenomatous Polyps ; Cholesterol, HDL ; blood ; Duodenal Ulcer ; microbiology ; physiopathology ; Dyslipidemias ; microbiology ; Gastric Mucosa ; microbiology ; pathology ; Gastritis ; microbiology ; physiopathology ; Helicobacter Infections ; physiopathology ; Helicobacter pylori ; Humans ; Lipids ; blood ; Physical Examination ; Stomach Neoplasms ; Stomach Ulcer ; microbiology ; physiopathology ; Triglycerides ; blood