During 7/1996 - 11/1998, MEDIC - MRI department had studied 4571 patients included 985 cervical spinal cases (22%), infections (03%), degenerative diseases (51%), cervical spinal stenosis (30%), trauma (35%), tumor (06%), miscellaneous lesion (05%). Cervical spinal stenosis has been usually seen. The main etiologies of cervical spinal stenosis include cervical disc herniation, cervical spondylosis, and ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament. It causes the severe complications such as radiculopathy and chronic myelopathy (tetraplegia, sensory disorder, and bladder dysfunction). The best knowledge of the lesion of the cervical spinal stenosis could facilitate treatment and save the patient life with hope of good motor recovery. The purpose of this study is to determine whether MRI can be used to define the nature of cervical spinal stenosis.
Constriction, Pathologic ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Background: Salmonella typhi (S.typhi) is the major cause of human typhoid fever outbreaks. In fact, there were various typhoid fever outbreaks that occurred in China, and India that was caused by S.typhi strain without Vi antigen. Objective: To determine whether the S.typhi strains with mutation of gene encoding Vi antigen exists in Vietnam and the rate of mutation (if they exists). Subject and methods: 450 S.typhi isolates were collected in the Northern, Central and Southern Region of Vietnam during 1995 and 2005. The isolates were analyzed by the PCR method in order to detect mutants by using 2 primer pairs of tviB and DE. Results and Conclusion: There was no clear evidence on the relationship between the widely used Typhi Vi vaccine in Vietnam and the existence and spread of the mutation of gene encoding Vi antigen of S.typhi. 30 out of 450 isolates mutated losing the gene encoding of Vi antigen, making it 6.67%. These isolates were spread out between 1995 and 2005 throughout the Northern, Central and Southern Regions of Vietnam, with a peak in 1999. A noteworthy point was the rate of mutation of S.typhi losing the gene encoding of Vi antigen in Vietnam during the period of study. However, the mutation rate of S.typhi in Vietnam was still higher than the ratio of similar mutations being published in the other countries worldwide and higher than the recommended level of the World Health Organization.
gene mutation ; Salmonella typhi

Introduction: Rabies is a serious problem in the area of public health in developing countries including Vietnam. The death rate is almost 100%, however rabies can be prevented and preventively treated by vaccine, or a combination between vaccine with rabies resistant serum. The production of Vero cell culture vaccine is becoming a common trend worldwide because of its effective protection and safety. There is a requirement for the domestic production of cell cultured rabies vaccine. \r\n', u'Objectives: To determine the adaptive ability of VNUCOVO - 32 rabies vaccine strain into Vero cell. \r\n', u'Subjects and Method: Rabies vaccine propagation strains the rat\u2019s kidney cells. VNUCOVO - 32 was cultured into Vero cell with different conditions such as pH, temperature, multiplicity of infection (MOl) and time of virus harvests to discover the optimal conditions for virus propagation. \r\n', u'Results: The optimal condition for VNUCOVO - 32 propagation into vero cell with MOl 0.3, pH 7.4 and temperature is 37\xb0C. The highest titer achieves 103,4FFLJ/ml. The best time for virus harvest is 12 - 13 days post inoculation. \r\n', u'Conclusion: VNUCOVO rabies vaccine strain can penetrate and propagate into vera cell. \r\n', u'
Rabies virus ; VNKONO \u2013 32 strain ; Vero cell

Balanophora laxiflora Hemsl. (Balanophoraceae) is a traditional medicinal plant with a diverse array of biological activities. In our exploration of new bioactive constituents from B. laxiflora, we isolated five compounds, including a new lignan, balanophorone (5), and four known phenolic compounds (1–4). The chemical structures of these compounds were determined by extensive spectroscopic analyses, including 1D and 2D NMR, HR-ESI-MS, and CD. In addition, we evaluated the effects of each of the isolates (1–5) on the messenger RNA expression levels of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophages and cytotoxicity against MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells. Compound 2 showed significant inhibition of LPS-induced COX-2 and TNF-α expression in RAW 264.7 macrophages, while compound 4 showed moderate cytotoxicity against MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells, with IC 50 values of 18.3 and 30.7 μM, respectively. No significant effects on the viability of normal mammary epithelial cells were observed.

Balanophora laxiflora Hemsl. (Balanophoraceae) is a traditional medicinal plant with a diverse array of biological activities. In our exploration of new bioactive constituents from B. laxiflora, we isolated five compounds, including a new lignan, balanophorone (5), and four known phenolic compounds (1–4). The chemical structures of these compounds were determined by extensive spectroscopic analyses, including 1D and 2D NMR, HR-ESI-MS, and CD. In addition, we evaluated the effects of each of the isolates (1–5) on the messenger RNA expression levels of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophages and cytotoxicity against MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells. Compound 2 showed significant inhibition of LPS-induced COX-2 and TNF-α expression in RAW 264.7 macrophages, while compound 4 showed moderate cytotoxicity against MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells, with IC 50 values of 18.3 and 30.7 μM, respectively. No significant effects on the viability of normal mammary epithelial cells were observed.

Background: Fungal keratitis is a serious ocular infection that can cause corneal scarring and blindness. Currently, diagnosis of fungal pathogens remains a difficult problem. Objectives: To investigate the application of semi-nested PCR targeted ITS genes for detection of fungal agents causing keratitis. Material and method: Ten identified fungal strains, 4 bacterial strains, 20 scraping samples from patients with suspected fungal keratitis and 2 scraping samples from patients with suspected bacterial keratitis were tested using semi-nested PCR. Results: Semi-nested PCR showed positive results for the samples of identified fungal strains and for the 20 scraping samples from patients with suspected fungal keratitis. Neither samples of bacterial strains nor scraping samples from suspected bacterial keratitis patients gave positive PCR results. Conclusion: Semi-nested PCR is a robust tool for specific and rapid detection of fungal agents causing keratitis.
Fungal keratitis ; semi-nested PCR

Background: According to WHO, there are 5 million deaths from kinds of injury a year in the world, of which 875000 deaths occur in children under 18 years old. Injury leads to 40000 deaths which account for 10.7% deaths due to all other causes a year in VietNam. Objective: To show conclusions of the situation of child injury, recommendations for prevention of child injury and methods in order to enhance emergency activity in Vietnam. Subjects and method: The authors collected information about all patients who had emergencies due to injury at Viet Duc hospital, from March 26th 2006 to Octorber 26th 2006. However, supervised cases were the patients under 18 years old who were examined and treated at the Department of Emergency. Results: During the period of study, 2536 patients under 18 years old were examined for injury, of which death and coming back home for death were 83 cases (3.27%). 974 children had emergency resulted from injury: male was more than female: 697 verus 227. The leading causes of child injury were fall and traffic accident, respetively 34% and 60%. The most common traumas were traumatic brain injury (45%), limbs injury (41%). Although most of cases had first aid at the hospitals in district or province level, the rate of non-first aid cases was high (34%). Conclusion: Child injury is a leading cause of child death in hospitals. Methods for prevention of child injury should focus on educating and propagandizing to minimize injuries caused by traffic accident and fall.
Wounds and Injuries ; Child

Papiliotrema huenov was previously reported to be highly tolerant of a range of extremely toxic heavy metals. This study aimed to identify the potential of P. huenov to remove manganese and copper from aqueous solution. Physical conditions which affect removal of Mn(II) and Cu(II) were determined. Optimal temperature for adsorption of both metal ions was 30°C, and optimal pH for maximum uptake of Mn(II) and Cu(II) were 5 and 6, respectively. Under these conditions, living cells of P. huenov accumulated up to 75.58% of 110 mg/ L Mn(II) and 70.5% of 128 mg/L Cu(II) over 120 h, whereas, the removal efficiency of metal ions by dead cells over 1 h was 60.3% and 56.5%, respectively. These results indicate that living cells are more effective than dead biomass for bioremediation, but that greater time is required. The experimental data extends the potential use of P. huenov in biosorption and bioaccumulation of toxic heavy metals to copper and manganese, two of the most common industrial contaminants.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the relationship between dyslipidemia and obesity status among Viet-namese adolescents. METHODS: In this case-control study, 282 adolescents (6–11 years), including 88 obese cases and 194 normal-weight controls, were recruited from a population-based cross-sectional study from two provinces in Vietnam. The anthropometric, blood lipid, and other laboratory test results of the study subjects were analyzed. RESULTS: Obese children tended to have more visceral fat (Pearson's r = 0.795, p < 0.0001) than subcutaneous fat (Pearson's r = 0.754, p < 0.0001), and this difference was associated with an increase in blood triglyceride level (Pearson's r = 0.232, p < 0.05) and a strikingly high rate of hypertriglyceridemia (38.6%). We also found that birth weight and parental body mass index were related to the status of obesity among the study subjects. However, only birth weight was significantly higher in the obese group than in the normal weight group. These findings indicate the effect of prenatal nutrition on childhood obesity. Furthermore, high-birth weight children had a surprisingly high rate of obesity. CONCLUSION: Together, our data suggest that obesity increased the risk for hypertriglyceridemia, which was, at least partially, due to prenatal nutrition.
Adolescent ; Birth Weight ; Body Mass Index ; Case-Control Studies* ; Child ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Dyslipidemias ; Humans ; Hypertriglyceridemia* ; Intra-Abdominal Fat ; Obesity ; Parents ; Pediatric Obesity* ; Subcutaneous Fat ; Triglycerides ; Vietnam*

In this report we describe a new approach in HIV sentinel surveillance that was piloted in Viet Nam in 2009 and is currently being rolled out in all provinces. It comprises a brief behavioural questionnaire added to the HIV sentinel surveillance surveys conducted routinely among people who inject drugs, female sex workers and men who have sex with men. Timely reporting of data from this system has resulted in improvements to HIV prevention efforts for most at-risk populations.