Background: Dementia is a common pathological condition that affects older people. Most causes of dementia are Alzheimer\u2019s disease and vascular dementia. Diagnosing these conditions mostly relied on clinical patterns, but some biomarkers have been mentioned as the indicators of this condition. Objectives: 1) To evaluate the alteration of some biomarkers in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples from Alzheimer\u2019s patients. 2) To compare the concentration of biomarkers in CSF samples from patients with vascular dementia and Alzheimer\u2019s disease. Subjects and method: Case group involved 41 patients who were diagnosed as AD and vascular dementia based on DSM-IV criteria. 31 matched healthy people were included in control group. All subjects were given neuro-psychological tests and thorough clinical examination. Brain CT scan and MRI were done for both groups. CSF samples were taken from patients in the study group to measure levels of some biomarkers. Results. The levels of total taurine (T-tau) and phosphorylated taurine (P-tau) 181 proteins are higher in the dementia group. The concentration of Abeta-42 is significantly different between case and control groups, but similar between vascular dementia and Alzheimer\u2019s disease patients. Conclusion: Changes in biomarkers are valuable in different diagnosis of Alzheimer\u2019s disease and other types of dementia. However, findings of CSF studies have to be considered with findings from imaging studies and clinical examination.
Biomarker ; Dementia ; Alzheimer\u2019s disease

Background: CARD4/NOD1 is a member of the Caterpiller (CLR) gene family and is involved in the recognition of entero-invasive bacteria, such as Helicobacter pylori and ensures immunity responses. As a consequence, gene variability can influence the gastric inflammatory response to Helicobacter pylori. Objectives: The study was conducted to investigate the frequency of the E266K CARD4/NOD1 gene polymorphism and its relationship with Helicobacter pylori infection as well as the outcome on upper gastrointestinal endoscopy. Methods: Consecutive patients who underwent gastrointestinal endoscopy were eligible for the study. DNA was isolated from whole blood and polymerase chain reaction followed by restriction fragment length polymorphism procedure was used for genotyping. The link between endoscopic diagnosis, Helicobacter pylori infection status and genotype data was analyzed using Pearson\u2019s chi-square test and regression analysis. Results: A total of 186 patients were studied (mean age of 43 years with SD = 12.6, male was 37%). Helicobacter pylori infection rate is indifferent between patients with different variants of E266K (wildtype (n=80) 54%, heterozygotes (n=71) 65% and homozygotes (n=35) 43%; p=0.09). In patients infected with Helicobacter pylori, the prevalence of peptic ulcer identified by endoscopy was 19%, 17% and 47% for the E266K wildtype, heterozygote and homozygote variants, respectively (p=0.049). Conclusion: The E266K CARD4/NOD1 gene polymorphism carriers are at increased risk of peptic ulcer in the presence of Helicobacter pylori.
Peptic ulcer ; gene ; Helicobacter pylori

Background: Some researchers indicated that investigating MUC5AC is necessary for H.pylori infection because H.pylori is easy to locate in MUC5AC. However, there is no publication about the effect of variable number tandem repeat polymorphism of MUC5AC on H.pylori infection. Objective: To investigate the relationship between mucin 5AC variable number tandem repeated polymorphism and H.pylori infection. Subject and Method: 170 patients were studied, mean age: 43, male: 35%. Blood samples were collected from patients, who visited Can Tho General Hospital for upper gastrointestinal endoscopy. DNA was isolated from whole blood; the repeated section of the MUC5AC alleles was not cut out with a restriction enzyme (SacI). H.pylori infection was diagnosed with 14 C urea breath test. Distributions of allele fragment length were compared to H.pylori positive and negative patients. Results: 52% of patients were H.pylori infected. MUC5AC SacI-restricted allele fragment lengths ranged from 6.2 to 11.2 kbp (mean 7.9), the calculated number of repeated ranged from 170 to 380 (mean 243). Mean allele length was identical for H.pylori positive and negative patients were 7.9 kbp, and the distribution of allele fragment lengths was also similar for both groups (p=0.7). Conclusion: The number of repeats in the MUC5AC gen was highly polymorphic, but the variation in allele length was limited. The variable number tandem repeat polymorphism of MUC5AC was not associated with H.pylori infection.
H.pylori infection ; MUCSAC

Background: Several studies reported a high prevalence of vitamin B12 deficiency in some Asian countries and in Asian immigrants living in Western countries. However, there is no data regarding the prevalence of vitamin B12 deficiency in Viet Nam.\r\n', u'Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of vitamin B12 deficiency in patients with upper gastrointestinal symptoms in the Mekong Delta and to investigate the risk factors for vitamin B12 deficiency. \r\n', u'Methods: Blood samples were collected from patients visiting Can Tho General Hospital for upper gastrointestinal endoscopy. Serum vitamin B12 concentration was measured at the University Medical center St Radboud Nijmegen, Netherlands. \r\n', u'Results: Between September and December 2003, 216 patients (80 male, 136 female, mean age 43.2 years) were studied. Ten patients had gastric cancer, 28 peptic ulcer disease/ and 178 gastritis only or no visible pathology. Only 2 patients (0.9%) had clinical vitamin B12 deficiency (<160 pmol/l, whereas 15 patients (7.0%) had sub-clinical vitamin 812 deficiency (160-250 pmol/l). H. pylori positive patients (n=111) were more likely to have para-clinical vitamin B12 deficiency than H. pylori negative patients (odds ratio 3.7~ 95%CI 1.10-12.76). \r\n', u'Conclusions: Vitamin B12 deficiency is uncommon in the Mekong Delta. Helicobacter pylori infection is a risk factor for vitamin B12 deficiency. \r\n', u'
Vitamin B12 deficiency ; gastroenterologic symptoms

This study was conducted with a sample of 1772 children aged 6-15 at elementary and junior high schools in CanTho province in order to identify the relationship between blood pressure and age, sex and nutrition. Results showed that: Blood pressure is in accordance with the function 80+2n (n: cumulative age) and diastolic blood pressure value is about 1/3 - 2/3 of systolic blood pressure. Weight and BMI are associated with hypertension. Age is associated with hypertension. Girls have higher hypertensive rate than boys.
Blood Pressure ; Abstracting and Indexing ; Child

This cross-sectional survey was carried out in Mekong Delta region in order to measure hypertensive rate among 15-75 years old people. The results showed that: the hypertensive rate is 14.9% and 9.4% is in a high-risk group whose systolic blood pressure of 130-139mmHg. Hypertension is found to be strongly ralated to BMI, age, low level of education and income, divorce, and widow(er)hood. Hypertension is also associated with drinking, smoking, salty diet and family medical history
Hypertension ; Risk Factors