Predictors of gastrointestinal lesions on endoscopy in iron deficiency anemia without gastrointestinal symptoms

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) due to occult gastrointestinal (GI) blood loss usually remains unnoticed until patient become symptomatic. There is sparse data in IDA patients without gastrointestinal symptoms. This study was designed to find out the frequency and predictors of endoscopic lesions in IDA without gastrointestinal symptoms. Cross-sectional study performed on a convenience sample of consecutive subjects.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Ninety five consecutive patients with laboratory based diagnosis of IDA having no gastrointestinal symptoms were interviewed and their clinical and biochemical variables were recorded. All the study patients underwent esophago-gastroduodenoscopy (EGD) and colonoscopy. Endoscopic findings were documented as presence/absence of bleeding related lesion and presence/absence of cause of IDA. Multiple logistic regressions were performed to identify variables significantly related to outcome variables.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Possible cause of anaemia was found in 71% and bleeding related lesions were found in 53% of patients. Upper gastrointestinal tract lesions were found in 41% of patients with bleeding related lesions. On multivariable logistic regression; advancing age, low mean corpuscular volume (MCV ≤ 60 fl), and positive fecal occult blood test were predictive factors for bleeding related GI lesions and cause of IDA</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Clinical and Biochemical markers can predict gastrointestinal lesions on endoscopy in IDA patients without gastrointestinal symptoms. High proportion of upper gastrointestinal involvement warrants EGD as initial endoscopic procedure however, this needs validation by further studies.</p

Polymorphisms in the oxidized low-density lipoprotein receptor-1 gene and risk of Alzheimer 's disease

The þ1073 C/T polymorphism of the oxidized low-density lipoprotein receptor-1 (OLR1) gene has been reported to be associated with late-onset Alzheimer’s disease, whereas for the þ1071 T/A polymorphism no association was found. We genotyped 169 sporadic Alzheimer’s disease patients and 264 sex- and age-matched nondemented controls from Southern Italy for OLR1 þ1073 C/T and þ1071 T/A polymorphisms and for apolipoprotein E and LBP-1c/CP2/LSF. We also performed haplotype analysis. For the þ1073 C/T polymorphism, the C allele and the CC genotype have been associated with a higher risk for Alzheimer’s disease without apolipoprotein E or CP2 interaction. The two polymorphisms were in linkage disequilibrium, with the haplotype T-C at significant increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease in the whole sample and in elderly persons 70 years or older. In our population, the þ1073 C/T OLR1 polymorphism exhibited a significant association with Alzheimer’s disease, further supporting the role of OLR1 as a candidate risk gene for sporadic Alzheimer’s diseas