Background: Recent investigation of the etiology of Behçet’s disease (BD) has focused on heat shock proteins (HSP) which belong to the HSP 60 family. Both the gastric pathogen Helicobacter pylori (HP) and BD may cause ulcers in the gastrointestinal tract and, HP expresses HSP 60. Objective: Whether HP is linked to the pathogenesis of BD or not, and to investigate the influence of HP eradication on clinical parameters of BD. Methods: Patients with BD were divided into two groups. Group I comprised 49 patients and was investigated for HP seroprevalence and compared with age- and sex-matched controls. Group II comprised 20 patients with BD and HP infection diagnosed by serological and endoscopic examinations as well as the rapid urease test (RUT). A 1-week eradication therapy was administered for HP infection. Patients were examined for the course of BD at monthly intervals. Two months after the eradication therapy, patients underwent an endoscopic examination and RUT for eradication control. Seven patients were excluded because of eradication failure. Thirteen patients were evaluated for the influence of HP eradication on clinical manifestations of BD. The number and size of oral and genital ulcers before the eradication and at the end of the follow-up period were compared statistically. Results: HP seroprevalence between patients with BD and controls did not show significant difference. In 13 patients with BD, the number and size of oral and genital ulcers diminished significantly and various clinical manifestations regressed after the eradication of HP. Conclusion: HP may be involved in the pathogenesis of BD.
We suggest that H. pylori may impair growth significantly only in susceptible children where unfavorable socioeconomic conditions facilitate its action, probably through mechanisms, at least in part, involving growth-related molecules.
We evaluated the effects of hospital stay on nutritional anthropometric data in children of various age groups and investigated the effects of admission undernutrition on nutritional anthropometric data in children who were hospitalized in our university hospital in Turkey. The adverse effect of hospitalization on nutritional status was shown to be most obvious on the 2-6-year age group with undernourished children. We also found reduced anthropometric parameters in all patients with mild malnutrition at admission (p < 0.05). A significant number of pediatric patients in Turkey are at nutritional risk at the time of hospital admission (31.8 per cent). The well-nourished children do not carry nutritional risk due to hospitalization for other medical reasons. Since undernutrition has an adverse effect on morbidity and mortality, careful nutritional evaluation of children on admission is essential. Special attention should be given to patients who had mild malnutrition on admission since this population of patients seem to be at higher risk of adverse effect of hospitalization.
Helicobacter pylori is a gastroduodenal pathogen strongly associated with chronic gastritis and duodenal ulceration. It is thought that H. pylori infection might be one of the causes of growth retardation in children. The aim of this study was to evaluate the seroprevalence of H. pylori in children with constitutional delay of growth and puberty (CDGP). H. pylori seropositivity was studied in 24 children with CDGP (22 M, 2 F) and 32 healthy age-matched children with normal pubertal development. Mean age of the children with CDGP was 14.53 +/- 1.12 yr and all of them had been diagnosed as CDGP after physical and laboratory assessment. H. pylori IgG positivity was detected in 16 of the 24 children with CDGP (66.6%) and 12 of 32 controls (37.5%) (p <0.05). This finding is consistent with the hypothesis that H. pylori infection could be one of the environmental factors causing CDGP.
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