ABO Blood Group and Prevalence of Osteoporosis and Osteopenia in the Elderly Population: An Amirkola Health and Ageing Project (AHAP)-Based Study

Osteoporosis is known as a degenerative disease of the skeletal system and its main complication is fracture, which influences quality of life in the elderly. There are 4 major blood groups in humans based on the presence of A and B antigens. According to the investigations, there are reported relations between blood types and some diseases. In this study, the association between the ABO blood group and the prevalence of osteoporosis and osteopenia in an elderly population was investigated. Medical records of 990 elderly people were investigated in a cross-sectional study and the association between their blood group and the incidence of osteoporosis and osteopenia was analyzed using SPSS version 17.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). The results showed that ABO blood groups had no association with the prevalence of osteoporosis in both elderly men and women. The association between age and osteoporosis was significant and the association between this disorder and gender was significant too. The results also indicate that there is no association between RH⁺ and RH^- blood types and osteoporosis and osteopenia in both men and women. Based on this finding, it would be reasonable to conduct extensive studies.

Homocysteine, trace elements and oxidant/antioxidant status in mild cognitively impaired elderly persons: a cross-sectional study

INTRODUCTION

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is the prodromal stage of Alzheimer's disease (AD), so identification of the related risk factors can be helpful. There are controversial data regarding the serum oxidant/antioxidant status, trace elements and homocysteine (Hcy) as effective parameters in this disease, therefore the status of these factors was determined in this study.

METHODS

One hundred-twenty elderly persons with cognitive impairment and 120 elderly healthy persons who were differentiated using Mini-mental state examination (MMSE) participated in this study. The patients were divided into mild and moderate-to-severe cognitive impairment group. Serum antioxidant/oxidant, copper (Cu), manganese (Mn), zinc (Zn) and Hcy concentrations were measured using routine methods.

RESULTS

Oxidant and antioxidant levels increased and decreased based on the severity of the disease and were higher and lower in patients than in control group, respectively (p<0.001). With adjusting for age, gender and education, significant difference in Hcy levels was not observed. There was no significant difference in trace elements levels among groups.

CONCLUSIONS

Results confirmed the association between oxidative damage with increasing the severity of cognitive impairment. These factors may be involved in the etiology of cognitive impairment and AD. Identification of such biomarkers is important to select appropriate treatment goals before the onset of irreversible clinical signs.