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The present cross-sectional study constructed reference ranges for bone resorption marker beta isomerized form of C-terminal crosslinking telopeptides of type I collagen (beta-CTX) and bone formation marker procollagen type 1 N-terminal propeptide (PINP) for the Vietnamese population. We have further shown that for a given age and weight, higher levels of beta-CTX were significantly associated with bone mineral density in men and women.Normal bone is constantly renewed by two opposing processes of resorption and formation which can be reflected by bone turnover markers (BTMs). This study sought to define the contribution of BTMs to the variation in bone mineral density (BMD) in normal individuals.The study involved 205 men and 432 women aged between 18 and 87, who were randomly selected from various districts within Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Fasting serum levels of PINP and beta-CTX were determined by electrochemiluminescence (Roche, ECLIA). BMD at the lumbar spine (LS) and femoral neck (FN) was measured by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (Hologic, Waltham, MA, USA).Among those aged 50 years, women had lower PINP and beta-CTX levels than men, but among those aged 50 years, women had higher PINP and beta-CTX levels than men. In the multiple linear regression analysis, beta-CTX-but not PINP-was significantly associated with both femoral neck (P = 0.008) and lumbar spine BMD (P = 0.008) and the association was independent of gender, age, and body weight. The proportion of variance in BMD attributable to beta-CTX was 1% for femoral neck BMD and 2% for lumbar spine BMD.The elevation in bone formation marker PINP and bone resorption marker beta-CTX in postmenopausal women was greater than in elderly men. However, only beta-CTX was modestly but significantly associated with BMD.

The bacterium Lactobacillus plantarum PH04 was isolated from infant feces and tested positive for bile/acid tolerance and bile salt hydrolase activity. It was evaluated as a potential probiotic with cholesterol-lowering effect. Bile salt hydrolase activity was nine times greater in stationary phase than in exponential phase cells and increased when the cells were exposed to conjugated bile salts. L. plantarum PH04 was resistant to seven of nine antibiotics tested and did not produce beta-glucuronidase. L. plantarum PH04 was fed to hypercholesterolemic mice at numbers of 10(7) CFU per mouse per day for 14 days. Compared with a control group, the serum cholesterol and triglycerides were respectively 7 and 10% lower in the group fed L. plantarum PH04, and fecal lactic acid bacteria increased while no any significant differences (P0.05) in body weight, visceral weigh index or bacteria translocation between two groups were observed. The results indicated that L. plantarum PH04 might be effective as a probiotic with cholesterol-lowering activities.