Ultrastructural examination of biopsies showing Helicobacter pylon associated chronic gastritis reveals close attachment between gastric surface epithelial celis and the organism. The finding of 'adhesion pedestals', which represents a cellular response to the presence of the organism, is analogous to the response ofintestinal cells to enteropathogenic E coli. Thus the development of bacterial attachment sites in H pylori associated gastritis might be an indication of pathogenicity. We have therefore explored the relationship between the proportion of organisms forming attachment sites and histological indices of disease 'activity'. Antral biopsies from 40 patients with Hpyloni positive gastritis were examined histologically and ultrastructurally, and the percentage of attached organisms compared with subjective assessments of epithelial degeneration, mucin depletion, polymorphonuclear and chronic inflammatory cell infiltration. We found a significant increase in the proportion of attached bacteria in cases showing histological epithelial degeneration, and a significant decrease in cases showing intraepithelial polymorph infiltration. The direct relationship between bacterial attachment and cellular degeneration lends further support to a pathogenic effect. Reduced attachment in the face of polymorph infiltration might indirectly reflect aspects of the immune responsenamely, blocking of adhesion by IgA, with complement activation and generation of leucotactic factors.

IntroductionNutrition screening is a quick and simple process aiming to identify individuals with (or at risk of developing) malnutrition so that appropriate nutritional intervention can be initiated. The ideal nutrition screening tool is one that can be completed by any member of the healthcare team without specialist nutrition training or knowledge, is reproducible and reliable in the identification of individuals at risk of malnutrition, and facilitates referral for appropriate nutritional assessment (Taylor-Baer & Bradford-Harris, 1997). By contrast, nutritional assessment is the detailed process of quantifying the degree of malnutrition in an individual, requiring specialist training and expert knowledge of nutrition. Malnutrition, both undernutrition and over-nutrition, has recognised clinical and financial consequences for the individual and for healthcare services. In adults, under-nutrition is associated with poor AbstractBackground: The early identification of malnutrition and nutrition risk through nutrition screening is common practice in adult clinical care but, in children, this has been hampered by the lack of an appropriate nutrition screening tool. The present study aimed to develop and evaluate a simple, child-specific nutrition screening tool for administration by non-nutrition healthcare professionals. Methods: In a two-phase observational study, significant predictors of nutrition risk were identified using a structured questionnaire. These were then combined to produce a nutrition screening tool. For evaluation purposes, the reliability, sensitivity and specificity of the newly-developed Screening Tool for the Assessment of Malnutrition in Paediatrics (STAMP

Aims-To determine the prevalence of Helicobacter pylori colonisation in the mouths of patients with H pyloni gastritis.

Aim-To investigate the association between the quantity of gastric chemokine mRNA expression, severity of gastritis, and cagA positivity in Helicobacter pylori associated gastritis. Methods-In 83 dyspeptic patients, antral and corpus biopsies were taken for semiquantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and histological grading of gastritis. Gastritis was evaluated by visual analogue scales. Quantities of chemokine (IL-8, GRO , ENA-78, RANTES, MCP-1) RT-PCR products were compared with G3PDH products. Each sample was also evaluated for the presence of cagA and ureA mRNA by RT-PCR. Results-mRNA expression of all five chemokines was significantly greater in H pylori positive than in H pylori negative mucosa. In H pylori positive patients, in the antrum C-X-C chemokine mRNA expression was significantly greater in cagA positive patients than in cagA negative patients, but there were no significant diVerences in C-C chemokine mRNA expression. In H pylori positive patients, chemokine mRNA expression in the corpus was less than in the antrum. In contrast to the antrum, only GRO mRNA expression was significantly greater in cagA positive infection. Polymorphonuclear cell infiltration was correlated with C-X-C chemokine mRNA expression. Significant correlations were also found between bacterial density and C-X-C chemokine mRNA expression. Conclusions-In H pylori infection, C-X-C chemokines may play a primary role in active gastritis. Infection with cagA positive H pylori induces greater gastric chemokine mRNA expression in the antral mucosa, which may be relevant to the increased mucosal damage associated with cagA positive H pylori infection. (J Clin Pathol 1998;51:765-770)

We designed a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for amplifying the Helicobacter pylori gene encoding 16S rRNA. Primers for the specific detection of H. pylori were designed for areas of the 16S rRNA gene in which there is the least sequence homology between H. pylori and its closest relatives. The specificity of detection was confirmed by ensuring that the primers did not amplify DNA extracts from the campylobacters H. cinaedi, H. mustelae, and Wolinela succinogenes, which are the closest relatives of H. pylori, as determined by 16S rRNA sequencing. Serial dilution experiments revealed the detection of as little as 0.1 pg of DNA by PCR and 0.01 pg by nested PCR. H. pylori DNA was detected successfully in clinical paraffin-embedded and fresh gastric biopsy specimens from patients positive for the bacterium and also in fecal suspensions seeded with the organism. The DNA from the nonculturable coccoid form of H. pylori was also identified by the primers. Universal primers designed for highly conserved areas on the 16S rRNA gene enabled large amplification products to be produced for direct sequencing analysis. Gastric bacteria resembling H. pylori have been isolated from animals. DNA of these animal gastric bacteria amplified with H. pylori-specific primers yielded PCR products identical to those from human isolates of H. pylori, as confirmed by the use of a 20-base radiolabelled probe complementary to an internal sequence flanked by the H. pylori-specific primers. The results of PCR amplification and partial 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis strongly support the contention that the gastric organisms previously recovered from a pig, a baboon, and rhesus monkeys are H. pylori.