This study showed for the first time that Lf is present in gastric juice and that it correlates with H. pylori infection. Lf may constitute a good marker for H. pylori-associated gastritis. Although correlation does not prove causation, this study suggests that Lf might play an important role in the physiopathology of H. pylori-associated gastritis.

The results of this investigation suggests that H. pylori-associated gastritis is related to a decreased secretory activity of the gastric parietal cells.

We established HeLa cell lines that constitutively expressed the fusion (F) and/or haemagglutininneuraminidase (HN) glycoproteins of human parainfluenza virus type 4A (PIV-4A) and used them to analyse the roles of these glycoproteins in virus-induced cell fusion, No syncytium formation occurred, even in HeLa cells expressing both the F and HN proteins . Also no syncytium was found in a mixed culture of cells expressing the F protein (HeLa4aF) and the HN protein . Syncytia were observed in HeLa-4aF cells transfected with the HN gene, but no syncytium formation was found in HeLa4aHN cells transfected with the F gene. Co-cultivation of HeLa-4aF + HN cells with HeLa-4aF cells generated large polykaryocytes, whereas co-cultivation with HeLa4aHN cells induced no cell fusion. Infection of HeLa4aF cells with PIV-4A generated large syncytia and degenerated nuclei, whereas little or no polykaryocytes were found in HeLa-4aHN cells infected with PIV-4A. From the above findings, the following conclusions were drawn: (i) the expression of both the F and HN proteins in the same cell is necessary for cell fusion; (ii) the expression of the F protein alone enhances susceptibility to cell fusion; (iii) the constitutive expression of the HN protein promotes resistance to paramyxovirus-induced cell fusion.

These results indicate that the actual prevalence of H. pylori in patients with gastric carcinoma is considerably higher than that previously reported.

BACKGROUND.The discrepancy between the high seropositivity for Helicobacfer pylori ( H . pylori) and the low diagnostic yield of H. pylori organism in gastric biopsies of patients with gastric carcinoma has yet to be clarified. The present study attempted to clarify this controversial point by performing a comparative evaluation between the detection rate of H. pylori in biopsy and in surgical specimens.