Despite the induction of an immunological reaction, Helicobacter pylori-associated gastritis is a chronic disease, suggesting that this microbe can evade the host immune defense. Previous studies by our group showed that H. pylori suppresses the in vitro proliferative response of human mononuclear cells to mitogens and antigens. Here we demonstrate that the antiproliferative activity of H. pylori also affects the proliferation of various mammalian cell lines (U937, Jurkat, AGS, Kato-3, HEP-2, and P388D1). This effect is detectable in the first 16 h of incubation and maximal between 24 and 48 h. In addition, the presence of H. pylori significantly diminished the protein synthesis of cells in the first 6 h of incubation, comparable to the results with cycloheximide and diphtheria toxin. The urease enzyme, the cagA gene product, and the vacuolizing cytotoxin of H. pylori were excluded as causative agents of the antiproliferative effect by using isogenic knockout mutant strains. The inhibitory effect was not due to a lytic activity of this bacterium. The results reported here indicate that the responsible factor is a protein with an apparent native molecular mass of 100 ؎ 10 kDa. Our work implicates the presence of a protein factor in H. pylori (termed PIP [for proliferation-inhibiting protein]) with antiproliferative activity for mammalian cells, including immunocompetent and epithelial cells. Thus, it is reasonable to presume that this property may contribute to the pathogenesis of H. pylori-induced diseases. It may be involved on the one hand in immune response evasion and on the other hand in the suppression of epithelial repair mechanisms.

Helicobacter pylori, the causative agent of type-B gastritis and duodenal ulcer in man is described as a bacterium able to stimulate the human immune system. This study demonstrates that H. pylori besides this property possesses an immune suppressive activity. The in vitro proliferation of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells to purified protein derivative of tuberculin (PPD), phytohemagglutinin, and concanavalin A was reduced in a dose-dependent manner by bacteria which had been inactivated by incubation at 56 degrees C as well as by a soluble cytoplasmic fraction of H. pylori. The immune suppressive effect on the mitogen-induced proliferation could be increased by preincubation of the mononuclear cells with H. pylori. The observed effect does not seem to be a specific phenomenon depending on prior exposure of the blood donors to H. pylori, since suppression occurred with mononuclear cells of H. pylori-infected patients as well as of antibody-negative healthy control individuals. The suppressive activity was non-dialyzable, heat-labile (100 degrees C, 30 min) and sensitive to trypsin. Furthermore, the treatment at 100 degrees C caused an increase in the capability of H. pylori to induce lymphoproliferation. This fact indicates that the suppressive factor is also effective on H. pylori antigens. While exogenous interleukin-2, could to a certain extent, restore the responsiveness of the lymphocytes after PPD-stimulation in the presence of H. pylori, the addition of interleukin-1 had no effect on the suppressed lymphoproliferation. Cell-separation and cell-mixing experiments indicated that an influence on monocytes rather than on T cells is the major cause of the observed suppressive effect. Although the immunological mechanisms involved in H. pylori-associated gastritis are not clearly defined, it is reasonable to presume that suppression of host defense mechanisms may contribute to the pathogenesis of this disease.

Helicobacter pylori colonization of the human gastric mucosa causes a long-term, not self-limiting inflammation, suggesting that the microbe has properties to protect itself against the host immune defence system. Recently we were able to demonstrate that H. pylori suppresses the in vitro proliferative response of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells to antigens as well as to mitogens without affecting cell viability. The purpose of this study was to clarify which cell subsets of mononuclear cells are influenced by H. pylori. The use of monocytes which had been pretreated with a soluble cytoplasmic fraction of H. pylori (30 micrograms ml-1) led to a suppressed proliferation of T cells after PHA-activation. Activation of isolated T cells with PHA and PMA revealed that the proliferative response of lymphocytes could also be inhibited independently of monocytes. The anti-proliferative effect was associated with a reduction of IL-2 receptor (CD25) expression as well as an inhibition of blastogenesis. Furthermore, the spontaneous proliferation of EBV-transformed B cell lines was suppressed in a dose-dependent manner. FACS-analysis of HLA-DR, ICAM-1 and CD14 expression on the surface of monocytes revealed an influence of H. pylori on CD14 expression at a concentration of 30 micrograms ml-1, while the expression of HLA-DR and ICAM-1 was not affected at this concentration.