Frequencies of serum antibodies to Helicobacter pylori CagA and VacA in a Turkish population with various gastroduodenal diseases

Abstract

Infection with Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) strains secreting cytotoxin-associated gene A (CagA) and vacuolating cytotoxin A (VacA) proteins is associated with more severe gastroduodenal pathologies. However, this association varies among geographical regions and ethnic groups. We investigated the frequencies of antibodies to CagA and VacA proteins in 131 H. pylori-infected dyspeptic patients [40 duodenal ulcer (DU), 19 gastric ulcer (GU), 28 gastric cancer (GC), and 44 non-ulcer dyspepsia (NUD)] across 30 H. pylori-infected and endoscopically normal asymptomatic subjects (AS). Anti-CagA and anti-VacA antibodies were detected by Western blotting. The positivity rates of anti-CagA and anti-VacA antibodies were higher in patients with DU (92.5 and 75%), GU (89.5 and 84.2%) and GC (96.4 and 85.7%) than patients with NUD (70.5 and 50%) and AS (50 and 23.3%) (p < 0.05). CagA+ VacA+ phenotype was more frequent in patients with DU, GU and GC than patients with NUD and AS (75, 84.2, 85.7 vs. 47.7 and 20%, respectively) (p < 0.01). Our results showed that there is a significantly positive association between the presence of anti-CagA and anti-VacA antibodies and DU, GU and GC in our region.

Seroreactivity to Helicobacter pylori Antigens as a Risk Indicator of Gastric Cancer

“…This finding is supported by previous reports including those from Turkey (Sezikli et al, 2006), Italy (Suriani et al, 2008), Mexico (GarzaGonzález et al, 2004) and Chile (Figueroa et al, 2002). Noteworthy is a recent report from highly prevalent countries like China recommend addition of other proteins like OMPs, HP0305, HyuA, and HpaA to CagA and VacA to the risk profile in order to increase the chance of detecting high risk individuals (Epplein et al, 2011).…”

Clinical Factors Related with Helicobacter Pylori Infection - Is there an Association with Gastric Cancer History in First-Degree Family Members?

“…It is known that H pylori infection with cytotoxin-associated (CagA) gene positive strains has been related with increased risk for development peptic ulcer and gastric carcinoma (Blaser et al, 1995;Parsonnet et al, 1997). Recent studies demonstrated the association with cagA positive H pylori and the higher rate for development gastroduodenal disease, in Turkish population (Sezikli et al, 2006;Salih et al, 2007).…”

Helicobacter pylori isolation, serology and cagA, cagE and virB11 detection in patients with non-ulcer dyspepsia from Turkey: Correlation with histopathologic findings

“…Although it has been suggested that pathogenic association with cagA cannot be used in case control studies due to high level of cag PAI positivity detected in most HP strains from Asia, our results reveal that this may not be the case for Turkey; for statistically-significant relation was revealed with the disease activity due to HP infection and cagA gene [26,27]. For anti-cagA seroprevalence in Turkey, positivity rates of 70.5 -82 % was reported from NUD patients previously, which indicate probable regional differences [28][29][30]. Thus, detection of cagA by molecular methods may be employed as test for individual assessment for eradication treatment or other consequences of HP infection.…”