Prevalence of cagA in relation to clinical presentation of Helicobacter pylori infection in Egypt

Abstract

Helicobacter pylori infection, peptic ulcer and gastric cancer are common problems in Egypt. We investigated the prevalence of cagA-positive Helicobacter pylori infections among Egyptian adults in relation to presentation (e.g. dyspepsia vs asymptomatic controls) in Minofyia, Egypt. Patients included men or women seeking care for at least 3 months of upper gastrointestinal symptoms. Helicobacter pylori status was determined by rapid urease test and gastric histopathology in patients and by anti-Helicobacter pylori IgG antibodies in controls. CagA status was determined using an anti-cag A ELISA. 99 Helicobacter pylori infected patients were entered including 90 dyspeptic patients (30 each with gastric cancer, peptic ulcer, and non-ulcer dyspepsia) and 9 non-dyspeptic healthy controls. Age ranged from 27 to 78 y (mean 49.5 y); 50% were men. Anti-cagA antibodies were present in 62.2% of dyspeptic patients compared with 11% of asymptomatic controls (p = 0.004). Anti-cagA antibodies were more prevalent among dyspeptic patients with gastric cancer or peptic ulcer (73.3%) compared to those with non-ulcer dyspepsia (40%) (p = 0.004). The prevalence of cagA in Egypt was related to the clinical presentation of Helicobacter pylori infection being lowest in asymptomatic controls (11.1%) and increasingly prevalent in non-ulcer dyspepsia (40%), peptic ulcer (66.7%), and gastric cancer (89%).

Association of smoking, alcohol and NSAIDs use with expression of cag A and cag T genes of Helicobacter pylori in salivary samples of asymptomatic subjects

“…Injected cag A modulates signal transduction leading to detrimental host cell responses like up regulated proliferation of cells, apoptosis, and necrosis. Cag A positive strains of H. pylori significantly increase the risk for severe gastritis, peptic ulceration, and distal gastric cancer compared to strains that lack the cag island [15] . Hence, this gene was targeted in the present investigation to unravel the infection status and virulence in the infected asymptomatic subjects.…”

Peptic Ulcer Disease

“…In Iraq, the vacA i1 locus and the dupA locus were both correlated with PUD, but this was not the case in Iran (Hussein et al, 2008). In Iran and Iraq (Selehi et al, 2008), Egypt (Said Essa et al, 2008), and Italy (Basso et al, 2008), the cagA locus was correlated with PUD. In Iran and Iraq (Selehi et al, 2008), Egypt (Said Essa et al, 2008), and Italy (Basso et al, 2008), the cagA locus was correlated with PUD.…”

Non-invasive detection of Helicobacter pylori virulence genotypes ureA, vacA, cagA and babA2 among asymptomatic Egyptian infants

“…No previous trials to study the prevalence of cagA in Egyptian children or infants were done. The prevalence of cagA in Egyptian adults, according to earlier studies, ranged from (11.1 -89%) depending on the clinical presentation of H. pylori (van Doorn et al, 1998;Said Essa et al, 2008). The prevalence of the cagA gene in children among European countries varies from 22.4 to 76% (Karhukorpi et al, 2000;Oleastro et al, 2003).…”