THE cagA STATUS OF Helicobacter pylori ISOLATES FROM CELIAC PATIENTS IN SAN LUIS, ARGENTINA

ARISMENDI SOSA AC, ; SALINAS IBÁÑEZ AG, ; DENITA JUÁREZ SP,; LUCERO ESTRADA CS, ; VEGA AE.

San Luis

Congreso; XXX Reunión Anual de la Sociedad de Biología de Cuyo.; 2012

Sociedad de Biología de Cuyo

Helicobacter pylori, colonizes the human gastric mucosa of about 50% of the world population and synthesizes virulence factors such as urease, vacuolating toxin or cytotoxin-associated antigen (CagA) that increase the risk of peptic ulcer and gastric carcinoma. Celiac disease (CD) is a T-cell-mediated disorder of the small bowel triggered by gluten in susceptible subjects; damage occurs in both the intestine and the gastric mucosa. In this study, we evaluated the H. pylori cagA status in celiac patients from San Luis. Fifty four patients were included here, being 15 of them (27.8%) CD positive based on histological study and endomysial or transglutaminase antibodies. DNA was extracted from antral gastric biopsy using the QIAamp kit. H pylori status was assessed by positive urease and PCR. The cagA gene amplification was performed by PCR. In total, 46 patients were H. pylori positives (85.2%) with a prevalence of 60.9% cagA positive strains. Among celiac patients high prevalence (86.7%; p < 0.005) of H. pylori was observed. The cagA status in celiac and no celiac patients was 69.2 and 61.3% respectively. The prevalence of H. pylori cagA-positive strains varies by geographic regions and has been associated with infection complications. Presence of these virulent strains may enhance the pathological CD processes.