comparison of the validity of different diagnostic methods in determining ghlo infections in cats

the aim of the present study was to compare different diagnostic methods in the determination of gastric helicobacter infection. 30 healthy stray and 27 domestic cats. were studied the procedure involved taking biopsy samples from antrum and body by pediatric gastroscope in off feed animals. diagnosis of gastric helicobacter infection by cytology, rapid urease test, histopathology and pcr was also conducted. in all diagnostic methods, helicobacter infection was found to be more prevalent in domestic cats than the stray ones. none of the cats were infected with h. pylori and most of them had mixed infections with h. felis and h. heilmanii. sensitivity and specificity of different diagnostic methods in comparison with pcr were 93 and 44%, respectively in rapid urease test, 97 and 92% respectively in histopathology and 98 and 94%, respectively in cytology. based on result of the study most of the cats may be infected with helicobacter spp without any significant clinical signs. cytology was the most simple and fastest screening methods in the diagnosis of helicobacter infection. with respect to morphologic similarities of h. felis and h. heilmanii and inability to culture h. heilmanii, pcr can be considered as one of the best methods in the identification of infecting helicobacter strains in cats.