comparison pcr and culture methods for detect coccoid forms of helicobacter pylori

background: helicobacter pylori ( pylori ) was the most common cause of chronic gastritis and was linked to peptic ulcer disease and gastric cancer. environmental factors such as water a reservoir of h.pylori which infect human.  a non-culture bacteria in coccoid forms widespread in aquatic environments.the objective of this study  was elevating the diagnostic value of pcr and culture methods for for diagnosis coccoid forms of h.pylori . materials and methods: to induce coccoid forms, ten different strains of h.pylori (h 1 -h 10 ) were inoculated into 30 drinking water samples. then, the samples were incubated at three different temperatures of 4°c, 22°c and 37°c for the durations of 30 and 60 days. the samples were cultured on brucella blood agar and dna was also extracted also from them and pcr performed on samples results: percentage of h.pylori cells detected at specified temperatures by the culture were 0%, 10% and 0% in the first month and were 0%,10%,30% in the second month whereas by the pcr molecular method were 30%, 80%, and 30% in the first month and were 20%, 20%, and 40% in the second month, respectively. conclusion : finding show pcr  methodis more capable than culture  fordetect the coccoid forms of h.pylori , therefore this method could be used to detect non- culture forms.