AIMS To assess the significance of cagA and vacA subtypes of Helicobacter pylori in relation to inflammation and density of bacterial colonisation in vivo within a dyspeptic UK population. METHODS Dyspeptic patients who were Helicobacter pylori positive had antral samples taken for histology and culture. Gastroduodenal pathology was noted. The grade of bacterial density and inflammation was a...

Helicobacter pylori vacuolating cytotoxin A (VacA) has been considered as an apoptosis-inducing factor. Here, we investigated the mechanism of VacA-induced apoptosis in relation to the defense mechanism and MAP kinases pathway in gastric epithelial cells. AGS cells exposed to enriched VacA extracts affected the level of SOD-1 and villin. We further investigated the role of VacA in those inducti...

Although Helicobacter pylori has a significant impact on the occurrence of severe clinical syndromes, its exact ways of transmission and origin have not been identified. According to the results of some previously published articles, foods with animal origins play a substantial role in the transmission of H. pylori to humans. The present investigation was carried out to study the vacuolating cy...

More than 50% of the world's population is infected with Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori). Chronic infection with this Gram-negative pathogen is associated with the development of peptic ulcers and is linked to an increased risk of gastric cancer. H. pylori secretes many proteinaceous factors that are important for initial colonization and subsequent persistence in the host stomach. One of the m...

Helicobacter pylori infects the majority of the population in the developing countries. However, the rate of gastrointestinal complications such as peptic ulcers and gastric malignancies has no parallel with the infection. In order to determine whether cytotoxin (vacA) and its allelic polymorphism can serve as screening markers for such a population, H. pylori strains were isolated from one hun...

In this study, we describe the ultrastructural changes associated with acid activation of Helicobacter pylori vacuolating cytotoxin (VacA). Purified VacA molecules imaged by deep-etch electron microscopy form approximately 30-nm hexagonal "flowers," each composed of an approximately 15-nm central ring surrounded by six approximately 6-nm globular "petals." Upon exposure to acidic pH, these olig...

Background& Aims: Gastric adenocarcinoma has been considered as an infectious disease since 1994, when the Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection categorized as a definite class I human carcinogen. H. pylori uses extensive numbers of virulence factors to overcome host defence mechanisms. One independent H. pylori factor that plays an important role in determining H.pylori pathogenesisis vacu...

Gastric cancer is a leading cause of cancer death worldwide. Diet, obesity, smoking and chronic infections, especially with Helicobacter pylori, contribute to stomach cancer development. H. pylori possesses a variety of virulence factors including encoded factors from the cytotoxin-associated gene pathogenicity island (cagPAI) or vacuolating cytotoxin A (VacA). Most of the cagPAI-encoded produc...

Helicobacter pylori is a pathogenic bacterium that colonizes more than 50% of the world's population, which leads to a tremendous medical burden. H. pylori infection is associated with such varied diseases as gastritis, peptic ulcers, and two forms of gastric cancer: gastric adenocarcinoma and mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma. This association represents a novel paradigm for cancer de...

Helicobacter pylori infects 50% of the population and 10-20% of the infected individuals develop various gastroduodenal illness, which include gastritis, duodenal ulcer, gastric ulcer, distal gastric adenocarcinoma and gastric mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma. The bacterium was classified as type I carcinogen by WHO in 1994. Most of the pathogenic potentials of H. pylori have been att...