We compared four tests for antibodies to CagA or VacA, HelicoBlot 2. 0, RIDA Blot Helicobacter, CHIRON RIBA H. pylori SIA, and an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay using recombinant CagA. Immunoblot assays were accurate for determining Helicobacter pylori status but poor for determining CagA or VacA status (accuracy, 66 to 80% for CagA status and 34 to 67% for VacA status). None can be recommen...

Chronic infection with cagA-positive Helicobacter pylori is the strongest risk factor for atrophic gastritis, peptic ulcers, and gastric cancer. CagA, the product of the cagA gene, is a bacterial oncoprotein, which, upon delivery into gastric epithelial cells, binds to and inhibits the polarity-regulating kinase, partitioning-defective 1b (PAR1b) [also known as microtubule affinity-regulating k...

Approximately 60% of Helicobacter pylori isolates in the Western world possess the cytotoxin-associated gene A (cagA). cagA-positive H. pylori is found to be associated with peptic ulcer disease (PUD) and gastric adenocarcinoma. To investigate the cagA status of H. pylori isolates from Chinese patients with PUD and chronic gastritis (CG), H. pylori populations from 83 patients, 48 with PUD and ...

AIM To evaluate the frequency of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) CagA antibodies in H. pylori infected subjects and to identify potential histopathological and bacterial factors related to H. pylori CagA-immune response. METHODS Systematic data to H. pylori isolates, blood samples, gastric biopsies for histological and molecular analyses were available from 99 prospectively recruited subjects...

PURPOSE Virulent genotypes of Helicobacter pylori vacA s1m1/cagA+/babA2+ have been associated with severe gastric diseases. VacA, CagA and BabA are polymorphic proteins, and their association with the disease is allele-dependent. The aims of this work were: (i) to determine the prevalence of H. pylori by type of chronic gastritis; (ii) to describe the frequency of cagA, babA2 and vacA genotypes...

The incidence of gastric cancer in Okinawa is lowest in Japan. Some previous reports using small number of strains suggested that the high prevalence of Helicobacter pylori with Western-type cagA in Okinawa compared to other areas in Japan might contribute to the low incidence of gastric cancer. It has still not been confirmed why the prevalence of Western-type cagA strains is high in Okinawa. ...

The interrelationship between cytotoxin-associated gene A (CagA), vacuolating cytotoxin (VacA), and Helicobacter pylori-related diseases was investigated in 155 H. pylori-infected patients. Four (7%) of 60 subjects had mixed cagA+ and cagA- H. pylori infections. The H. pylori isolates from 98.3% of 121 patients with anti-CagA antibodies were cagA+. The occurrence of cagA+ H. pylori among 76 pat...

BACKGROUND cag pathogenicity island (PAI) is reported to be a major virulence factor of Helicobacter pylori. AIM To characterise cagA and the cag PAI in Japanese H pylori strains. METHODS H pylori isolates from Japanese patients were evaluated for CagA by immunoblot, for cagA transcription by northern blot, and for cagA and 13 other cag PAI genes by Southern blot. cagA negative strains from...

Risk factors for gastric cancer are receiving renewed attention in light of the recent positive association of Helicobacter pylori infection with gastric cancer. The effect of H.pylori on the balance between oxidants and antioxidants in the stomach is not well known. In this study, we investigated if exposure of gastric cells to H. pylori increases oxidant-associated gastric epithelial cell inj...

CagA seropositivity is an important risk factor for gastric adenocarcinoma and duodenal ulcer. However, CagA seropositivity is also found in Helicobacter pylori-seronegative subjects. Is CagA seropositivity in these subjects a sign of a past H. pylori infection, or does it represent a false-positive reaction? This study investigates the intensity of the CagA immune reaction and the variation in...