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This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: jmm.0.010934-0v1 58/9/1149    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via CrossRef Google Scholar Articles by Hirai, I. Articles by Yamamoto, Y. PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Hirai, I. Articles by Yamamoto, Y. Agricola Articles by Hirai, I. Articles by Yamamoto, Y.

Assessment of East Asian-type cagA-positive Helicobacter pylori using stool specimens from asymptomatic healthy Japanese individuals

¹ Department of Bioinformatics, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka 565-0871, Japan

² Health Care Center, Osaka University, Osaka 560-0043, Japan

Correspondence
Itaru Hirai
hiraii{at}sahs.med.osaka-u.ac.jp

Received March 9, 2009
Accepted May 11, 2009

Recent investigations have suggested that CagA, a virulence factor of Helicobacter pylori and known to have multiple genotypes, plays a critical role in the development of stomach cancer. However, the prevalence of cagA-positive H. pylori strains and the cagA genotypes have not been well studied in healthy individuals because of the difficulty in collecting gastric specimens. In the present study, we assessed the prevalence of infection with H. pylori, particularly the strains with the East Asian cagA genotype (which is more potent in causing gastric diseases), among healthy asymptomatic Japanese individuals by a noninvasive method using stool specimens. The H. pylori antigen was detected in 40.3 % of healthy asymptomatic adult individuals (n=186) enrolled in the study. For the detection and genotyping of the cagA gene, DNA was extracted from the stool specimens of these individuals and analysed by PCR. We detected the East Asian cagA genotype in the DNA samples of a significantly high number (63.1 %) of healthy asymptomatic Japanese individuals. These results indicate that a significant number of asymptomatic healthy Japanese individuals were infected with highly virulent H. pylori.