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Clinical Microbiology Reviews, Oct 1997, 720-741, Vol 10, No. 4
BE Dunn, H Cohen and MJ Blaser
Helicobacter pylori is a gram-negative bacterium which causes chronic
gastritis and plays important roles in peptic ulcer disease, gastric
carcinoma, and gastric lymphoma. H. pylori has been found in the stomachs
of humans in all parts of the world. In developing countries, 70 to 90% of
the population carries H. pylori. In developed countries, the prevalence of
infection is lower. There appears to be no substantial reservoir of H.
pylori aside from the human stomach. Transmission can occur by iatrogenic,
fecal-oral, and oral-oral routes. H. pylori is able to colonize and persist
in a unique biological niche within the gastric lumen. All fresh isolates
of H. pylori express significant urease activity, which appears essential
to the survival and pathogenesis of the bacterium. A variety of tests to
diagnose H. pylori infection are now available. Histological examination of
gastric tissue, culture, rapid urease testing, DNA probes, and PCR
analysis, when used to test gastric tissue, all require endoscopy. In
contrast, breath tests, serology, gastric juice PCR, and urinary excretion
of [15N]ammonia are noninvasive tests that do not require endoscopy. In
this review, we highlight advances in the detection of the presence of the
organism and methods of differentiating among types of H. pylori, and we
provide a background for appropriate chemotherapy of the infection.
Copyright © 1997 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Helicobacter pylori
Department of Pathology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee 53226- 0509, USA.
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