Clinical relevance of iceA and babA2 genotypes of Helicobacter pylori in a Shanghai population.

OBJECTIVE

To determine the distribution of the iceA and babA2 genotypes of Helicobacter pylori in patients with various gastroduodenal diseases in Shanghai, and to explore the association between genotype and the clinical outcome of infection.

METHODS

One hundred and forty-one strains of H. pylori were isolated from gastric biopsies of 43 patients with chronic gastritis, 47 with duodenal ulcer (DU), 30 with gastric ulcer (GU) and 21 with non-cardia gastric carcinoma. The iceA, babA2, cagA and vacA genotypes were determined by polymerase chain reaction (PCR).

RESULTS

The iceA1, iceA2 and babA2 genotypes were detected in 74.5% (105/141), 15.6% (22/141) and 63.8% (90/141), respectively, of the H. pylori strains studied. Two H. pylori isolates (1.4%) were positive for both iceA alleles and 16 (11.3%) were negative for both. The prevalence of babA2 and its combination with cagA (cagA(+)/babA2(+)) in DU patients was significantly higher than that in GU patients (74.5%vs 50.0% for babA2, P = 0.028; 70.2%vs 46.7% for cagA(+)/babA2(+), P = 0.039). There was no significant difference in the prevalence of babA2 among the other disease groups, and no significant association of the iceA genotypes with the different clinical diseases (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

The most predominant genotype of the H. pylori strains isolated from patients in Shanghai are iceA1(+)/babA2(+), and the babA2 genotype may play a different role in the pathogenesis of DU and GU. An association between iceA status and clinical outcome of H. pylori infection could not be confirmed in the present study.