Cytotoxicity and motility of Helicobacter pylori.

To clarify the relationship between interleukin-8 (IL-8) production and virulent factors, we examined the motility and cytotoxicity of H. pylori, suggested to be a major cause of chronic gastritis and peptic ulcers. Our results demonstrated that among cytotoxic strains of H. pylori, high-motility strains induced more IL-8 than low-motility strains. There was no correlation between cytotoxicity and motility of H. pylori. Four restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) patterns were observed in the flaA PCR products. There was no correlation between flaA RFLP and motility. In conclusion, our findings suggest that both cytotoxicity and motility are virulent factors in the pathogenesis of gastric mucosal injury.