Helicobacter pylori: microbiology of a 'slow' bacterial infection.
The bacterium Helicobacter pylori lives in the gastric mucus layer of humans and induces a chronic inflammatory response that can result in both peptic ulceration and gastric neoplasms. Helicobacter pylori infection can be considered as a 'slow', adaptive and autoregulating process. The mechanisms by which this slow bacterial pathogen survives and interacts with the host immune system may provide a model for other persistent mucosal pathogens.
Blaser
M J
MJ
Dept of Medicine, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232-2605.
D005756:Gastritis / Q000209:etiology; D016481:Helicobacter Infections / Q000209:etiology*; D016480:Helicobacter pylori / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D006801:Humans