title: Incidence of Helicobacter pylori infection in a cohort of Italian military students.
abstract: Prevalence and incidence of Helicobacter pylori infection among 250 Italian military students were studied using specific IgG antibodies. Subjects susceptible at enrollment were evaluated during a 10-month follow-up period, when two serum samples were collected after 5 and 10 months, respectively. Samples were also analyzed for anti-CagA (a protein associated with virulent H. pylori strains) IgG antibodies. Finally, spectrotypic analysis by isoelectric focusing and reverse blotting (IEFRB) was performed in the majority of positive samples. Forty-three out of 250 (17.2%) were positive at the time of enrollment, a seroprevalence rate very similar to that observed in a larger Italian military population 5 years earlier. Among the 207 susceptible subjects, two seroconverted at 5 months after enrollment; they were still positive at the end of follow-up (incidence rate of 1.16 per 100 person/years of exposure). This data suggests a spread of H. pylori in the Italian military population that is not negligible. Nearly all anti-H. pylori-positive subjects were also CagA antibody positive (agreement percentage: 97.6%; K = 0.91), suggesting that the large majority of H. pylori strains were of the virulent type. Sixty-four percent of positive sera presented an oligoclonal spectrotype, which seems to be a hallmark of humoral immune response to H. pylori.
authors.affiliation: Aeronautica Militare Italiana, DASRS, Pomezia, Rome.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Biselli
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fortini
authors.forename: P M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Matricardi
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Stroffolini
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: D'Amelio
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000379:methods; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D016481:Helicobacter Infections / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology; D016480:Helicobacter pylori / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007525:Isoelectric Focusing; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D008889:Military Personnel; D013334:Students
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; C080866:cagA protein, Helicobacter pylori