High prevalence of mixed infections by Helicobacter pylori in Hong Kong: metronidazole sensitivity and overall genotype.
BACKGROUND
Diversity in metronidazole susceptibility and genotypes of Helicobacter pylori have been reported with varying results in different areas.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate the prevalence of multiple strain infection in a symptomatic Chinese population and to determine the metronidazole susceptibility pattern and genotypic characteristics of these infecting strains.


METHODS
Gastric biopsies from antrum, body and cardia were taken during upper endoscopy in symptomatic patients referred to our department. Pooled cultures and single colony isolates were obtained and tested for metronidazole susceptibility and random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) fingerprint patterns.


RESULTS
A total of 461 isolates were successfully cultured from 46 patients. Fifty-seven per cent of subjects had metronidazole-resistant strains. Among them, 77% carried a mixture of sensitive and resistant strains, non-uniformly distributed in the gastric mucosa. Mixed genotypes were found by RAPD typing in 24% of subjects. These did not correlate with the metronidazole susceptibility/resistance pattern.


CONCLUSIONS
H. pylori infections with mixed metronidazole sensitive/resistant strains and mixed genotypes are common in Hong Kong. This makes it prudent to use bacterial strains from several biopsy sites when testing for traits such as drug resistance or virulence in relation to disease.
Wong
B C
BC
Department of Medicine, University of Hong Kong, Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong. bcywong@hku.hk
Wang
W H
WH
Berg
D E
DE
Fung
F M
FM
Wong
K W
KW
Wong
W M
WM
Lai
K C
KC
Cho
C H
CH
Hui
W M
WM
Lam
S K
SK
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001706:Biopsy; D016172:DNA Fingerprinting; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial; D016021:Epidemiologic Studies; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D016481:Helicobacter Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000235:genetics; D016480:Helicobacter pylori / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D006723:Hong Kong / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008795:Metronidazole / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D019105:Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA Technique; D013270:Stomach / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology; D014774:Virulence
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D008795:Metronidazole