title: cagA and vacA in strains of Helicobacter pylori from ulcer and non-ulcerative dyspepsia patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The cytotoxin associated gene A (cagA), and the vacuolating cytotoxin gene A (vacA) of Helicobacter pylori have been associated to phenotypic characteristics of virulence. The objectives of this study were to detect the presence of cagA and to characterize the allelic variants of vacA in 63 strains of H. pylori isolated from colonized individuals with different clinical outcomes.
  
  
  METHODS
  38 strains were isolated from patients with non-ulcerative dyspepsia (NUD) and 25 were isolated from colonized individuals with peptic ulcers. The genotypic characterization was carried out utilizing PCR methodology. The presence of the cagA gene was detected using two set of primers from the middle conservative region of the cagA, and primers for the signal and middle region were used for the genotyping of vacA.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The presence of cagA showed similar rates in strains from peptic ulcers (60%) and NUD patients (55%). Also similar was the prevalence of the allelic form s1 of vacA between the strains obtained from ulcers or NUD patients. However, the combination cagA+/vacA s1m1 was found more frequently among the H. pylori strains from peptic ulcer patients (52%) than among strains isolated from NUD patients (26%), this difference was statistically significant (p = 0.035).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The presence of either cagA or the allelic variant s1 vacA alone do not have a predictive value as as a risk markers of severe gastric pathologies in the Chilean population. However, being infected by a H. pylori strain with the genotype cagA+/vacA s1m1 may be associated to an increased risk of acquiring a peptic ulcer disease.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Microbiology, Institute of Nutrition and Food Technology, University of Chile, Macul 5540, Santiago, Chile.
authors.forename: Gustavo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Faundez
authors.forename: Miriam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Troncoso
authors.forename: Guillermo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Figueroa
mesh_terms: D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D015415:Biomarkers; D004415:Dyspepsia / Q000382:microbiology*; D005838:Genotype; D016480:Helicobacter pylori / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006801:Humans; D010437:Peptic Ulcer / Q000382:microbiology*; D012307:Risk Factors
chemical_list: D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D015415:Biomarkers; C074689:VacA protein, Helicobacter pylori; C080866:cagA protein, Helicobacter pylori