title: Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for Helicobacter pylori needs adjustment for the population investigated.
abstract: Helicobacter pylori infection and peptic ulcer disease are common in developing countries, e.g., Vietnam. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for screening of patients and for seroepidemiology is a useful tool but needs to be validated in the population studied. We used in-house ELISA with sonicated Swedish and Vietnamese strains as antigens to measure immunoglobulin G antibodies after absorption with sonicated Campylobacter jejuni in sera from 270 H. pylori culture-confirmed peptic ulcer patients, 128 Swedish urea-breath test and immunoblot-positive healthy controls, and 432 Vietnamese immunoblot-positive population controls. Sonicated whole-cell antigen based on the local strains showed a significantly better performance. Immunoblot-positive peptic ulcer patients had significantly higher antibody concentrations than immunoblot-positive population controls, necessitating a lower cutoff level if serology is used for screening or epidemiological purposes. The study shows that the parameters of ELISA for H. pylori need to be adjusted for the population being investigated.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Microbiology, Microbiology and Tumorbiology Center, Karolinska Hospital, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Thi Thu Ha
authors.initials: TT
authors.lastname: Hoang
authors.forename: Thuc-Uyen
authors.initials: TU
authors.lastname: Wheeldon
authors.forename: Carina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bengtsson
authors.forename: Dac Cam
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Phung
authors.forename: Mikael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sörberg
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Granström
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000032:analysis; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000379:methods; D016481:Helicobacter Infections / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis*; D016480:Helicobacter pylori / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010437:Peptic Ulcer / Q000382:microbiology*; D012016:Reference Values; D014510:Urease / Q000032:analysis; D014744:Vietnam
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D015415:Biomarkers; D014510:Urease