Organ-specific autoantibodies in children with Helicobacter pylori infection.
BACKGROUND
We compared the prevalence of organ-specific autoantibodies in a group of Helicobacter pylori infected children and a group of uninfected children and investigated the relationship between the presence of relevant autoantibodies and the status of the target organs.


METHODS
One hundred and twenty-four children with dyspepsia (54 boys, 70 girls; mean age 10.5 years; range 4-19) underwent gastroscopy: 56 had H. pylori infection (31 girls, 25 boys), while 68 (37 girls and 31 boys), were H. pylori-negative. All sera were tested for the presence of: parietal cell autoantibodies (PCA), intrinsic factor autoantibodies (IFA), microsomial autoantibodies, thyroglobulin autoantibodies, islet cell autoantibodies, glutamic acid decarboxylase autoantibodies, adrenal cortex autoantibodies, steroid-producing cell autoantibodies; gastrin, pepsinogen A, pepsinogen C and anti-H. pylori antibodies. The histological features and the ureA and cagA genes were also considered.


RESULTS
The frequency of organ-specific autoantibodies was higher in patients with H. pylori infection than in uninfected patients (chi2-test p < .0001). Specifically gastric autoantibodies were significantly higher: seven of the 56 H. pylori-positive children were PCA-positive and one was IFA-positive (chi2-test p = .0004). The presence of autoantibodies was not associated with any clinical or biohumoral signs of disease.


CONCLUSIONS
Our study detected a relationship between H. pylori infection in childhood and the presence of organ-specific autoantibodies unassociated with any clinical or biohumoral signs of disease. Helicobacter pylori infection in childhood could trigger the onset of clinical autoimmune gastritis, and/or other clinical autoimmune diseases.
Guariso
Graziella
G
Department of Pediatrics, University of Padua, Italy. guariso@pediatria.unipd.it
Brotto
Francesca
F
Basso
Daniela
D
Alaggio
Rita
R
Betterle
Corrado
C
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005773:Gastroscopy; D016481:Helicobacter Infections / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology; D016480:Helicobacter pylori; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009928:Organ Specificity; D010295:Parietal Cells, Gastric / Q000276:immunology
D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D001323:Autoantibodies; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; C080866:cagA protein, Helicobacter pylori