title: Rapid diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori infection in dyspeptic patients using salivary secretion: a non-invasive approach.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Current guidelines that recommend Helicobacter pylori eradication treatment without endoscopy in selected patients underscore the importance of non-invasive testing. The accuracy of saliva as a non-invasive specimen was compared with that of invasive tests in pretreatment diagnosis of H. pylori infection.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred patients undergoing gastroscopy were grouped into 80 symptomatic and 20 asymptomatic subjects and were investigated for the presence of H. pylori in saliva and stomach. Samples tested comprised saliva and gastric biopsies collected from each patient. Exclusion criteria were history of peptic ulcer, bleeding ulcer, cancer or recent use of antibiotics, proton pump inhibitors and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Two sets of primers homologous to 534 bp fragment of H. pylori DNA, which have been shown previously to be highly specific and sensitive, were used for the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification.
  
  
  RESULTS
  72 (90 percent) of the symptomatic group and 10 asymptomatic subjects were infected with H. pylori in the stomach as determined by histology and direct PCR amplification of biopsy DNA obtained from each subject. H. pylori DNA was identified in the saliva of 70 (87.5 percent) symptomatic subjects and 12 (60 percent) asymptomatic control subjects.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  High rates of detection using saliva as a specimen indicate that saliva of the infected person could serve as a reliable non-invasive alternative to detect the presence of H. pylori infection in comparison to the currently available standard diagnostic tests.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Liver Research and Diagnostics, Deccan College of Medical Sciences, Kanchanbagh, Hyderabad 500058, Andhra Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: S K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Tiwari
authors.forename: A A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.forename: K S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Ahmed
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ahmed
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kauser
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Hussain
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Ali
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Alvi
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Habeeb
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Abid
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ahmed
authors.forename: C M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Habibullah
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001706:Biopsy; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004381:Duodenal Ulcer / Q000473:pathology*; D004415:Dyspepsia / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D005753:Gastric Mucosa / Q000382:microbiology*; D016481:Helicobacter Infections / Q000473:pathology*; D016480:Helicobacter pylori / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012463:Saliva / Q000382:microbiology*; D013997:Time Factors