title: Identification of Helicobacter species by 16S rDNA PCR and sequence analysis in human liver samples from patients with various etiologies of benign liver diseases.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Several reports indicated an increased prevalence of the Helicobacter species in hepatocellular cancer tissue and in liver samples infected with hepatitis viruses. The frequency of Helicobacter spp. in benign liver diseases was, however, not thoroughly investigated.
  
  
  METHODS
  Seventy-five consecutive patients with suspected liver disease were enrolled. The indications were hepatitis B virus (n=30), C virus (n=8), B and C dual infection (n=1), nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (n=27), autoimmune hepatitis (n=3), primary biliary cirrhosis (n=1) and idiopathic elevation of liver enzymes (n=5). PCR detection of 16S recombinant RNA gene of Helicobacter spp. was performed on liver samples. PCR products of positive samples were further identified by DNA sequencing. The patients also had upper gastrointestinal endoscopy and gastric biopsy for the detection of H. pylori using histopathology and PCR.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Helicobacter spp. DNA was detected in two out of 75 liver biopsy samples (2.6%), which were typed as H. pylori by DNA sequencing. One of these patients had chronic hepatitis C infection (man, 51 years old) and the other had nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (woman, 44 years old). Fifty-two out of 75 of the patients (69.3%) had H. pylori infection in their stomachs.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We have found that H. pylori infection is much less prevalent in benign liver diseases. The presence of H. pylori in nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) patients is a novel finding and this finding should be confirmed in a larger series.
authors: Gazi University, Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey.
authors: Mehmet
authors: M
authors: Cindoruk
authors: Meltem Yalinay
authors: MY
authors: Cirak
authors: Selahattin
authors: S
authors: Unal
authors: Tarkan
authors: T
authors: Karakan
authors: Gulbanu
authors: G
authors: Erkan
authors: Doruk
authors: D
authors: Engin
authors: Sukru
authors: S
authors: Dumlu
authors: Sevgi
authors: S
authors: Turet
mesh_terms: D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis*; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D016481:Helicobacter Infections / Q000382:microbiology*; D016480:Helicobacter pylori / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000382:microbiology; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000382:microbiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal