Helicobacter pylori in dental plaque and stomach of patients from Northern Brazil.
OBJECTIVE
To establish whether virulence factor genes vacA and cagA are present in Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) retrieved from gastric mucosa and dental plaque in patients with dyspepsia.


METHODS
Cumulative dental plaque specimens and gastric biopsies were submitted to histological examination, rapid urease test and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays to detect the presence of cagA and vacA polymorphisms.


RESULTS
Detection of H. pylori from dental plaque and gastric biopsy samples was greater by PCR compared to histological examination and the rapid urease test. DNA from H. pylori was detected in 96% of gastric mucosa samples and in 72% of dental plaque samples. Sixty-three (89%) of 71 dental plaque samples that were H. pylori-positive also exhibited identical vacA and cagA genotypes in gastric mucosa. The most common genotype was vacAs1bm1 and cagA positive, either in dental plaque or gastric mucosa. These virulent H. pylori isolates were involved in the severity of clinical outcome.


CONCLUSIONS
These pathogenic strains were found simultaneously in dental plaque and gastric mucosa, which suggests that gastric infection is correlated with the presence of H. pylori in the mouth.
Assumpção
Mônica Baraúna
MB
Endoscopy Department, João de Barros Barreto University Hospital, 66073-000, Belém, Pará, Brazil.
Martins
Luisa Caricio
LC
Melo Barbosa
Hivana Patricia
HP
Barile
Katarine Antonia dos Santos
KA
de Almeida
Sintia Silva
SS
Assumpção
Paulo Pimentel
PP
Corvelo
Tereza Cristina de Oliveira
TC
D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D001706:Biopsy; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D003773:Dental Plaque / Q000382:microbiology*; D005756:Gastritis / Q000382:microbiology; D005838:Genotype; D016481:Helicobacter Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D016480:Helicobacter pylori / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D006801:Humans; D010437:Peptic Ulcer / Q000382:microbiology; D013270:Stomach / Q000382:microbiology*; D013272:Stomach Diseases / Q000382:microbiology*; D014510:Urease / Q000032:analysis
D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; C074689:VacA protein, Helicobacter pylori; C080866:cagA protein, Helicobacter pylori; D014510:Urease