Pathogenesis of Helicobacter pylori infection.
Helicobacter pylori infections are thought to eventually lead to symptoms as a result of the long-lasting interactions between the bacterium and its host. Mechanisms that allow this bacterium to cause a life-long infection involve modulation of both the immune response and host cellular processes. Last year many novel findings that improve our knowledge on how H. pylori virulence factors interact with the host were reported, but because of space limitations we can only discuss a limited number of these studies. Among those are studies on the genetic variation of genes encoding outer membrane proteins and the mimicry of host antigens, factors that alter host-cell metabolism and factors that modulate the host's immune response.
Department of Laboratory Medicine, University-Hospital of Padova, Via Giustiniani 2, Padua, Italy. daniela.basso@sanita.padova.it
Daniela
D
Basso
Mario
M
Plebani
Johannes G
JG
Kusters
D016481:Helicobacter Infections / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000473:pathology*; D016480:Helicobacter pylori / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D006801:Humans; D037521:Virulence Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
D037521:Virulence Factors