title: Helicobacter pylori oipA genetic diversity and its associations with both disease and cagA, vacA s, m, and i alleles among Bulgarian patients.
abstract: Prevalence of outer inflammatory protein (oipA) gene functional status in Helicobacter pylori strains from Southeastern Europe is still unclear. H. pylori strains from 70 symptomatic patients were polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assessed for cagA and vacA types, and oipA gene functional status was evaluated by PCR and sequencing. Our results demonstrated a high prevalence of strains with oipA status "on" genes (81%) and strong association between them and peptic ulcers, cagA, and vacA s1 and s1/m1 genotypes, regardless of the patient gender, place of residence, and age. Importantly, most vacA i1 strains (93%) harbored oipA status "on" versus only 57% of those with vacA i2 type. The vacA i1 genotype was less frequent (66%) than both cagA and vacA s1 types. The virulent strains with cagA(+) and vacA s1, m1, and i1 were detected in 35% as a predominant genotype and almost all (96%) of these strains harbored oipA status "on". In conclusion, the high prevalence of in-frame oipA gene strains (81%), associated with peptic ulcers and cagA(+), vacA s1, m1, m2, and, importantly, i1 genotypes, indicates a strong synergistic activity of H. pylori virulence factors.
authors.affiliation: Medical Microbiology, Medical University of Sofia, 1431 Sofia, Bulgaria. markovska73@abv.bg
authors.forename: Rumyana
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Markovska
authors.forename: Lyudmila
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Boyanova
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Yordanov
authors.forename: Galina
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gergova
authors.forename: Ivan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Mitov
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000483:Alleles; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics*; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D002031:Bulgaria; D002648:Child; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005838:Genotype; D016481:Helicobacter Infections / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000473:pathology*; D016480:Helicobacter pylori / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010437:Peptic Ulcer / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D037521:Virulence Factors; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; C526444:OipA protein, Helicobacter pylori; C074689:VacA protein, Helicobacter pylori; D037521:Virulence Factors; C080866:cagA protein, Helicobacter pylori