title: Association between Helicobacter pylori cagA-related genes and clinical outcomes in Colombia and Japan.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Specific genotypes of several virulence factors of Helicobacter pylori (eg, cagA-positive, vacA s1, oipA "on" and babA-positive) have been reported to be predictors of severe clinical outcomes. Importantly, the presence of these genotypes correlates with each other. We hypothesized that novel virulence genes correlate with the presence of cagA. Therefore, we aimed to find novel candidate virulence genes that correlate with cagA and examined the association of these genes with clinical outcomes in Colombian and Japanese populations.
  
  
  METHODS
  cagA-associated genes were selected based on previous H. pylori genome microarray data. A total of 343 strains (174 from Colombia and 169 from Japan) were examined for the status of cagA, vacA, and candidate genes by polymerase chain reaction and dot blot.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Microarray data showed that 9 genes were significantly correlated with the presence of cagA. Among the 9 genes, the functions of 4 were known, and we selected these 4 genes as candidate genes (hp0967, jhp0045, jhp0046, and jhp0951). The prevalences of cagA, vacA s1/m1 genotype, and hp0967 were significantly higher in Japan than Colombia, whereas those of jhp0045 and jhp0046 were more prevalent in Colombia than Japan. The prevalences of jhp0045 and jhp0046 in cagA-positive cases of gastric cancer were significantly higher than those from gastritis in Colombia (P = 0.015 and 0.047, respectively). In contrast, the prevalence of 4 candidate genes was independent of clinical outcomes in Japan.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  jhp0045 and jhp0046 might be novel markers for predicting gastric cancer in cagA-positive cases in Colombia, but not in Japan.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental and Preventive Medicine, Oita University Faculty of Medicine, Idaigaoka, Hasama-machi, Yufu-City, Japan.
authors.forename: Masahide
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Watada
authors.forename: Seiji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shiota
authors.forename: Osamu
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Matsunari
authors.forename: Rumiko
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: Kazunari
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Murakami
authors.forename: Toshio
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fujioka
authors.forename: Yoshio
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yamaoka
mesh_terms: D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D003105:Colombia / Q000453:epidemiology; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000737:chemistry; D005756:Gastritis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000382:microbiology; D005838:Genotype; D016481:Helicobacter Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics / Q000382:microbiology*; D016480:Helicobacter pylori / Q000235:genetics* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D006801:Humans; D015151:Immunoblotting; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D046228:Microarray Analysis; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015995:Prevalence; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D017931:DNA Primers; C080866:cagA protein, Helicobacter pylori