title: CagA phosphorylation EPIYA-C motifs and the vacA i genotype in Helicobacter pylori strains of asymptomatic children from a high-risk gastric cancer area in northeastern Brazil.
abstract: Helicobacter pylori infection is one of the most common infections worldwide and is associated with gastric diseases. Virulence factors such as VacA and CagA have been shown to increase the risk of these diseases. Studies have suggested a causal role of CagA EPIYA-C in gastric carcinogenesis and this factor has been shown to be geographically diverse. We investigated the number of CagA EPIYA motifs and the vacA i genotypes in H. pylori strains from asymptomatic children. We included samples from 40 infected children (18 females and 22 males), extracted DNA directly from the gastric mucus/juice (obtained using the string procedure) and analysed the DNA using polymerase chain reaction and DNA sequencing. The vacA i1 genotype was present in 30 (75%) samples, the i2 allele was present in nine (22.5%) samples and both alleles were present in one (2.5%) sample. The cagA-positive samples showed distinct patterns in the 3&#8217; variable region of cagA and 18 of the 30 (60%) strains contained 1 EPIYA-C motif, whereas 12 (40%) strains contained two EPIYA-C motifs. We confirmed that the studied population was colonised early by the most virulent H. pylori strains, as demonstrated by the high frequency of the vacA i1 allele and the high number of EPIYA-C motifs. Therefore, asymptomatic children from an urban community in Fortaleza in northeastern Brazil are frequently colonised with the most virulent H. pylori strains.
authors.affiliation: Unidade de Pesquisa Clínica, Departamento de Medicina Interna, Hospital Universitário Walter Cantídio, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Fortaleza, CE, Brasil.
authors.forename: Lucia Libanez Bessa Campelo
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Braga
authors.affiliation: Unidade de Pesquisa Clínica, Departamento de Medicina Interna, Hospital Universitário Walter Cantídio, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Fortaleza, CE, Brasil.
authors.forename: Maria Aparecida Alves de
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Oliveira
authors.affiliation: Unidade de Pesquisa Clínica, Departamento de Medicina Interna, Hospital Universitário Walter Cantídio, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Fortaleza, CE, Brasil.
authors.forename: Maria Helane Rocha Batista
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Gonçalves
authors.affiliation: Unidade de Pesquisa Clínica, Departamento de Medicina Interna, Hospital Universitário Walter Cantídio, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Fortaleza, CE, Brasil.
authors.forename: Fernando Kennedy
authors.initials: FK
authors.lastname: Chaves
authors.affiliation: Unidade de Pesquisa Clínica, Departamento de Medicina Interna, Hospital Universitário Walter Cantídio, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Fortaleza, CE, Brasil.
authors.forename: Tiago Gomes da Silva
authors.initials: TG
authors.lastname: Benigno
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Pesquisa em Bacteriologia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brasil.
authors.forename: Adriana Dias
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Gomes
authors.affiliation: Unidade de Pesquisa Clínica, Departamento de Medicina Interna, Hospital Universitário Walter Cantídio, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Fortaleza, CE, Brasil.
authors.forename: Cícero Igor Simões Moura
authors.initials: CI
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Pesquisa em Bacteriologia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brasil.
authors.forename: Charles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Anacleto
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Pesquisa em Bacteriologia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brasil.
authors.forename: Sérgio de Assis
authors.initials: Sde A
authors.lastname: Batista
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Pesquisa em Bacteriologia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brasil.
authors.forename: Dulciene Maria Magalhães
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Queiroz
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000483:Alleles; D020816:Amino Acid Motifs; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D058345:Asymptomatic Infections; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D055088:Early Detection of Cancer / Q000379:methods; D019353:Endemic Diseases; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D016481:Helicobacter Infections / Q000382:microbiology*; D016480:Helicobacter pylori / Q000235:genetics / Q000472:pathogenicity; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010766:Phosphorylation; D012307:Risk Factors; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000382:microbiology*; D014505:Urban Population; D014774:Virulence / Q000235:genetics; D037521:Virulence Factors / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; C074689:VacA protein, Helicobacter pylori; D037521:Virulence Factors; C080866:cagA protein, Helicobacter pylori