title: Association of CagPAI integrity with severeness of Helicobacter pylori infection in patients with gastritis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The Helicobacter pylori cag pathogenicity island (cagPAI) is involved in delivery of CagA effector protein and peptidoglycan into host cells and also in IL-8 induction in the human gastric tissue. Diversity of cagPAI may affect disease status and clinical outcome of the infected patients. Our study was aimed to investigate diversity of this island and its intactness in Iranian patients to investigate possible associations between cagPAI integrity and pathological changes of the infected tissue.
  Out of the 75 patients, H. pylori strains were obtained from 30 patients with severe active gastritis (SAG) (n=11), moderate chronic gastritis (CG) (n=14) and intestinal metaplasia/dysplasia (IM) (n=5). Intactness of the cagPAI was determined using 12 sets of primer pairs specific for functionally important loci of cagPAI by polymerase chain reaction (PCR).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The cagPAI positive strains were significantly observed in patients with SAG (52.4%) in comparison to those presenting CG (33.3%) and IM (14.3%). In addition, the presence of intact cagPAI was 87.5% in H. pylori strains isolated from patients with SAG, which was higher than those obtained from patients with CG (12.5%) or IM (0%). A significant increase in the frequency of cagα-cagY and cagW-cagT segments, as exterior proteins of the CagPAI, was illustrated in strains from SAG patients compared with those from patients with CG.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Overall, these results strongly proposed an association between the severity of histopathological changes and intactness of cagPAI in the gastric tissue of patients infected with H. pylori.
authors.affiliation: Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; Foodborne and Waterborne Diseases Research Center, Research Institute for Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; Faculty of Medicine, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ahmadzadeh
authors.affiliation: Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; Foodborne and Waterborne Diseases Research Center, Research Institute for Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ghalehnoei
authors.affiliation: Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases Research Center, Research Institute for Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Farzi
authors.affiliation: Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases Research Center, Research Institute for Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yadegar
authors.affiliation: Foodborne and Waterborne Diseases Research Center, Research Institute for Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases Research Center, Research Institute for Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Electronic address: masoud.alebouyeh@gmail.com.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Alebouyeh
authors.affiliation: Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases Research Center, Research Institute for Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; Basic and Molecular Epidemiology of Gastrointestinal Disorders Research Center, Research Institute for Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: H A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Aghdaei
authors.affiliation: Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases Research Center, Research Institute for Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Molaei
authors.affiliation: Foodborne and Waterborne Diseases Research Center, Research Institute for Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases Research Center, Research Institute for Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Electronic address: nnzali@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: M R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Zali
authors.affiliation: Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases Research Center, Research Institute for Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Pour Hossein Gholi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D005756:Gastritis / Q000150:complications / Q000235:genetics / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000473:pathology; D018740:Genetic Heterogeneity; D044404:Genomic Islands / Q000235:genetics; D016481:Helicobacter Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000235:genetics / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000473:pathology; D016480:Helicobacter pylori / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006801:Humans; D007422:Intestines / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008679:Metaplasia / Q000235:genetics / Q000382:microbiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014774:Virulence / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; C080866:cagA protein, Helicobacter pylori
keywords: CagPAI intactness; H. pylori; Histopathological changes