Divergence of virulence factors of Helicobacter pylori among clinical isolates does not correlate with disease specificity.

The aim of this study was to examine the relation between disease specificity and the virulence factors of Helicobacter pylori isolated from patients with gastric cancer (GC), duodenal ulcer (DU), and gastritis (GS). Altogether 18 isolates obtained from patients with GC, 28 isolates from DU patients, and 13 isolates from GS patients were analyzed. All isolates were tested for the presence of the cagA gene, and genotyping of the vacA gene was done by the polymerase chain reaction. Production of VacA protein and expression of vacuolating cytotoxic activity in the H. pylori culture supernatant were examined. The serum antibody titers against purified VacA and CagA proteins were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Interleukin-8 (IL-8) production by AGS cells in response to H. pylori isolates was measured by an hIL-8 ELISA kit. Genetic analysis of vacA revealed that most of the clinical isolates were classified into the S1a type by signal sequence typing. There were no differences in cagA detection rates, vacuolating cytotoxin activity, or mean antibody titers against VacA and CagA protein among the three groups. The mean IL-8 concentrations in the supernatants of AGS cells were similar in the three groups. In this study, there was no difference in virulence factors of H. pylori among isolates from GC, DU, and GS.