A high frequency of detection of Helicobacter pylori in whitish exudate of gastric ulcer.

Helicobacter pylori has been implicated in the pathogenesis of chronic gastritis and peptic ulcer. However, no report to date has been made on the presence of H. pylori in the whitish exudate of peptic ulcers. We examined the biopsy specimens of 52 patients (42 men and 10 women, aged 29-78, not taking steroids or nonsteroid antiinflammatory drugs), and evaluated the frequency of detecting the organism in the whitish exudate of gastric ulcers in comparison with that in the ulcer border, gastric fundic gland, and pyloric gland using microaerobic culture and acridine-orange stain. H. pylori was detected in high rates: 38 (73%) of 52 cases by culture, and 50 cases (96%) by staining of the whitish exudate, 42 (81%) of 52 cases by culture, and 46 cases (88%) by staining of the ulcer border. The frequency for the other regions were 81% by culture and 90% by staining of the fundic gland, and 81 and 90% of the pyloric gland, respectively. Of all sites studied by the staining method, H. pylori was detected at the highest frequency in the whitish exudate. The fact that many H. pylori live in the whitish exudate of gastric ulcer, suggests a causal relationship between H. pylori and gastric ulcer.