Detection of Campylobacter pyloridis in patients with antrum gastritis and peptic ulcers by culture, complement fixation test, and immunoblot.

The association of Campylobacter pyloridis with antrum gastritis and peptic ulcers was described. We investigated antral biopsies from 180 patients who underwent gastroscopy. By culture or Gram stain or both, we found overall 98 (54%) of them to be positive for C. pyloridis. In the various groups the following percentages were found to be positive: normal antral mucosa 3% (n = 30); moderate superficial antrum gastritis, 49% (n = 83); severe superficial antrum gastritis, 86% (n = 44); duodenal ulcer, 83% (n = 54); and gastric ulcer, 72% (n = 18). A serological screening that used a complement fixation test yielded the following results: highest rates of positive complement fixation titers were seen in patients with severe gastritis and those with duodenal ulcers, both with 79%; the lowest incidence was in a group of 20 blood donors, with 5%. Positive complement fixation titers in gastritis patients also correlated well with characteristic patterns on immunoglobulin G and A immunoblots, while there was no specific reactivity observed on immunoglobulin M immunoblots.