Detection of Helicobacter pylori in gastric biopsies, saliva and dental plaques of dyspeptic patients from Marília, São Paulo, Brazil: presence of vacA andcagA genes

Rasmussen LT (1), de Labio RW (2), Neto AC (2), Silva LC (3), Queiroz VF (4), Smith MAC (5), Payão SLM (1, 2)

(1) Postgraduate Program in Oral Biology, Sacred Heart University, Bauru, São Paulo State, Brazil; (2) Department of Genetics, FAMEMA Blood Center, Marília Medical School (FAMEMA), Marília, São Paulo State, Brazil; (3) Department of Anatomic Pathology, Marília Medical School (FAMEMA), Marília, São Paulo State, Brazil; (4) Department of Digestive System Surgery, Marília Medical School (FAMEMA), Marília, São Paulo State, Brazil; (5) Department of Morphology, Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP), São Paulo, São Paulo State, Brazil.

Abstract: Helicobacter pylori, a gram-negative bacterium, possesses two important virulence factors: the vacuolating toxin (vacA), and the cytotoxin-associated gene product (cagA). The aim of the present study was to evaluate the presence of H. pylori in the stomach and oral cavity of humans and compare the cagA and vacA genotypes of H. pylori found in different samples (stomach, saliva and dental plaque) from the same patient. Gastric biopsies, saliva and dental plaques were obtained from 62 dyspeptic adults. DNA was extracted and evaluated for the presence of H. pylori and the alleles cagA andvacA. Persons with gastritis had a higher frequency of H. pylori-positive samples in the stomach while positive samples from gastric biopsies were significantly correlated with those from the oral cavity. There was a high H. pylori frequency in patients while the cagA gene was associated with vacA s1 alleles in gastric biopsies. Our results suggest a reservoir of the species in the oral cavity and that, in one patient, more than one H. pylori strain may exist in the saliva, dental plaque and stomach. We found a relationship between gastric infection and the bacterium in the oral cavity, with the cytotoxin genotype varying between saliva and dental plaque.

Key words: Helicobacter pylori, cagA, vacA, dental plaque, dyspeptic patient, saliva.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors would like to thank the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES), Sacred Heart University (USC), Marília Medical School (FAMEMA) and The State of São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) for their support.

COPYRIGHT

© CEVAP 2012

SUBMISSION STATUS

Received: October 4, 2011.

Accepted: November 30, 2011.

Abstract published online: January 18, 2012.

Full paper published online: May 31, 2012.

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

FINANCIAL SOURCE

The State of São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) provided the financial grants (process n. 06/60836-1).

ETHICS COMMITTEE APPROVAL

The present study was approved by the Ethics Research Committee of Sacred Heart University (process n. 056/2005). Moreover, all study subjects signed an informed consent in order to be included in the study.

CORRESPONDENCE TO

Spencer Luiz Marques Payão, Laboratório de Genética, Hemocentro, FAMEMA, Rua Lourival Freire, 240, Bairro Fragata, CEP 17519-050, Marília, SP, Brasil. Phone: +55 14 34021856. Fax: +55 14 34330148. Email: slmpayao@famema.br.