Observational Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2023. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Jan 7, 2023; 29(1): 190-199
Published online Jan 7, 2023. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v29.i1.190
Impact of Helicobacter pylori virulence markers on clinical outcomes in adult populations
Halim Roshrosh, Hanan Rohana, Maya Azrad, Tamar Leshem, Segula Masaphy, Avi Peretz
Halim Roshrosh, Segula Masaphy, Applied Mycology and Microbiology, Migal, Kiryat Shemona 1101202, Israel
Hanan Rohana, Maya Azrad, Tamar Leshem, Avi Peretz, Department of Microbiology, Padeh Poriya Medical Center, Tiberias 111508, Israel
Author contributions: Roshrosh H, Rohana H, and Peretz A contributed to conceptualization; Roshrosh H, Rohana H, Azrad M, and Leshem T contributed to data curation; Roshrosh H, Rohana H, Azrad M, Leshem T, and Peretz A contributed to formal analysis; Roshrosh H, Rohana H, and Leshem T contributed to investigation and methodology; Leshem T, Azrad M, and Peretz A contributed to project administration and supervision; Roshrosh H, Rohana H, and Leshem T contributed to validation; Roshrosh H, Rohana H, and Leshem T contributed to visualization; Roshrosh H, Rohana H, Azrad M, and Peretz A contributed to writing the original draft; Roshrosh H, Rohana H, Azrad M, Leshem T, and Peretz A contributed to reviewing and editing; All authors read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Institutional review board statement: The study was reviewed and approved by the Helsinki Committee of the Baruch Padeh Medical Center, Poriya (Approval No. POR 0007-20).
Informed consent statement: The Institutional Review Board committee waived the need for participant approval.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
Data sharing statement: The data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement—checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement—checklist of items.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Maya Azrad, PhD, Research Scientist, Department of Microbiology, Padeh Poriya Medical Center, Lower Galillee Israel, Tiberias 111508, Israel. mazrad@poria.health.gov.il
Received: August 16, 2022
Peer-review started: August 16, 2022
First decision: October 20, 2022
Revised: November 2, 2022
Accepted: November 21, 2022
Article in press: November 21, 2022
Published online: January 7, 2023
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is a microaerophilic, Gram-negative bacterium that colonizes the gastric mucosa and infects the stomach epithelium, causing peptic ulcer disease. The genetic variability of H. pylori and its host, combined with environmental factors, have been suggested to affect the clinical outcome. H. pylori pathogenesis is mediated via distinct virulence factors, including the secreted vacuolating cytotoxin A, cytotoxin-associated gene A, and urease.

Research motivation

In recent years, associations between specific virulence markers of H. pylori and gastrointestinal disorders have been suggested.

Research objectives

To investigate the distribution of three virulence factors among isolates from both Arab and Jewish populations and to assess their impact on clinical presentations.

Research methods

We enrolled 108 patients tested for the presence of vacuolating cytotoxin A and cytotoxin-associated gene A genes and evaluated the urease activity levels. We assessed the clinical state of the patients by hematoxylin and eosin staining of the gastric biopsies from which the bacteria were recovered.

Research results

We found associations between disease severity and ethnicity and between some of the virulence factors to ethnicity.

Research conclusions

Our study highlighted the importance of incorporating molecular methods for detection of virulence markers of H. pylori in order to tailor optimal treatments for each patient.

Research perspectives

Further investigation should be performed regarding associations between H. pylori virulence factors and ethnicity.