Clinical relevance of the cagA, vacA, and iceA status of Helicobacter pylori

Abstract

Clinical outcome of Helicobacter pylori infection may be associated with specific virulence-associated bacterial genotypes. The aim of this study was to assess the relationships between H. pylori cagA, vacA, and iceA status and severity of disease. Gastric biopsy specimens from 94 patients in The Netherlands were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction and reverse hybridization. cagA was present in 63 (67%) of 94 cases and was associated with peptic ulcer disease (P = 0.0019). vacA geno-types s1a/m1, s1b/m2, s1b/m1, s1b/m2, and s2/m2 were found in 36.2%, 23.4%, 2.1%, 5.3%, and 20.2%, respectively. Ten isolates (10.6%) contained multiple vacA genotypes. The presence of peptic ulcers was associated with type s1 strains (P = 0.0006) but not with the m type (P = 0.2035). cagA and vacA s1 were strongly associated (P < 10(-5)). iceA1 was found in 53 (56.4%) and iceA2 in 25 (26.6%) of the 94 cases. In 14 isolates (14.9%), both iceA alleles were found, and 2 (2.1%) were negative for both iceA1 and iceA2. iceA1 was also associated with peptic ulcer disease (P = 0.0042). The iceA allelic type was independent of the cagA and vacA status. vacA s1, cagA, and iceA1 are markers of H. pylori strains that are more likely to lead to ulcer disease.