Seroprevalence of Helicobacter pylori-specific IgA among blood donors of Rafsanjan city

Helicobacter pylori infection is considered to play an etiologic role in several gastroduodenal diseases. Blood donors are often used as proxies for the general population in studies of H. pylori epidemiology. The aims of the present study were to evaluate the seroprevalence of anti-H. Pylori IgA antibodies in blood donors from Rafsanjan city. Methods and Materials: Serum samples of 180 healthy individuals (93 males; 87 females) aged 1 to 60 (including 138 bood donors of Rafsanjan Blood Transfusion Center and 42 healthy children) were tested for the presence of IgA antibodies against H. pylori. Anti-H. Pylori immunoglobulin was detected by used of enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. The seropositivity rates determined according to age and gender. The overall seroprevalence of IgA against H. pylori was 70% (95% CI: 62.74%-76.6%). The seroprevalece rate was significantly higher in females (78.2%) as compared to males (62.4%) (P<0.05). Moreover, the seropositivity rate of H. pylori was 45% and 77.5% among children and blood donors, respectively (P<0.01). The age-specific seropositive rate of anti-H. pylori antibodies were 43.3% at age 1-10 years, 60% at age 11-20 years, 70% at age 21-30 years, 76.6% at age 31-40 years, 83.3% at age 41-50 years and 86.6% at age 51-60 years with mean titer of 16.9, 26.6, 30.5, 31.3, 33 and 43.5 Uarb/ml, respectively. These results show that the seroprevalence of H. pylori infection is widespread among the blood donors of Rafsanjan city. The H. pylori seropositivity rates and titer of specific antibody increased with the advancement of age. Moreover, both the seroprevalence and titer of anti-H. Pylori antibody was higher in adults and females compared to children and males, respectively.