Effects of H. pylori Virulence Factors (vacA, cagA, oipA and iceA)on Its Pathogenicity in Patients Suffering from Gastroduodenal Disorders

H. pylori can cause digestive problems and eventually can lead to gastric cancer. This study deals with the relationship between H. pylori virulence factors and pathological findings in the patients with gastroduodenal disorders in a particular geographical area in the west of Iran.

In this study, gastric biopsies were taken from 120 patients with indigestion (60 patients with gastritis and 60 patients with peptic ulcer). H. pylori virulence factors, vacA, cagA, oipA and iceA were determined by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). SPSS 16.0 software was used for data analysis. p≤0.05 was considered statistically significant.

The frequencies of the genotypes were as following: vacA (s1 51.7 %, s2 21.7%, s1s2 15.8 %, m1 32.51 %, m2 45 %, m1m2 7.5 %, s1m1 29.2 %, s1m2 27.5%, s2m1 7.5 %, s2m2 7.5 %), cagA 64.2%, oipA 57.5 %, iceA2 55% and iceA1/iceA2 15% respectively. Also, a significant relationship was observed between virulence factors such as cagA (p=0.013), vacA (p=0.041) and iceA (p=0.035) on one hand, and type of disorder (gastritis and peptic ulcer) on the other hand. Considering the relationships between the virulence factors and pathological findings, a significant relationship was found between iceA and acute inflammation (p=0.039). Also oipA and vacA showed significant relationships with bacterial density of H. pylori (p=0,000) and (p=0.011) respectively.

The results of this study showed role of vacA and cagA in the type of disease and the impact of oipA and iceA in microscopic findings.