%0 Journal Article
%T Comparison of PCR and clinical laboratory tests for diagnosing H. pylori infection in pediatric patients
%A Kathleen MB Vinette
%A Kathleen M Gibney
%A Roy Proujansky
%A Paul T Fawcett
%J BMC Microbiology
%D 2004
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1471-2180-4-5
%X Gastric biopsy specimens obtained from 101 pediatric patients were evaluated for the presence of H. pylori using histologic techniques, rapid urease (CLOtest) test and the PCR assay. Serum samples from each patient were assayed using both ELISA and Western Blot for antibodies to H. pylori. A total of 32 patients tested were positive by at least one of the methods evaluated. Thirteen patients had positive histology, 13 had a positive CLOtest, and 17 patients had positive H. pylori PCR. Out of the 13 CLO positive patients, 12 were positive by histologic analysis and all 13 were positive by PCR. Results of serologic tests on the same population did not correlate well with other assays. Twenty-eight patients showed serologic evidence of H. pylori infection, of which 9 were both CLO and histology positive and 12 were positive by PCR. Of the seropositive patients, 26 were ELISA positive, 13 were positive by Western blot, and 11 by both serologic methods.The results obtained suggest that our nested PCR assay has the specificity and sensitivity necessary for clinical application when compared to standard histologic examination and rapid urease test. In addition, we found the current commercially available approved ELISA method appears unable to accurately detect H. pylori in this population. The Western blot assay yielded better concordance with CLOtest and histology, but not as good as the nested PCR assay.Helicobacter pylori is a gram-negative curved or spiral bacterium which colonizes the human gastric mucosa. Work by Warren and Marshall in the early 1980s demonstrated the organism's association with gastritis and peptic ulceration. Chronic H. pylori infection has also been linked to the development of gastric cancers [1-3].Diagnosis of H. pylori infection generally includes a combination of both invasive and non-invasive methods. Invasive tests include endoscopy, with biopsy of the affected region followed by histologic examination of stained specimens to demonstrate th
%U http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2180/4/5