RESUMO
The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of Helicobacter pylori genotypes (vacA and cagPAI) directly in gastric biopsy specimens in patients with gastric diseases in Belarus. Gastric biopsies were collected from 461 patients with different gastrointestinal disorders: superficial gastritis (287 subjects), atrophy gastritis (59 subjects), erosive gastritis (47 subjects), duodenal ulcer disease (54 subjects), and stomach ulcer (14 subjects). PCR-based genotyping was used to detect s1a, s1b, s2, m1a, m1b, m2, cagM, cagA, and cagT genes. Overall prevalence of vacA s1a allele was 60.5% followed by m2 (47.1%) and m1a (37.5%). The analysis of data showed that genotype s1a/m1a was significantly more prevalent in patients with duodenal ulcer (21.4% vs. 45.1%, OR = 3.0, 95% CI = 1.5-6.1). The cagA gene was found with a high incidence in most patients with inflammatory diseases of stomach and duodenum. There was a significant increase in the frequency of cagT in patients with duodenal ulcer as compared to superficial gastritis. A high cagM prevalence was found in patients with atrophy gastritis and duodenal ulcer disease. All three island genes of pathogenicity of cagPAI are more often detected in patients with duodenal ulcer, which increases the risk of developing duodenal ulcer by 4.5 times.