Serum Pepsinogen Values in Japanese Junior High School Students With Reference to Helicobacter Pylori Infection.

BACKGROUND: Distributions of serum pepsinogen (PG) values were assessed in Helicobacter pylori-infected and non-infected junior high school students (aged 12-15 years) in Japan. METHODS: All junior high school students (1,225 in total) in Sasayama city, who were basically healthy, were asked to provide urine and serum samples, which were used to measure urine and serum H. pylori antibodies using ELISA kits and PG values. The subjects, whose urine and serum antibodies were both positive, were considered H. pylori infected. RESULTS: Of the 187 subjects who provided urine and blood samples, 8 were infected, 4 had discrepant results, 4 had negative serum antibody titers no less than 3.0 U/ml, and 171 were non-infected. In the H. pylori non-infected subjects, the median PG I and PG II values and PG I to PG II ratio (PG I/II) were 40.8 ng/mL, 9.5 ng/mL, and 4.4, respectively, whereas in the infected subjects, these values were 55.4 ng/mL, 17.0 ng/mL, and 3.3, respectively (each P < 0.01). In the non-infected subjects, PG I and PG II were significantly higher in males than in females (P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The PG I and PG II values were higher, and the PG I/II was lower in H. pylori infected students than in non-infected students. In H. pylori non-infected students, males showed higher PG I and PG II values than females. The distributions of PG values in junior high school students differed from those in adults.

Clinical features of Helicobacter pylori antibody-positive junior high school students in Nagano Prefecture, Japan.

BACKGROUND: Previously, we conducted an epidemiological study screening for Helicobacter pylori antibody positivity among Japanese junior high school students. In this study, we updated the epidemiological data and assessed the clinical features of H pylori antibody-positive junior high school students. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We assessed H pylori antibody-positive subjects who were identified between 2012 and 2015 at four junior high schools in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. H pylori infection was confirmed by urea breath test (UBT) or endoscopic examination. Endoscopy was performed after obtaining consent from the subject and their guardians. Eradication therapy consisted of triple therapy with proton pump inhibitor (PPI), amoxicillin (AMPC), and clarithromycin (CAM) or metronidazole (MNZ) for seven days. Eradication of H pylori was confirmed by UBT. We reviewed subjects' characteristics, endoscopic findings, histological findings, eradication regimes, outcomes, and adverse effects. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of H pylori antibody positivity was 3.2% (42/1298). We assessed thirteen H pylori antibody-positive subjects. Eight subjects had a family history of H pylori infection. Six subjects had abdominal pain, and two subjects had iron deficiency anemia (IDA). Twelve subjects underwent endoscopy; one subject had duodenal ulcer, eleven subjects had antral nodular gastritis, and six subjects showed grade 2 closed type atrophic border according to the Kimura-Takemoto classification. All subjects received eradication therapy; CAM was used in five subjects with CAM susceptibility as well as in three subjects with unknown information on CAM susceptibility, and MNZ was used in five subjects with CAM resistance. Eradication was successful in twelve subjects (one unconfirmed). There were three mild adverse effects (abdominal pain or diarrhea). CONCLUSIONS: Helicobacter pylori test for junior high school students represents an opportunity to diagnose the peptic ulcer, iron deficiency anemia, and gastric atrophy.

Diagnostic accuracy of urine Helicobacter pylori antibody test in junior and senior high school students in Japan.

BACKGROUND: To prevent gastric cancer, a Helicobacter pylori test-and-treat strategy has been proposed. In Japan, routine urine examinations are performed to screen for kidney diseases; it is therefore convenient to screen for H. pylori infection via urine antibody (u-Ab) testing. AIM: To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of u-Ab testing in students using 13 C-urea breath testing (UBT) as a standard. METHODS: The study population included 806 junior or senior high school students in Japan who provided urine samples and/or underwent UBT. Students with a positive u-Ab test or discrepant results between the u-Ab test and UBT were asked to provide additional stool and/or blood samples or to repeat the UBT. Urinary protein was detected using a urine test strip. RESULTS: The positive rates for the u-Ab test and UBT were 8.9% (71/795) and 5.5% (44/801), respectively. The u-Ab test showed 88.4% sensitivity and 95.7% specificity using UBT as a standard. In the final diagnoses, the u-Ab test showed 97.6% sensitivity, 96.5% specificity, 61.2% positive predictive value (PPV), and 99.9% negative predictive value (NPV). Of the 508 samples tested using a urine test strip, negative results were obtained for 450 subjects with a sensitivity of 90%, specificity of 97.9%, PPV of 66.7%, and NPV of 99.5%. Proteinuria was detected in 58 samples, with a sensitivity of 100%, specificity of 88.9%, PPV of 40%, and NPV of 100%. CONCLUSIONS: The u-Ab test is highly accurate and suitable for detecting H. pylori infection. However, the occurrence of proteinuria may yield false-positive results.

Rapid urine antibody test for Helicobacter pylori infection in adolescents.

BACKGROUND: Helicobacter pylori infection is associated with gastric cancer; thus, early diagnosis and treatment are crucial. Given that H. pylori infection in adolescents or young adults has few symptoms, screening tests are necessary for this population. In this study, the accuracy of the rapid urine H. pylori antibody (u-HpAb) test was evaluated and compared with that of urine and serum H. pylori enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (u-HpELISA and s-HpELISA, respectively) in junior high school students. METHODS: All 1,225 students attending the junior high schools in Sasayama City were invited to participate in this study. Urine and blood samples were assayed for anti-H. pylori immunoglobulin G antibodies, and rapid u-HpAb was performed by three investigators independently. When all investigators were in agreement, the test was confirmed as positive or negative. Non-concordance was defined as undetermined. RESULTS: In total, 187 students participated in this study and provided both urine and blood samples. Three students had undetermined rapid u-HpAb. Excluding these results, the positivity rate of rapid u-HpAb was 3.3% (6/184), whereas that for u-HpELISA and s-HpELISA was 4.8% (10/187) and 5.9% (11/187), respectively. Using s-HpELISA and u-HpELISA as the standards, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of rapid u-HpAb were 85.7%, 100%, 100%, and 99.4%, respectively, excluding the undetermined rapid u-HpAb results. CONCLUSIONS: Rapid urine-HpAb test had excellent specificity but relatively low sensitivity.

Isolation and molecular characterization of Leptospira borgpetersenii serovar Hardjo strain Hardjobovis in the urine of naturally infected cattle in Brazil.

Most epidemiologic studies on bovine leptospirosis are based on serological tests that use antibodies against several serotypes, including the serovar Hardjo, which is widespread and considered to be the most adapted to bovine hosts. However, using only serological studies is not sufficient to identify and distinguish species of leptospires. The aim of this study was report the first isolation in Brazil of two strains serovar Hardjo obtained in urine samples from naturally infected cows in a small Brazilian dairy herd and find the genetic species and consequently the type strain Hardjobovis by molecular characterization. Fifteen dairy cows with a history of reproductive failure, such as abortion and infertility, were selected. Urine samples obtained from each animal were immediately seeded in tubes containing Ellinghausen-McCullough-Johnson-Harris culture medium. The identification of the isolates was performed by Multilocus variable-number tandem-repeat analysis (MLVA) technique and phylogenetic analysis of partial sequence of gene sec Y. From the 15 urine samples evaluated, two Leptospira were found and identified as the Londrina 49 and Londrina 54 strains. The MLVA profiles and sequencing of gene sec Y characterized the isolates as L. borgpetersenii serovar Hardjo strain Hadjobovis because it has different genetic pattern of Leptospira interrogans serovar Hardjo strain Hardjoprajitno. Therefore, more studies are needed including isolation and molecular characterization from regional strains to obtain a better knowledge about epidemiology of serovar Hardjo in bovine which may assist in future strategies of prevention and control of bovine leptospirosis.

Identification of Helicobacter pylori infection in symptomatic patients in Surabaya, Indonesia, using five diagnostic tests.

SUMMARY The prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection in Indonesia is controversial. We examined the H. pylori infection rate in 78 patients in a hospital in Surabaya using five different tests, including culture, histology, immunohistochemistry, rapid urease test, and urine antibody test. Furthermore, we analysed virulence factors in H. pylori strains from Indonesia. The H. pylori infection rate was only 11.5% in all patients studied, and 2.3% of Javanese patients and 18.0% of Chinese patients were infected (P = 0.01). Although severe gastritis was not observed, activity and inflammation were significantly higher in patients positive for H. pylori than in patients negative for H. pylori. Among genotypes identified from five isolated strains, cagA was found in four; two were vacA s1m1. All cagA-positive strains were oipA 'on' and iceA1 positive. We confirmed both a low H. pylori infection rate and a low prevalence of precancerous lesions in dyspeptic patients in a Surabaya hospital, which may contribute to the low incidence of gastric cancer in Indonesia.

Native flagellin does not protect mice against an experimental Proteus mirabilis ascending urinary tract infection and neutralizes the protective effect of MrpA fimbrial protein.

Proteus mirabilis expresses several virulence factors including MR/P fimbriae and flagella. Bacterial flagellin has frequently shown interesting adjuvant and protective properties in vaccine formulations. However, native P. mirabilis flagellin has not been analyzed so far. Native P. mirabilis flagellin was evaluated as a protective antigen and as an adjuvant in co-immunizations with MrpA (structural subunit of MR/P fimbriae) using an ascending UTI model in the mouse. Four groups of mice were intranasally treated with either MrpA, native flagellin, both proteins and PBS. Urine and blood samples were collected before and after immunization for specific antibodies determination. Cytokine production was assessed in immunized mice splenocytes cultures. Mice were challenged with P. mirabilis, and bacteria quantified in kidneys and bladders. MrpA immunization induced serum and urine specific anti-MrpA antibodies while MrpA coadministered with native flagellin did not. None of the animals developed significant anti-flagellin antibodies. Only MrpA-immunized mice showed a significant decrease of P. mirabilis in bladders and kidneys. Instead, infection levels in MrpA-flagellin or flagellin-treated mice showed no significant differences with the control group. IL-10 was significantly induced in splenocytes of mice that received native flagellin or MrpA-flagellin. Native P. mirabilis flagellin did not protect mice against an ascending UTI. Moreover, it showed an immunomodulatory effect, neutralizing the protective role of MrpA. P. mirabilis flagellin exhibits particular immunological properties compared to other bacterial flagellins.

Development of an indirect sandwich ELISA for detection of urinary antigen, using Legionella pneumophila PAL protein.

Legionella pneumophila peptidoglycan-associated lipoprotein (PAL) protein is an extremely conserved antigen among Legionella species. In this study, rabbit and rat anti-PAL immunoglobulin G antibodies were produced by immunization with purified, recombinant PAL (r-PAL) protein of L. pneumophila serogroup 1 and used as capture and detection antibodies in the PAL antigen-based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to detect urinary PAL antigen. Urine samples were obtained from rats experimentally infected with L. pneumophila serogroup 1. The PAL antigen was measured in urine samples of 40 infected and 40 uninfected rats. After choosing the cut-off value of 0.192, the sensitivity and specificity of the PAL antigen-based ELISA were 87.5 and 97.5 %, respectively. The results obtained by PAL antigen base ELISA were compared with those obtained by Biotest. The PAL antigen was detected efficiently by both of the assays and all of the control human urine samples were negative by the ELISA test. The PAL antigen-based ELISA assay was relatively simple to perform, precise, highly sensitive and specific, and reproducible. Based on our data the PAL antigen-based ELISA described here is the first indirect sandwich ELISA for urinary antigen detection which could easily be applied for diagnosis of Legionnaires disease.

Diagnostic accuracy of urine-based kits for detection of Helicobacter pylori antibody in children.

BACKGROUND: Rapid urine-HpAb is reported to be a reliable test of Helicobacter pylori infection in adults, but there are no data on the application of the test in children. The aim of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of a urine-based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (urine-HpELISA) and immunochromatography (rapid urine-HpAb) kit for anti-H. pylori immunoglobulin G antibody in children. We compared its sensitivity and specificity in reference to the (13) C-urea-breath test (UBT) and H. pylori stool antigen test (HpSA). METHODS: In total, 101 Japanese children without significant upper-abdominal symptoms were included (mean age, 7.1 years; range 2-15 years). Their sensitivity and specificity were evaluated in reference to the UBT and HpSA. RESULTS: Thirty-seven children were judged H. pylori-positive and 64 negative by the UBT and HpSA. No discrepancy in the results was observed between UBT and HpSA. Urine-HpELISA showed 91.9% sensitivity and 96.9% specificity with an accuracy of 95.0%. Rapid urine-HpAb showed 78.4% sensitivity and 100% specificity with an accuracy of 92.1%. Seven false negative results for rapid urine-HpAb were from children aged younger than 10 years, and their antibody titers of urine-HpELISA were lower than true positives. CONCLUSIONS: For the diagnosis of H. pylori infection in Japanese children, both tests are non-invasive, inexpensive, reliable and easy-to-perform methods giving satisfactory accuracy, although the sensitivity of the rapid urine-HpAb kit was inferior to that of the urine-HpELISA kit, especially in children aged younger than 10 years, showing relatively low titer of H. pylori antibody.

Diagnosis of active tuberculosis using MPB64, a specific antigen of Mycobacterium bovis.

Because the incidence of tuberculosis (TB) is still high in developing countries, an inexpensive and rapid diagnostic test for this infection is needed. To develop a screening test for TB, MPB64 antigen was produced by recombinant technology and purified with a polyhistidine tag. Next, serum and urine samples from patients with TB and uninfected individuals were examined by the dot-blot assay method using this purified antigen. Serum samples from patients with TB reacted more strongly with MPB64 antigen than did those from uninfected individuals. In addition, serum samples from TB patients with active infection reacted more strongly with the antigen than did samples from patients with inactive TB. When urine samples were assessed using this assay, similar results were obtained. Correlations between the data obtained from serum and urine samples were analyzed for all subjects, including uninfected individuals, and a strong positive correlation between the results of serum and urine tests (n = 36, r = 0.672) was found. The sensitivity and specificity of this assay for serum samples was 85.7 % and 85.0 %, and for urine samples 75.0 % and 85.0 %, respectively. These results suggest that dot-blot assay with MPB64 antigen could be a useful screening test for active TB. Because urine samples can be obtained more easily than serum samples and because urine is less contagious, urine testing should probably be employed for screening purposes.

Endoscopic reflux esophagitis and Helicobacter pylori infection in young healthy Japanese volunteers.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The prevalence of endoscopic esophagitis in young Japanese individuals is not fully apparent. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of reflux esophagitis (RE) and Helicobacter pylori infection and their relationship in young healthy Japanese volunteers. METHODS: Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy was performed in 242 young healthy Japanese medical students (age range 22-29 years, mean 23.2 years) at Saga Medical School between 2008 and 2010. H. pylori infection was determined by detecting urinary IgG antibodies to H. pylori. RESULTS: H. pylori antibodies were detected in 30 of the 242 subjects (12.4%). All 30 subjects had endoscopic chronic gastritis without peptic ulcers. Endoscopic RE was present in 27 of the 242 subjects (11.2%), corresponding to grade A in 19 subjects (7.9%), grade B in 7 (2.9%) and grade C in 1 (0.4%). Only 1 subject with RE was H. pylori-positive; the other 26 subjects with esophagitis were H. pylori-negative. We found no risk factors for H. pylori infection, but a risk factor for endoscopic esophagitis was alcohol consumption. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of H. pylori infection and endoscopic RE was 12.4 and 11.2%, respectively, in young healthy Japanese volunteers. Alcohol consumption was a risk factor for RE.

Prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection measured with urinary antibody in an urban area of Japan, 2008-2010.

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) has expanded to infect about half the world's population. Although there were many studies on the prevalence of H. pylori infection for defined areas in the 1990s throughout the world, there were only limited sources tracking its latest prevalence among large populations. In the present study, we estimated the prevalence of H. pylori among the inhabitants of Nagoya, an urban area of Japan. Study subjects were 5167 participants (1467 males and 3700 females) aged 35 to 69 years from the Daiko Study, a part of the Japan Multi-Institutional Collaborative Cohort Study (J-MICC Study). A urinary anti-H. pylori antibody was used to detect H. pylori infection. The history of eradication treatments for H. pylori infection was obtained using self-administered questionnaires. The prevalence detected by the urinary test included 19.6% (95% confidence interval; 16.8-22.6%) for those aged 35-39 years, 25.8% (23.5-28.2%) for 40-49 years, 39.4% (36.8-42.1%) for 50-59 years, 50.3% (47.8-52.7%) for 60-69 years, and 36.4% (35.1-37.7%). Among 5167 participants, 266 (5.1%) stated that they had received an eradication treatment. Since 167 subjects with negative urinary tests replied that they had been seropositive for H. pylori in the past, they were included among the ever-infected inhabitant group. Consequently, the overall rate of those with a history of persistent infection was 39.6% (38.3-40.9%). The prevalence of H. pylori infection observed in Nagoya seemed to be lower than the corresponding prevalence reported in other studies of Japan. That lower rate might be due to the reduced exposure from improved urban sanitary conditions.

An evaluation of the performance of a novel stick-type kit for rapid detection of Helicobacter pylori antibodies in urine.

BACKGROUND: ODK-0702 is a stick-type urinary Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) antibodies detection kit, developed to improve the original housing type urinary H. pylori antibodies detection kit "RAPIRUN H. pylori Antibody". This stick-type kit is designed for the efficient daily medical practice at hospital or clinic, public or school health checkup, to detect H. pylori infection. The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance and correlation of this kit with the original kit and the ELISA kit. METHODS: Control kits were "RAPIRUN H. pylori Antibody" (Kit A) and "URINELISA H. pylori Antibody" (Kit B). Urine samples were obtained from 249 subjects scheduled for upper endoscopy, 99 subjects suspected of having upper gastrointestinal disease, and 150 subjects receiving health checkups. Rates of agreement in results between ODK-0702 and the control kits were investigated. RESULTS: High agreement rates of 98.4% (245/249) and 88.8% (221/249) were found between ODK-0702 and the kits, Kit A and B, respectively. In patients, the agreement rates of ODK-0702 as compared to Kit A and B were 99.0% (98/99) and 88.9% (88/99), respectively. In control subjects, the agreement rates of ODK-0702 as compared to Kit A and B were 98.0% (147/150) and 88.7% (133/150), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: ODK-0702 enabled rapid testing within 15 minutes and showed equivalent performance as control kits, being clinically very useful in the diagnosis of H. pylori infection.

An evaluation of a new in-house serum and urine ELISA test for detection of Helicobacter pylori infection in Thai population.

OBJECTIVE: Non-invasive tests play significant roles in the test-and-treat approach of Helicobacter pylori management. The detection of Helicobacter pylori antibodies in urine and serum is an easy and inexpensive way to diagnose this infection. In the present study, the authors developed an in-house serum and urine ELISA tests for H. pylori antibodies and evaluated their performance in a Thai population. MATERIAL AND METHOD: One hundred thirty eight dyspeptic patients were recruited. All subjects underwent upper endoscopy and one antral biopsy was obtained for rapid urease test, which was used as a standard reference. Urine and serum samples were collected before the procedure to run in-house ELISA test. RESULTS: Thirty (22%) subjects were positive for the rapid urease test and 108 (78%) were negative. Urine and serum optical density were significantly lower in the urease negative group (p = 0.011 and p < 0.001 respectively), while there were no differences in age, gender, or endoscopic findings between the two groups. Sensitivity, specificity, negative predictive value, positive predictive value, and accuracy of urine and serum ELISA tests were 72% vs. 96.3%, 63.5% vs. 627%, 89.6% vs. 98.5%, 33.3% vs. 40.6%, and 64.5% vs. 69.8% respectively. CONCLUSION: In-house serum ELISA test for H. pylori antibodies yielded a very good sensitivity with acceptable specificity, whereas urine ELISA was unable to produce satisfactory sensitivity or specificity

Immunization with recombinant protein Ag43::UpaH with alum and 1,25(OH)2D3 adjuvants significantly protects Balb/C mice against urinary tract infection caused by uropathogenic Escherichia coli.

The majority of urinary tract infections (UTIs) are caused by uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC). Designing a vaccine will certainly reduce the occurrence of infection and antibiotic resistance of the isolates. Antigen 43 (Ag43) and autotransporter H (UpaH) have been associated with the virulence of UPEC. In the present study, the efficacy of different formulations of a hybrid protein composed of Ag43 and UpaH with and without alum and 1,25(OH)2D3 (Vitamin D3) adjuvants were evaluated in mice model. A significant increase in IgG and cellular responses was developed against Ag43::UpaH as compared to the control mice. The addition of alum or a mixture of alum and Vitamin D3 to the protein significantly enhanced the serum IgG responses and tended to remain in a steady state until 6 months. In addition, the mentioned formulations produced significant amounts of IgG1, IL-4, and IL-17 as compared to the fusion protein alone. In addition to the mentioned formulations, the combination of protein with Vitamin D3 also resulted in significantly higher serum IgA and IFN-γ levels as compared to the fusion protein alone. Mice immunized with fusion plus alum and formulation protein admixed with both alum and Vitamin D3 significantly reduced the bacterial load in the bladders and kidneys of mice as compared to the control. In this study, for the first time, the ability of a novel hybrid protein in combination with adjuvants alum and Vitamin D3 was evaluated against UPEC. Our results indicated that fusion Ag43::UpaH admixed with alum and Vitamin D3 could be a promising candidate against UTIs.

Evaluation of rapid urine test for the detection of Helicobacter pylori infection in the Vietnamese population.

PURPOSE: This study attempted to assess the value of the RAPIRUN test for the diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori infection in the Vietnamese population. METHODS: We recruited 148 Vietnamese patients undergoing upper gastrointestinal endoscopy during which five gastric biopsies were taken; blood and urine samples were collected from each patient. Helicobacter pylori infection status was determined by a combination of three different methods, including culture, immunohistochemistry, and serum ELISA. RAPIRUN tests were performed using urine samples. RESULTS: The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of the RAPIRUN test in these Vietnamese patients were 79.5, 90.7, and 84.5%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The RAPIRUN test is useful for the diagnosis of H. pylori infection in the Vietnamese population, showing high specificity, acceptable sensitivity, non-invasiveness, convenience, and rapidity.

[Epidemiological study on leptospirosa infection of host animals and healthy population in flood areas].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the infection of leptospirosa of host animals and the immune level of healthy population in flood areas. METHODS: Korth culture was used to culture leptospira for rodent kidney and oxen urine sample. The serogroups of leptospira and leptospira antibody were tested by microscopic agglutination test (MAT). RESULTS: In flood regions, draw-near-flood region, and new migration region, rodent density was 6.95%, 6.28%, and 8.67%, respectively. The positive rates of rodent with leptospira was 4.63%, 1.35%, and 3.13%, respectively. Leptospira positive rates of oxen urine were 5.88%, 5.98%, and 1.75%, respectively. The main serogroup of leptospira was Icterhamorrhagic and Canicola serogroup. The positive rates of leptospirosa antibody in healthy population was 45.91%, 62.30%, and 58.67%in these 3 regions respectively, which was significantly higher than the average level in China. The dominant serogroups of leptospira in health population were icterhamorrhagic, autumnalis, canicola, pomona and bataviae. The positive rate of antibody had no difference among different age groups. CONCLUSION: The main host animals are rodents and oxen infected with leptospira and the positive rate of leptospira antibody is high in healthy population in the study area. The dominant serogroups in host animals are similar to that in healthy population, which is mostly icterhaemorrhagic.

High Efficacy of Rapid Urine Test for Diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori Infection in Thai People

Background: Accurate diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection plays an important role in further effective treatment. Rapid urine test (RAPIRUN) is a test developed for qualitative detection of urine H. Pylori antibody and use for determine the sensitivity, specificity and accuracy. However, the test needs validation in Thai population before using in clinical practice. Objective: This study aimed to compare performance of different diagnostic tests on H. pylori detection in Thai population. Methods: Total of 94 patients with dyspepsia who referred to Thammasat University Hospital, Pathumthani, Thailand, between December 2012 and April 2013 were enrolled in this study. All patients underwent gastroscopy. Then, 3 biopsies at antrum were taken for H. pylori diagnosis. including rapid urease test (Pronto Dry, Eisai, Thailand), H. pylori culture, and histopathology. Urine samples were also collected at the same time for rapid urine test (RAPIRUN H. pylori Antibody, Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.). Patients were diagnosed with H. pylori-positive if their culture or rapid urease tests plus histopathology yielded positive results. Results: Total of 29 patients (30.9%) were infected with H. pylori. Prevalence of H. pylori infection by rapid urease test, histopathology, culture and rapid urine test were 25.5%, 28.7%, 29.8%, and 32.9% respectively. We observed that rapid urease test, histopathology, culture, and rapid urine test had sensitivity of 82.8%, 93.1%, 93.1% and 86.2%; specificity of 100%, 100%, 100%, and 90.8%; and accuracy of 95.7%, 97.9%, 97.9%, and 89.4%, respectively. Conclusion: Rapid urine test (RAPIRUN) provided a reliable result for diagnosis of H. pylori infection. Furthermore, this rapid urine test demonstrated high accuracy, reliable, safe handle and easy to use. We suggested rapid urine test for diagnosis of H. pylori infection in Thai population since we found it less invasive and with higher reliable efficacy.

Changes in the presence of urine Helicobacter pylori antibody in Japanese children in three different age groups.

BACKGROUND: The rates of acquisition and spontaneous eradication of Helicobacter pylori infection in children has yet to be established. To determine these rates in children living in an urban region of Japan, the levels of urine H. pylori antibodies in children of three different age groups were measured. METHODS: A urine-based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to detect H. pylori antibodies twice within a 12 month interval over 2 years in 452 healthy children living in Tokyo. The subjects were divided into three groups: ages 4, 7, and 10 years. RESULTS: The prevalence of H. pylori infection was not different among the groups, being between 4.0% and 6.7%. The rate of turn to positivity for H. pylori infection was 1.5% per year and the rate of turn to negativity was 1.1%, but in the 10 year age group the rates were markedly lower than in the younger children. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of H. pylori infection in Tokyo was 4.0-6.7% and was not different among 4, 7, and 10 year age groups.

[Diagnostic role of different immunologic methods for laboratory diagnostics of legionellosis].

The aim of the study was a comparative analysis of diagnostic value of different laboratoty methods conducted on the basis of results of examination of patients during Legionnaires' disease outbreak in town Verkhnyaya Pyshma. Retrospective analysis of laboratory data from 74 patients with diagnosis of Legionnaires' disease was performed. Complex of laboratory methods was used (polymerase chain reaction (PCR), enzyme immunoassay (EIA), immunochromatography). In group of patients with Legionnaires' disease, the highest proportion of positive results (73%) was obtained by the EIA determining total specific antibodies in urine. Determination of antigen in urine by immunochromatographic express-test yielded 52% of positive results. PCR testing of blood specimens yielded positive results in 65% of samples but was low specific, due to that in 19% of patients from control group false-positive results were obtained. Testing of 3 autopsy samples showed that all specimens contained DNA of the causative agent. Performed analysis allowed to recommend complex use of immunochromatographic express-test of antigen detection and identification of total specific antibodies by EIA during mass people examination.