Prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection in Polish shepherds and their families.

BACKGROUND: Helicobacter pylori infection might, in some instances, be considered as zoonosis. AIM: The aim of this study was to assess the H. pylori prevalence in Polish shepherds and in their families as compared to controls. Patients and methods. A total of 42 shepherds from Polish Tatra Mountains with regular contact with sheep, 28 members of their families with incidental contacts and 61 age- and gender-matched farmer controls without such contacts were involved in this study. H. pylori status was determined by 13C-urea breath test. Serology was used to measure anti-H. pylori and anti-CagA IgG. Plasma gastrin, interleukin-8 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha were also determined. RESULTS: The H. pylori prevalence reached 97.6% in shepherds, 86% in their family members, but significantly less, 65.1%, in controls without contact with sheep. Anti-H. pylori IgG, anti-CagA in contact groups were significantly higher than in controls. Also, plasma gastrin, interleukin-8 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha had significantly higher values as compared to controls. CONCLUSIONS: Shepherds showed almost 100% H. pylori prevalence and higher incidence of CagA seropositivity, plasma gastrin and pro-inflammatory cytokine levels. Considering 100% positive 13C-urea breath test in sheep, it may be reasonable to suggest that H. pylori infection in shepherds and their family members originates from sheep and H. pylori infection might, therefore, be considered as zoonosis.

Gastric MALT-lymphoma, gastrin and cyclooxygenases.

Malt-lymphoma, gastrin and COX-2 interaction. Low grade, mucosal associated lymphoid tissue (MALT)-lymphoma is an unique among gastric malignancies where causal involvement of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection has been proposed based on complete regression of the tumor following the eradication therapy. In this report ten primary, low-grade MALT-lymphomas have been examined before and 6 months after one week of successful eradication therapy (clarithromycin + amoxicillin + omeprazole). Gastric biopsy samples from tumor and intact antrum and corpus mucosa were obtained during endoscopy before and after eradication for assessment of expression of gastrin and gastrin receptor (CCKB-R) as well as cyclooxygenase (COX)-1 and COX-2 using RT-PCR. The gastric lumen and serum gastrin and mucosal and tumor tissue PGE2 biosynthesis were determined by RIA before and after H. pylori eradication. Eradication of H. pylori resulted in complete endoscopic and histological remission of MALT-lymphoma in 9 out of 10 patients as assessed 6 months after this eradication. Before eradication, the mRNA expression for gastrin and CCKB-R as well as mRNA expression for COX-1 and COX-2 were observed in tumor tissue and infected mucosa, while corpus mucosa expressed only CCKB-R and antrum mucosa only gastrin. Six months upon the eradication when MALT-lymphoma completely regressed both endoscopically and histologically in 9 of 10 tested subjects, the expression of gastrin and COX-2 disappeared from the former area of MALT-lymphoma tumor. Gastrin mRNA remained detectable only in antrum mucosa, CCKB-R mRNA in corpus mucosa and COX-1 mRNA both in antrum and corpus mucosa. Gastric luminal and serum gastrin levels and gastric mucosa and tumor PGE2, which were greatly elevated before eradication, became normalized after this procedure. This study demonstrates that low-grade MALT-lymphoma is linked to H. pylori infection which may promote the expression and excessive release of gastrin and COX-2 expression that could be involved in the pathogenesis of MALT-lymphoma.