Helicobacter Pylori vacA Gene Detection in Saliva of Patients with Upper Gastrointestinal Disorders in Accra, Ghana

Abstract

Helicobacter pylori play an essential role in the pathogenesis of upper gastrointestinal disorders. The diagnostic role of the bacterium thus has been a subject of intense investigations. In this study we used an immune-chromatographic method and the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to detect H. pylori in the saliva of patients with clinically diagnosed upper gastrointestinal disorders. Thirty such patients reporting to the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital (Accra, Ghana) for upper gastrointestinal endoscopy consented for this study. Saliva samples were collected from each subject and analysed for H. pylori antibodies using a rapid immuno-chromatographic assay and H. pylori DNA by nested PCR using specific primers. Ten (33.3%) out of the 30 samples tested positive for the saliva antibody test with the most prevalent gastrointestinal disorders among the positive subjects being peptic ulcer (60%) followed by gastritis (30%) and esophagitis (10%). Following nested PCR analysis, a 346bp fragment of the vacA (m2) gene region of H. pylori was amplified in 9 (90%) out the 10 samples that were positive by the rapid immuno-chromatographic assay. Saliva samples could serve as a reliable non-invasive alternative to detect the presence of H. pylori infection in synergy with available diagnostic methods in Ghana.