Effect of Helicobacter pylori infection on the N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine-induced gastric carcinogenesis in Mongolian gerbils

Abstract

The effect of Hclicobacter pylori infection on N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG)-induced gastric cancer was studied using a Mongolian gerbil model. Five-week-old male Mongolian gerbils were divided into four groups of 25-30 animals each and challenged for 20 weeks with H. pylori, MNNG, a combination of H. pylori and MNNG, or neither of them. Four to 20 animals from each group were killed at 16, 24 and 52 weeks after H. pylori inoculation, and histopathological changes in their stomachs were examined. A well-differentiated adenocarcinoma was first observed 24 weeks after inoculation in the combination group. At 52 weeks, only six of 15 animals were colonized with H. pylori persistently, and four of them showed well-differentiated adenocarcinomas; on the other hand, neither of the animals with disappearance of H. pylori from the combination group showed adenocarcinoma. At the same observation time, three of 17 animals from MNNG group showed poorly differentiated adenocarcinomas. The incidence of gastric carcinoma in the combination group was significantly higher than that in the MNNG group (P < 0.05). However, no tumors were seen in the control and H. pylori groups. The present findings demonstrate that H. pylori infection enhances the carcinogenic action of MNNG.