Relationship between virulence genes and gastroduodenal disease.

Objective: This study aimed to identify virulence factors and examine their associations with clinical outcomes in Thai patients. Moreover, the association between these genotypes and gastric mucosa morphological patterns was investigated.

Methods: This retrospective study enrolled patients who underwent esophagogastroduodenoscopy at Suranaree University of Technology Hospital. The presence of the and genes was investigated by real-time polymerase chain reaction.

Results: The -specific genes and were detected in all 698 gastric biopsy specimens. In total, 567 (81.23%) patients with infection were positive for the gene, 443 (63.46%) were positive for the gene, and 370 (53.0%) were positive for both. The genotype was significantly more common in patients with chronic gastritis and peptic ulcers (78.99% and 79.41%, respectively) than the gene (51.48% and 55.88%, respectively) and combined genotypes (32.34% and 47.05%, respectively). Moreover, the genotype was significantly more common in patients with type 4 or 5 gastric mucosa patterns (69.49% and 76.31%, respectively).

Conclusions: The genotype is the main cause of serious inflammation of the gastric mucosa. The gene is possibly an important factor explaining gastroduodenal disease outcomes in Thai patients with infection.