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Published on: October 27, 2013
Prevalence of Helicobacter and Acanthamoeba in natural environment
K Kawaguchi1, J Matsuo, T Osaki
1Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Health Sciences, Kita-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan.
Aims:
We examined whether the presence of Helicobacter is related to that of Acanthamoeba in river and soil environments.
Methods And Results:
The samples (river n = 51, soil n = 75) were collected in Sapporo City, Japan. PCR with primers for Helicobacter genus-specific and standard culture techniques were used to detect helicobacter. Prevalence of acanthamoeba was also evaluated by genus-specific PCR. The prevalence of Helicobacter genus-specific DNA in river water samples and in soil samples was 88% and 0%, respectively. No successful culture of helicobacter was achieved. The prevalence of Acanthamoeba genus-specific DNA in river samples and in soil samples was 61% and 96%, respectively. No statistical correlation between the prevalence of helicobacter and either that of acanthamoeba or water quality parameters (pH, turbidity and coliform group) except for temperature was found.
Conclusions:
We revealed the presence of helicobacter in river water and non-existence of helicobacter in soil. However, the distribution of helicobacter did not overlap with that of acanthamoeba in rivers. SIGNIFICANCE FOR IMPACT OF THE STUDY: The role of acanthamoeba on the survival of helicobacter might be limited as the both are coincidentally present in the environment.
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