[Analysis of Helicobacter pylori infection in a healthy Panamanian population]

Infection with Helicobacter pylori carrying a cagA virulence gene is a potential risk factor for gastric cancer. Since obtaining clinical isolates from healthy subjects is difficult, epidemiological analysis of cagA-positive H. pylori in healthy populations is not well studied. To assess H. pylori infection in a healthy population, we applied coprodiagnostic analysis to determine H. pylori infection prevalence. H. pylori antigen in stool specimens was detected by immunochrmoatograpy in 54.1% of participants. The average age in the H. pylori-positive group was higher than in the negative group. The alcohol intake group showed a significantly higher H. pylori prevalence. The genotype of cagA was assessed by polymerase chain reaction after bacterial DNA extraction from H. pylori-positive stool specimens. Only 20.0% of participants in sample in which H. pylori DNA was detected were infected with cagA-positive H. pylori, but all cagA-positive H. pylori was of the East-Asian genotype. These results indicate that a significant number of healthy adults in Panama are infected with H. pylori, but the majority of bacteria are less virulent. Alcohol intake may be a risk factor for H. pylori infection.