Heterogeneity of Campylobacter pylori as demonstrated by co-agglutination testing with rabbit antibodies

The indirect immunofluorescence (IFL) and the co-agglutination (CoA) methods were used to study the serology of Campylobacter pylori strains isolated from patients in different countries (Sweden, Finland, Canada and Australia). Antisera were obtained from rabbits immunized with whole cell antigens. With IFL tests the highest serum titers were obtained with C. pylori strains and their homologous antisera. These tests also showed that all the tested strains contained cross-reactive antigens. With the use of the CoA technique strain or type specific heat labile and heat stable antigens were demonstrated, and a provisional "seropattern" of a particular strain could be defined with selected CoA reagents. With the use of such reagents we were able to show that a patient may be infected with multiple C. pylori strains with different sets of surface antigens. The clinical and epidemiological implications of this serological heterogeneity of C. pylori are discussed.