Adhesion to and invasion of HeLa cells by Helicobacter pylori

Eight clinical isolates and two reference strains of Helicobacter pylori were studied with regard to their interactions with HeLa cells. All the isolates adhered poorly to HeLa cells and the number of invasive bacteria was very low. No correlation was found between the adherence and invasiveness of the isolates on one hand, and the corresponding patients having ulcer or non-ulcer disease, or the ability of the strains to produce cytotoxin and to induce an oxidative burst of human polymorphonuclear leukocytes without opsonins, on the other. These results indicate that invasion of epithelial cells would play no important role in the pathogenesis of infections caused by H. pylori.