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Comparison of three urease tests for detection of Helicobacter pylori in gastric biopsy specimens
L Boyanova1, I Stancheva, D Todorov
1Department of Microbiology, Medical University, Sofia, Bulgaria.
Objective:
To propose two modified urease tests for the detection of Helicobacter pylori in gastric biopsy specimens.
Patients And Methods:
The presence of H. pylori infection was determined in 237 patients undergoing upper gastrointestinal endoscopy. Three media were used for the urease tests: Christensen's 2% urea broth and two urea agar media, modified by increasing the concentration of urea (to 4% and 10%) and phenol red and omitting the nutrients.
Results:
The modified tests had good sensitivity (> 78%), specificity (96%) and accuracy (> or = 86%) at 2 h using small amounts (15%) of biopsy homogenates. They were statistically more sensitive and accurate than Christensen's broth.
Conclusion:
Both the modified 4% and 10% urea agar tests are simple, sensitive and specific and can be performed with small amounts of sample.