High Seropositivity of Anti-CagA Antibody in Helicobacter pylori-Infected Patients Irrelevant to Peptic Ulcers and Normal Mucosa in Japan

Abstract
CagA-positive H. pylori is reported to beassociated with gastroduodenal disease in Westerncountries. To evaluate the relationship between CagA anddisease, cloning of the entire cagA gene (3771 bp),insertion of a partial fragment (1272 bp) into anexpression vector, purification of the recombinantprotein, production of an antibody against therecombinant CagA protein through rabbits, and use of therecombinant CagA protein as an antigen, detection of theanti-CagA antibody by western blotting were allperformed. Sera of 132 H. pylori-infected patientsundergoing endoscopy were studied. Anti-CagA antibodieswere detected in 90%, 87%, 90%, 94%, and 93% ofpatients with gastric ulcer (N = 34), duodenal ulcer (N= 27), chronic gastritis (N = 31), gastric cancer (N =17), and normal mucosa (N = 15), respectively. High seropositivity of anti-CagA antibody even inindividuals with normal mucosa indicated that CagA maynot be a unique marker for disease by H. pyloriinfection in Japan.

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