Effect of concurrent infection of Helicobacter pylori with Toxoplasma gondii infection on gastric pathology

• Published in: BMC infectious diseases 2024-04, Vol.24 (1), p.408-408, Article 408
• Main Authors: Gouda, Marwa A, Saied, Sara A, Edrees, Ahmed, Mostafa, Rasha Galal, Elfert, Ashraf, Seleem, Aya Abdallah, Shams, Asmaa, Afify, Sameh
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Abdomen; Analysis; Antigens; Antigens, Bacterial; Bacterial diseases; Biopsy; Cag A; Carcinogens; Care and treatment; Coinfection; Comorbidity; Complications and side effects; Concurrent infection; Cysts; Diagnosis; Disease; Endoscopy; Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid; Gastritis - microbiology; Gastrointestinal symptoms; Health aspects; Helicobacter infections; Helicobacter Infections - microbiology; Helicobacter pylori; Histopathological features; Histopathology; Humans; Infection; Infections; Inflammation; Medical research; Medicine, Experimental; Pathogens; Pathology; Patient satisfaction; Polymerase chain reaction; Protozoa; Risk factors; Strains (organisms); Toxoplasma; Toxoplasma gondii; Toxoplasmosis; Toxoplasmosis - complications; Trinucleotide repeats; Ulcers; Vac As1; Virulence; Virulence (Microbiology)
• ISSN: 1471-2334; 1471-2334
• DOI: 10.1186/s12879-024-09270-8

Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) and Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) are among the most prevalent foodborne parasitic and bacterial infections worldwide. However, the concurrent impact of coinfection on gastric pathology has yet to be studied in depth. The effect of coinfection generally either adds a synergetic or antagonistic impact; we aimed in the current work to assess the impact of T. gondii coinfection on the progression of H. pylori-associated gastric pathology and reporting H. pylori virulent strains. The study was conducted on 82 patients complaining of persistent gastrointestinal symptoms with failed treatment response and prone to endoscopy. They were subjected to stool examination to detect H. pylori antigen, serological screening for latent toxoplasmosis, endoscopy, histopathological examination, and molecular detection of H. pylori virulence strains in gastric biopsies. Out of the 82 patients, 62 patients were positive for H. pylori antigen in stool and 55 patients confirmed positivity by histopathology; out of them, 37 patients had isolated Vac As1 variants, 11 patients had combined Vac As1 and Cag A variants, and 7 patients had combined Vac As1, Cag A and VacAs2 variants. Patients with the combined two or three variances showed significantly deteriorated histopathological features than patients with a single Vac As1 variant (P