Vacuolating Toxin Production in Clinical Isolates of Helicobacter pylori with Different vacA Genotypes

• Published in: The Journal of infectious diseases 1998-07, Vol.178 (1), p.207-212
• Main Authors: Wang, Hung-Jung, Kuo, Chun-Hsien, Yeh, Amy A. M., Chang, Paul C. L., Wang, Wen-Ching
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Alleles; Amino Acid Sequence; Amino acids; Bacterial diseases; Bacterial diseases of the digestive system and abdomen; Bacterial Proteins - biosynthesis; Bacterial Proteins - genetics; Bacterial Proteins - toxicity; Bacterial Toxins - biosynthesis; Bacterial Toxins - genetics; Bacterial Toxins - toxicity; Bacteriology; Base Sequence; Biological and medical sciences; Cytotoxins; Cytotoxins - biosynthesis; Cytotoxins - genetics; Cytotoxins - toxicity; DNA, Bacterial; Dyspepsia - microbiology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gastrointestinal diseases; Genotype; Genotypes; HeLa Cells; Helicobacter Infections - microbiology; Helicobacter pylori; Helicobacter pylori - genetics; Helicobacter pylori - isolation & purification; Helicobacter pylori - pathogenicity; Human bacterial diseases; Humans; Infectious diseases; Major Articles; Medical sciences; Microbiology; Molecular Sequence Data; Nucleotides; Pathogenicity, virulence, toxins, bacteriocins, pyrogens, host-bacteria relations, miscellaneous strains; Peptic ulcer; Peptic Ulcer - microbiology; Regional identity; Sequence Analysis, DNA; Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; Stomach Neoplasms - microbiology; Toxins; Vacuoles
• ISSN: 0022-1899; 1537-6613
• DOI: 10.1086/515600

A vacuolating cytotoxin encoded by vacA in Helicobacter pylori is known as a potential virulent determinant. The relationship between different vacA alleles, vacuolating ability, and H. pylori - related diseases was investigated. Genetic analysis of 119 isolates from Taiwanese patients revealed that 104 strains were s1a/m2, 13 strains were characterized as the s1a/m1T type, which was more homologous to the s1a/m1 strains, and 2 were characterized as the s1a/m1Tm2 chimeric type. Production of high-grade cytotoxin among 11 strains with s1a/m1T was higher (72.7%) than among 66 strains with s1a/m2 (21.2%) (P < .01). Peptic ulcer occurred in 76.9% of 13 patients with s1a/m1T strains compared with 46.2% of 104 patients with s1a/m2 strains (P < .05). These results suggest that s1a/m1T strains are associated with increased cytotoxic activity and higher ulcer prevalence than are s1a/m2 strains.