DETECTION OF HELICOBACTER PYLORI INFECTION BY RAPID UREASE TEST IN ORAL LESIONS OF PATIENTS WITH RECURRENT APHTHOUS STOMATITIS

Recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS) is characterized by ulcers restricted to the oral mucosa. The possibility of bacterial involvement in the progression of aphthae has been suggested due to the histological similarities between peptic ulcers and RAS and due to the identified role of Helicobacter pylori (HP) in peptic ulcer. Although there are many studies showing the relationship between HP and RAS, rapid urease test (RUT) has not been studied in oral ulcers yet. The purpose of this study is to investigate the presence of HP by using RUT in the lesions of RAS. 32 patients with RAS and 21 control subjects were included in the study. HP colonization was investigated by RUT under local anesthesia in oral lesion of RAS patients and oral mucosa in healthy control group. Color change was respectively checked at the 30 th , 60 th minute and at the 4 th hour. If the color of the test is yellow or yellow-green the result was negative but red or pink color was considered as positive. RUT showed HP colonization in the 22 out 32 patients with RAS (68.75%) and in the 5 of the control group (23.80 %). The positivity of RUT in patients with RAS were statistically and significantly higher than the control (p<0.05). According to results of our study; HP may play a role in the etiology of RAS, also it is likely that RUT may be rapid and reliable for investigation of HP in RAS lesions.