Immunophenotyping of Helicobacter pylori infection in families with chronic gastritis.

Objective To investigate the prevalence of Helicobacter pylori(Hp) infection and the strains of Hp in families of children with chronic gastritis.Methods The immunophenotyping of Hp was determined by Western blot(immunoblot) technique and the serum antibody of Hp tested by dot immunogold filtration assay in 73 subjects among 14 families of children with chronic abdominal pain.Results The serum Hp antibody positive and the positive immunophenotyping of Hp antibody in 73 subjects were 100% and 95.9% respectively.The prevalence of Hp type Ⅰ was 60.3%.The prevalence of Hp type Ⅱ was 35.6%.There was significant difference in children and elders group about Hp immunophenotyping rate(P0.05).The ratio of VacA antibody showed a significant discrepancy(P0.05) between the subjects which had gastrointestinal disease(66.7%) and nonsymptom subjects(35.3%).There were familial cluster phenomena in family members suffering from gastrointestinal diseases with Hp infection.Conclusion The seropositive rate of Hp antibodiies is higher in families of children with chronic gastritis.Hp immunophenotyping is associated with increasing age and gastrointestinal symptoms.