Molecular Fingerprinting of Helicobacter pylori: An Evaluation of Methods

In order to fully investigate the role of Helicobacter pylori in the aetiology and pathogenesis of peptic ulcer disease sensitive methods of identifying and fingerprinting isolates of this organism are required. Conventional typing methods for bacteria, such as phage typing and serotyping have proven largely ineffective in typing H. pylori. Limited success has been achieved using systems based upon preformed enzymes such as the API-Zym system; however, the biotypes defined by such systems are limited and a large proportion of isolates fall into one biotype [1]. The more successful methods of identifying and fingerprinting H. pylori make use of molecular biological methods such as sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), restriction endonuclease digestion of genomic DNA and ribosomal RNA gene hybridisation patterns [2, 3].