Two hundred and forty-three Nigerian patients referred for endoscopy at the Jos University Teaching Hospital in Nigeria were studied. Their overall mean age was 37.7 years (SD 12.7), among those with ulcers it was 38.4 years. The male:female ratio was equal in general, but among those with ulcers it was 2:1. Duodenal and gastric ulcers were found in 42(17.3%) and 12(4.9%) patients respectively, ratio of 3.5:1. There were 3 patients each with oesophageal and gastric carcinoma. Our findings do not support the belief that the savannah region of West Africa is an area of low prevalence of peptic ulcer disease. In the light of the importance of Helicobacter pylori infection in the pathogenesis of gastroduodenal diseases and the apparent discrepancy between its prevalence and that of associated diseases in the developing countries, there is a need to reappraise our traditional beliefs about the epidemiology of these diseases, using similar methods to those used in developed countries.
The prevalence of antibodies to CagA protein was evaluated in 174 Helicobacter pylori-positive. subjects: 110 patients submitted to upper gastrointestinal endoscopy and 64 male blood donors. The patients were from different regions of Nigeria: Jos, North, Benue,West and East and the blood donors were from Jos. Sera were assayed for anti-CagA antibodies using Helicobacter p120, CagA ELISA (Viva Diagnostika, Hürth, Germany). Anti-CagA antibodies were detected in 104 (94.5%) patients and in 61 (95.3%) blood donors (P=1.0). Patients from the Benue region presented a lower frequency of anti-CagA antibodies than patients from the other regions (P=0.0004). When the subjects were stratified by age, a significant increase in IgG concentration was observed among the men (P=0.03) but not among the women (P=0.57) or among the blood donors (P=0.83). In conclusion, similarly toAsian countries, CagA-positive H. pylori infection is highly frequent in Nigeria.
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