Helicobacter pylori: A foodborne pathogen?

Abstract

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is an organism that is widespread in the human population and is sometimes responsible for some of the most common chronic clinical disorders of the upper gastrointestinal tract in humans, such as chronic-active gastritis, duodenal and gastric ulcer disease, low-grade B-cell mucosa associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma of the stomach, and gastric adenocarcinoma, which is the third leading cause of cancer death worldwide. The routes of infection have not yet been firmly established, and different routes of transmission have been suggested, although the most commonly accepted hypothesis is that infection takes place through the faecal-oral route and that contaminated water and foods might play an important role in transmission of the microorganism to humans. Furthermore, several authors have considered H. pylori to be a foodborne pathogen because of some of its microbiological and epidemiological characteristics. H. pylori has been detected in drinking water, seawater, vegetables and foods of animal origin. H. pylori survives in complex foodstuffs such as milk, vegetables and ready-to-eat foods. This review article presents an overview of the present knowledge on the microbiological aspects in terms of phenotypic characteristics and growth requirements of H. pylori, focusing on the potential role that foodstuffs and water may play in the transmission of the pathogen to humans and the methods successfully used for the detection of this microorganism in foodstuffs and water.

<p>Phenotypic and Genotypic Assessment of Antibiotic Resistance and Genotyping of <em>vacA</em>, <em>cagA</em>, <em>iceA</em>, <em>oipA</em>, <em>cagE</em>, and <em>babA2</em> Alleles of <em>Helicobacter pylori</em> Bacteria Isolated from Raw Meat</p>

“…3 In keeping with this, foods with animal origins, particularly meat, may play an imperative portion in transmission of H. pylori infections to humans. 4,5 Foods with animal origins provide appropriate circumstances such as pH, moisture and activated water (AW) contents, and temperature for growth and survival of H. pylori. 4,5 Additionally, the role of meat consumption as a risk factor for occurrence of H. pylori infections has been conveyed.…”

“…4,5 Foods with animal origins provide appropriate circumstances such as pH, moisture and activated water (AW) contents, and temperature for growth and survival of H. pylori. 4,5 Additionally, the role of meat consumption as a risk factor for occurrence of H. pylori infections has been conveyed. 6,7 Likewise, the bacterium has been recovered from diverse kinds of foods with animal origins.…”

<p>Eradication Treatment of <em>Helicobacter pylori</em> Infection Based on Molecular Pathologic Antibiotic Resistance</p>

“…Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), which infects more than 50% of the entire world's population, has become a global health problem associated with numerous benign and malignant gastric diseases, including chronic gastritis, gastric and duodenal ulcers, gastric cancer and gastric MALT (mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue) lymphomas. [1][2][3] In developing countries, H. pylori has been found in the stomachs of 70% to 90% of the people, and in Western nations, 25% to 50% of the total population carries H. pylori. 3 Plenty of studies over the past decades have demonstrated that eradication treatment of H. pylori infection is of great importance to H. pylori-associated diseases, such as ulcer healing, regression of MALT lymphomas and decreased cancer risk.…”

Detection of Helicobacter pylori Microevolution and Multiple Infection from Gastric Biopsies by Housekeeping Gene Amplicon Sequencing

“…However, it can lead to the development of several gastro-intestinal diseases, such as gastric ulcers, mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma, or chronic inflammation. The latter could potentially progress to multifocal atrophy, intestinal metaplasia, dysplasia, and gastric adenocarcinoma [5][6][7][8].…”

“…It has been suggested that the transmission of H. pylori occurs directly via oral-oral, gastro-oral, and fecal-oral routes, although food-and water-borne transmissions could play an important role [7,9]. Another controversial issue related to transmission is the prevalence of H. pylori infection whether by a single strain or by multiple strains, since different methodologies and discordant results have been reported [10,11].…”