Seroprevalence of Helicobacter pylori/CagA Antibodies in Guatemalan Gastric Cancer Patients: Association of Seropositivity with Increased Plasma Levels of Pepsinogens but not Soluble Urokinase Plasminogen Activator Receptor

Abstract

Infection by Helicobacter pylori is a major risk factor for gastric cancer (GC), the second leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. Although biomarkers such as pepsinogens (PGs) and soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (suPAR) may have diagnostic and/or prognostic value in patients with GC, their levels may be affected by H. pylori infection. The aim of this study was to investigate the association of the presence of antibodies to H. pylori and cytotoxin-associated gene A (CagA) with plasma levels of PGs and suPAR in a cohort of Guatemalan GC patients and controls. To this end, levels of suPAR, Pepsinogens I and II (PGI and PGII), and antibodies to H. pylori and CagA toxin were determined by ELISA in plasma samples from 67 GC patients and 136 matched healthy controls. Seropositivity for CagA was significantly higher in patients with GC than in controls. Pepsinogens II and suPAR levels were higher and PGI/PGII ratios were lower in GC patients than in controls. There was a significant association of H. pylori seropositivity status with increased levels of PGII and lower PGI/PGII ratios, particularly in the control (non-GC) population. The levels of suPAR were not significantly affected by H. pylori or CagA seropositivity status. These results suggest that the seropositivity status for H. pylori and CagA need to be taken into account during the GC diagnostic process.

Detection of Helicobacter Pylori infection by invasive and non-invasive techniques in patients with gastrointestinal diseases from Iraq: A validation study

“…Second, the absence of anti-CagA antibodies in such patients may be due to sequence variation in CagA resulting in different epitopes [ 29 ]. It could also be due to the low level of antibodies produced against the antigen used in the ELISA kit [ 30 ]. Generally, the inability to differentiate between current and past infection may interpret the low accuracy of serological tests [ 4 ].…”

Associations between seroprevalence of Helicobacter pylori and ABO/rhesus blood group antigens in healthy blood donors in southwest Iran

“…Thus, this marker may be considered a risk factor for the development of gastric cancer. 31,32 The current study showed that donors with blood group O/Rhþ had higher seroprevalence of anti-CagA IgG marker than donors of other blood groups. However, no significant associations were detected between anti-CagA IgG seropositivity and any blood groups.…”

Pepsinogen II in gastritis and Helicobacter pylori infection

“…Focusing on the relationship between PgII and CagA status, in keeping with results previously obtained by Broutet et al, 13 Okuda et al recently confirmed that serum PgII levels were significantly higher in CagA‐seropositive infection (PgII levels: 9.0 µg/L in CagA‐negative individuals versus 15.3 µg/L in CagA‐positive ones; p = 0.001). This difference retained a borderline significance even when cancer patients were considered 25 …”