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Comparative Study
. 2013 Jan 14:13:7.
doi: 10.1186/1471-230X-13-7.

Evaluation of a new fluorescence quantitative PCR test for diagnosing Helicobacter pylori infection in children

Zhiying Ou  1 , Liya Xiong, Ding-You Li, Lanlan Geng, Lixia Li, Peiyu Chen, Min Yang, Yongmei Zeng, Zhenwen Zhou, Huimin Xia, Sitang Gong
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Evaluation of a new fluorescence quantitative PCR test for diagnosing Helicobacter pylori infection in children

Zhiying Ou et al. BMC Gastroenterol. .

Abstract

Background: Numerous diagnostic tests are available to detect Helicobactor pylori (H. pylori). There has been no single test available to detect H. pylori infection reliably. We evaluated the accuracy of a new fluorescence quantitative PCR (fqPCR) for H. pylori detection in children.

Methods: Gastric biopsy specimens from 138 children with gastritis were sent for routine histology exam, rapid urease test (RUT) and fqPCR. 13C-urea breath test (13C-UBT) was carried out prior to endoscopic procedure. Gastric fluids and dental plaques were also collected for fqPCR analysis.

Results: 38 children (27.5%) were considered positive for H. pylori infection by gold standard (concordant positive results on 2 or more tests). The remaining 100 children (72.5%) were considered negative for H. pylori. Gastric mucosa fqPCR not only detected all 38 H. pylori positive patients but also detected 8 (8%) of the 100 gold standard-negative children or 11 (10.7%) of the 103 routine histology-negative samples. Therefore, gastric mucosa fqPCR identified 46 children (33.3%) with H. pylori infection, significantly higher than gold standard or routine histology (P<0.01). Both gastric fluid and dental plaque fqPCR only detected 32 (23.2%) and 30 (21.7%) children with H. pylori infection respectively and was significantly less sensitive than mucosa fqPCR (P<0.05) but was as sensitive as non-invasive UBT.

Conclusions: Gastric mucosa fqPCR was more sensitive than routine histology, RUT, 13C-UBT alone or in combination to detect H. pylori infection in children with chronic gastritis. Either gastric fluid or dental plaque PCR is as reliable as 13C-UBT for H. pylori detection.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Age distribution of H. pylori infection rates determined by mucosal PCR method and reference standard (positive results concordant on 2 or more tests) in 138 children with gastritis.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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