Helicobacter pylori
infection is often associated with
gastrointestinal diseases, such as chronic
gastritis,
peptic ulcer, and
gastric cancer. After total
gastrectomy, positive to negative seroconversion of the H. pylori
IgG antibody assayed by
enzyme-linked
immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was found in 10/15 patients (67%) an average of 8.5 months after surgery. Therefore, the
IgG antibody persists for a long time after total removal of the stomach in about 30% of patients.
Immunoglobulin A (
IgA) is a major component of the local immunity of the stomach mucosa and has a short half-life. Therefore, tissue H. pylori
IgA antibodies in biopsy specimens from patients with various
gastric diseases were assayed by ELISA and compared with the bacterial culture, serum
IgG antibody (ELISA), and [13C]
urea breath test results from 144, 170, and 123 endoscopic examinations, respectively. Positivity and negativity of tissue H. pylori
IgA coincided with the culture results in 67% of the examinations, and positive
IgA antibody but negative culture results were found in 23%. The coincidence of tissue
IgA and serum
IgG antibodies against H. pylori was 64% and that of negative tissue
IgA but positive serum
IgG antibody results was 36%. Positivity and negativity of tissue H. pylori
IgA antibody coincided with the [13C]
urea breath test results in 72%. One month after completion of treatment of
peptic ulcer patients for H. pylori
infection with
lansoprazole and
benexate HCl
betadex plus
amoxicillin, 6/9 (67%) patients showed positive to negative conversion of the tissue
IgA antibody, in contrast to no
IgG antibody seroconversion. In conclusion, the tissue H. pylori
IgA antibody assay is useful for detection of local immunity against H. pylori in the stomach and during follow-up
after treatment.