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World J Gastroenterol. Jul 21, 2017; 23(27): 4867-4878
Published online Jul 21, 2017. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v23.i27.4867
Significance of dormant forms of Helicobacter pylori in ulcerogenesis
Vasiliy Ivanovich Reshetnyak, Tatiana Magomedalievna Reshetnyak
Vasiliy Ivanovich Reshetnyak, VA Negovsky Research Institute of General Reanimatology of Federal Research and Clinical Center of Intensive Care Medicine and Rehabilitology, 107031 Moscow, Russia
Tatiana Magomedalievna Reshetnyak, Department of Systemic Connective Tissue Diseases, VA Nasonova Research Institute of Rheumatology, 115522 Moscow, Russia
Author contributions: Reshetnyak VI and Reshetnyak TM contributed equally to the writing of this manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Reshetnyak VI and Reshetnyak TM declare no conflicts of interest exist in relation to this publication.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Vasiliy Ivanovich Reshetnyak, MD, PhD, DSc, Professor, Academic Secretary of VA Negovsky Research Institute of General Reanimatology of Federal Research and Clinical Center of Intensive Care Medicine and Rehabilitology, 25-2, Petrovka Street, 107031 Moscow, Russia. vasiliy.reshetnyak@yandex.ru
Telephone: +7-495-6946505 Fax: +7-495-6946505
Received: March 30, 2017
Peer-review started: April 8, 2017
First decision: April 21, 2017
Revised: May 3, 2017
Accepted: June 18, 2017
Article in press: June 19, 2017
Published online: July 21, 2017
Processing time: 112 Days and 7.3 Hours
Abstract

Nearly half of the global population are carriers of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), a Gram-negative bacterium that persists in the healthy human stomach. H. pylori can be a pathogen and causes development of peptic ulcer disease in a certain state of the macroorganism. It is well established that H. pylori infection is the main cause of chronic gastritis and peptic ulcer disease (PUD). Decontamination of the gastric mucosa with various antibiotics leads to H. pylori elimination and longer remission in this disease. However, the reasons for repeated detection of H. pylori in recurrent PUD after its successful eradication remain unclear. The reason for the redetection of H. pylori in recurrent PUD can be either reinfection or ineffective anti-Helicobacter therapy. The administration of antibacterial drugs can lead not only to the emergence of resistant strains of microorganisms, but also contribute to the conversion of H. pylori into the resting (dormant) state. The dormant forms of H. pylori have been shown to play a potential role in the development of relapses of PUD. The paper discusses morphological H. pylori forms, such as S-shaped, C-shaped, U-shaped, and coccoid ones. The authors proposes the classification of H. pylori according to its morphological forms and viability.

Keywords: Helicobacter pylori; Forms of H. pylori; Dormant forms of H. pylori; Viable forms of H. pylori; Non-viable forms of H. pylori; Physiological states of H. pylori; Culturable forms of H. pylori; Unculturable forms of H. pylor; Resuscitation of dormant H. pylori; Ulcerogenesis

Core tip: The administration of antisecretory and antibacterial drugs can lead to the conversion of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) into the resting (dormant) state. C-shaped and U-shaped forms of H. pylori, most likely, are dormant forms of the bacteria. C-shaped and U-shaped forms of H. pylori are capable of reverse transition into the vegetative replicative state and of causing development of recurrence of peptic ulcer disease (PUD). The induction of process reversion occurs under the influence of specific molecules. The identification and study of these compounds will allow development of new drugs aimed at preventing recurrent PUD associated with dormant forms of H. pylori.