Original Articles Open Access
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2001. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Apr 15, 2001; 7(2): 254-258
Published online Apr 15, 2001. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v7.i2.254
Virulence and potential pathogenicity of coccoid Helicobacter pylori induced by antibiotics
Fei-Fei She, Dong-Hui Su, Department of Microbiology, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou 350004, Fujian Province, China
Jian-Yin Lin, Department of Molecular Medicine, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou 350004, Fujian Province, China
Lin-Ying Zhou, Laboratory of Electron Microscope, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou 350004, Fujian Province, China
Fei-Fei She, graduated from Fujian Medical University as a postgraduate in 1991, now associate professor of microbiology and immunology, specialized in molecular biology of pathogen, having 15 papers published.
Author contributions: All authors contributed equally to the work.
Supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Fujian Province, China, No. 95A003
Correspondence to: Fei-Fei She, Department of Microbiology, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou 350004, Fujian Province, China
Telephone: +86-591-3569309
Received: November 15, 2000
Revised: February 22, 2000
Accepted: December 30, 2000
Published online: April 15, 2001

Abstract

AIM: To explore the virulence and the potential pathogenicity of coccoid Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) transformed from spiral form by exposure to antibiotic.

METHODS: Three strains of H. pylori, isolated from gastric biopsy specimens of confirmed peptic ulcer, were converted from spiral into coccoid from by exposure to metronidazole. Both spiral and coccoid form of H. pylori were tested for the urease activity, the adherence to Hep 2 cells and the vacuolating cytotoxicity to Hela cells, and the differences of the protein were analysed by SDS-PAGE and Western blot. The mutation of the genes including ureA, ureB, hpaA, vacA and cagA, related with virulence, was detected by means of PCR and PCR-SSCP.

RESULTS: In the coccoid H. pylori, the urease activity, the adherence to Hep 2 cells and the vacuolating cytotoxicity to Hela cells alldecreased. In strain F44, the rate and index of adherence reduced from 70.0% ± 5.3% to 33% ± 5.1% and from 2.6 ± 0.4 to 0.96 ± 0.3 (P < 0. 01), respectively. The invasion of coccoid H. pylori into Hep 2 cell could be seen under electronmicroscope. SDS-PAGE showed that the content of the protein with the molecular weight over Mr 74000 decreased, and the hybriditional signal in band Mr 125000 weakened, while the band Mr 110000 and Mr 63000 strengthened in coccoid H.pylori as shown in Western blot. The results of PCR were all positive, and PCR-SSCP indicated that there may exist the point mutation in gene hpaA or vacA.

CONCLUSION: The virulence and the proteins with molecular weight over Mr 74000 in coccoid H.pylori decrease, but no deletion exists in amplification fragments from ureA, ureB, hpaA, vacA and cagA genes, suggesting that coccoid H.pylori may have potential pathogenicity.

Key Words: Helicobacter pylori/drug; Helicobacter pylori/pathogenicity; antibiotics/pharmacology; polymerase chain reaction



INTRODUCTION

Helicobacter pylori is an important pathogen that causes chronic gastritis and peptic ulcer and may be a risk factor for gastric carcinoma[1-9]. The organism exists in two forms, a spiral form and a coccoid form. The coccoid H.pylori, which can be induced by increased oxygen tension, extended incubation and exposured to antibiotics[10-14], is nonculturable but alive [12,15-17], and could be induced to revert to a virulent spiral form in vivo[11]. Therefore, the coccoid H. pylori has been suspected to play a role in the transmission of the bacteria and to be partly responsible for recrudescence of infection after antimicrobiol treatment. However, the pathogenesis of coccoid H.pylori remains unclear. In this study, three strains of coccoid H.pylori transformed from spiral form by exposure to metronidazole, were tested for the urease activity, the adherence to Hep-2 cells and the vacuolating cytotoxin activities to Hela cells, the differences of the protein were analysed by SDS-PAGE and Western blot, and mutation of the genes involving ureA, ureB, hpaA, vacA and cagA was detected by means of PCR and PCR-SSCP, in order to explore the virulence and the potential pathogenicity of coccoid H.pylori.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Bacterial strains

Three strains (F44, F45 and F49 ) of H.pylori were isolated from gastric biopsy specimens of confirmed peptic ulcer patients. The isolates were spiral shape, positive for catalase, oxidase, urease, and cagA and vacA gene. Stock cultures were maintained in defatted milk at -80 °C.

Cells

The Hep-2 cells and Hela cells were maintained in 1640 medium supplemented with 10% fetal calf serum, 200 IU/mL penicillin and 50 μg/mL streptomycin at 37 °C in 5% CO2-95% air, and recultivated once or twice a week.

Cultivation of H.pylori and induction of coccoid forms

The stored strains of H.pylori were cultivated on Brucella agar with 5% sheep blood at 37 °C for 2-3 days under microaerophilic conditions (5% O2; 10% CO2; 85% N2). After subculturing, the bacteria were harvested and suspended in Brucella broth with 10% fetal calf serum, and the suspension was divided into two parts, one as spiral H.pylori, the other added with metronidazole at a concentration of 1/2 of MIC values (MIC = 32 mg/L-64 mg/L) at 37 °C under the microaerophilic conditions for a few days until coccoid forms reaching 100%(about 2-3 days).

Examination of urease activity

According to the manufacturer’s instructions of the kit detecting fastly urease activity (Sanqiang Company), the suspension of H.pylori (1010 cfu/mL) was added into the testing well in volume of 5 uL, and on the basis of reacting colors, the urease activity was divided into five grades (“+++ +”“+++”, ”++”,”+”and “-”).

Assay for adherence to Hep-2 cells

To assay bacterial adherence, Hep-2 cells were grown to confluence on coverslips in culture flask, and the suspension of H.pylori (108 cfu/mL) were added in a total volume of 0.5mL for Hep-2 cultures and allowed to adhere for 3.5 h at 37 °C in 5% CO2 95% air. Cultures were washed and stained with Wright-Giemsa stain, and both the amount of cells adhereed by bacteria and bacteria adhereing to cells were counted among one hundred cells under the light microscope. In addition, the culture with strain F44 was scraped using a glass club, centrifuged, and the pellet was embedded in Epoxy 618, then the ultrathin sections were cut and examined under a Hu-12A transmission electron microscope.

Assay for cytotoxicity to Hela cells

To assay vacuolating cytotoxicity of H.pylori, Hela cells were grown to confluence in 96-well plates (2 × 104 cells/well at the time of infection), the suspension of bacteria were swung, centrifuged, and the cell-free supernatants were concentrated 20-fold using polyethylene glycol Mr 20000, then sterilized by passage through a 0.25 μm pore-size filter. The concentrated supernatants at the consistency shown in Table 1 were added in a total volume of 0.1 mL to Hela cells, and Brucella broth served as a negative control. After incubation for 48 h, cells were stained and observed under phase microscope. Wells, in which 50% or more cells were vacuolated, were defined as showing a cytotoxic effect[18].

Table 1 Vacuolating activity of H.pylori to Hela cells.
Dilution of concentrated supernatantsSpiral form
Coccoid form
F44F45F49F44F45F49
No dilution+++---
1:10+++---
1:20+++---
1:40+-+--
1:80-----
SDS-PAGE of whole cell proteins

The suspension of H.pylori (6 × 1010 cfu/mL) were centrifuged, washed once with 0.5 mol/L Tris (pH 7.4), and the pellets were suspended in extraction buffer consisting of 0.75% Tris, 2% sodium dodecyl sulfate, 5% dithiothreitol, 10% glycerol and 0.1% bromophenol blue. The homogenate was heated for 5 min in a boiling water bath and frozen at -20 °C until use. According to Sambrook J et al[19], the protein solutions (10 μL) were electrophoresed on SDS-polyacrylamide gels with the stacking and the separating gels containing 5% and 10% acrylamide, respectively, and the gels were stained with Coomassie blue.

Western blot

According to Sambrook J et al[19], after SDS-PAGE, the proteins were blotted onto a nitrocellulose membrane under a constant current of 100 mA for 7 h, and the antigenic profiles were studied by Western blotting using serum from the patients infected with strain F44 (diluted at 1/50).

PCR and PCR-single-strand conformational polymorphism (PCR-SSCP)

PCR primers and the size of the corresponding PCR products are shown in Table 2[20-22]. The suspension of bacteria were centrifuged, and the pellets were resuspended in distilled water(105 cfu/mL), heated in a boiling water bath for 1min to obtain the DNA template, which was added into PCR reaction system in volume of 1/5. PCR was performed as follows: denaturation at 95 for 5 min, followed by 30 cycles of denaturation (94 °C for 0.5 min);annealing (52 °C for 1 min); and extension (72 °C for 1 min), and final extension at 72 °C for 7 min. The PCR products were electrophoretically separated on 0.2% agarose gel, and stained with ethidium bromide.

Table 2 Oligonucleotide primers used for PCR reactions.
Gene amplifiedPrimer sequenceSize of PCR product
ureAHPU1:5’-GCCAATGGTAAATTAGTT-3’411 bp
HPU2:5’-CTCCTTAATTGTTTTTAC-3’
ureBHPU55:5’-AATTGCAGAAATATCAC-3’115 bp
HPU17:5’-ACTTTATTGGCTGGTTT-3’
hpaAHPYLO1:5’-GAATTACCATCCAGCTAGCG-3’375 bp
HPYLO2:5’-GTAACCTTGACAAAACCGGC-3’
vacAVA1F:5’-ATGGAAATACAACAAACACAC-3’259 bp
VA1R:5’-CTGCTTGAATGCGCCAAAC-3’
cagAF1:5’-GATAACAGGCAAGCTTTTGAGG-3349 bp
B1 :5’-TCTGCCAAACAATCTTTTGCAG-3’

SSCP was performed as follows: the mixture consisting of 5 μL of PCR product and 3 μL of loading buffer (95% formamide, 200 mmol/L EDTA, 0.05% bromophenol blue, and 0.05% xylene cyanol) was heated at 100 °C for 5 min to denature double-stranded DNA and then plunged into ice for 5 min, and electrophoresed on 50% polyacrylamide gel under a constant voltage of 300v for 7 h, the gel was stained with 0.2% silve nitrate.

Statistical analysis

Analysis of data was performed using the Student t test. A value of P < 0.05 was regarded as statistically significant.

RESULTS
Urease activity

As shown in Table 3, the urease activity of coccoid H. pylori, which was transformed from spiral form by exposure to antibiotic in subinhibitory concentrations, decreased.

Table 3 Urease activity of H.pylori.
StrainUrease activity
Spiral formCoccoid form
F44+++++
F45++++++
F49+++++
Adherence to Hep-2 cells

According to the following formula, the rate and the index of adherence were calculated:

The rate of adherence = the amount of cell adherenced by bacteria/100 × 100%

The index of adherence = the amount of bactria adhereing to cells/100

For each coverslip five-fields (one field containing of one hundred cells) were counted, and the mean of all fields is shown in Table 4. As compared with the spiral forms (P < 0.01), the adherence of coccoid forms to Hep-2 cells decreased. In addition, invasion of coccoid H. pylori into cell could be seen under electron microscope (Figure 1).

Figure 1
Figure 1 Invasion of coccoid H. pylori into Hep-2 cell. Transmission electron microscope, × 15 000
Table 4 Adherence test of H.pylori to Hep-2 cells.
Rate of adherence
Index of adherence
F44F45F49F44F45F49
Spiral form70.0 ± 5.373.0 ± 5.172.6 ± 4.52.60 ± 0.43.1 ± 0.52.90 ± 0.4
Coccoid form33.0 ± 4.340.1 ± 3.735.5 ± 4.10.96 ± 0.31.0 ± 0.30.98 ± 0.4
t12.111.713.67.58.17.6
P< 0.01< 0.01< 0.01< 0.01< 0.01< 0.01
Vacuolating activity to Hela cells

As shown in Table 1, vacuolating activity of coccoid H. pylori to Hela cell impaired after Hela cells were incubated with different concentrations of supernatants of coccoid H.pylori for 48 h.

SDS-PAGE and Western blot

SDS-PAGE patterns are illustrated in Figure 2A. The content of the proteins with molecular weight over Mr 74000 decreased, especially the band at Mr 125000 was presented with deletion in coccoid H. pylori. The protein patterns of the three strains of coccoid H. pylori were similar. Western blot patterns showed that the hybriditional signal in band Mr 125000 weakens, meanwhile, strengthens in band Mr 110000 and Mr 63000 in all coccoid H. pylori as illustrated in Figure 2B.

Figure 2
Figure 2 A. SDS-PAGE pattern of whole cell proteins of H. pylori, B. Western blot pattern of the proteins of H. pylori. a. marker; b.d.f. spiral forms of H.pyloriF44, F45 and F49, respectively; c.e.g. coccoid forms of H.pylori F44, F45 and F49, respectively.
PCR and PCR-SSCP

The result of PCR for strain F44 is illustrated in Figure 3. The genes detected by PCR, which included ureA, ureB, hpaA, vacA and cagA, were all positive in both spiral and coccoid H.pylori. The patterns of SSCP showed that there could exist point mutation in vacA gene of strain F44 and F45, as well as in hpaA gene of strain F49 in coccoid forms. The pattern of SSCP for strain F44 is illustrated in Figure 4.

Figure 3
Figure 3 The results of PCR of H. pylori F44. a. PCR marker 100bp lader; b.c. ureA gene; d.e. ureB gene; f.g. hpaA gene; h.i. vacA gene; j.k. cagA gene; b.d.f.h.j. spiral forms of H.pylori; c.e.g.i.k. coccoid forms of H.pylori.
Figure 4
Figure 4 The pattern of PCR-SSCP of H. pylori F44. a.b. vacA gene; c.d. ureA gene; e.f. cagA gene; g.h. hpaA gene; a.c.e.g. spiral forms of H. pylori; b.d.f.h. coccoid forms of H.pylori.
DISCUSSION

H.pylori can convert into coccoid forms after induced by antibiotics in vitro or in viro[12,23,24]. It has been reported that coccoid H.pylori is able to colonize and to produce gastric alterations in the suitable animal model[11]. Costas M et al[25]compared the pre-with post-treatment isolates of H.pylori from the same patients by using 1-D SDS PAGE of proteins and considered that recurrent patients were not reinfected with a different strain but that there was recrudescence of the pre-treatment strain. Thus, it is reasonable to suppose that the viability of the coccoid form may account for the wide number of relapses in patients. However, as yet, the pathogenesis of the coccoid form remains unclear.

The putative pathogenic determinants of H.pylori can be divided into two major groups[26]: maintenance factors, which allow the bacterium to colonize and remain within the host, and virulence factors, which contribute to the pathogenetic effects of the bacterium. Both urease activity and adherence to epithelia cells of H.pylori are important maintenance factors[27-30]. In this study, It is shown that both urease activity and adherence to Hep-2 cell of coccoid H.pylori decreased, suggesting that virulence related to colonization in coccoid H.pylori reduced. Vacuolating cytotoxin produced by about 50%-60% of H.pylori strains[18,31-33] is one of the important virulence factors[34]. Infection with cytotoxin-producing H.pylori strains was more prevalent among patients with peptic ulcer disease[35-37]and gastric carcinoma[18,38-42] than among patients with gastritis alone. In our study, the decrease of vacuolating cytotoxicity in coccoid H. pylori was found, which may be related with the reduction of the volume of Mr 87000 VacA and Mr 125000 CagA proteins determining vacuolating cytotoxicity [34,43] by SDS-PAGE. These findings indicate that the coccoid H.pylori is less efficient in the colonizational virulence and vacuolating cytotoxicity,which may make it unlikely to induce an inflammatory response. Thus the alleviation of clinical symptom of the patients after antimicrobiol treatment does not necessarily mean eradication of H.pylori, it may also result from the convertion to coccoid form. As shown in the assay for adherence, a few coccoid H.pylori still adhered to Hep-2 cells, even invated into them, which indicates that coccoid H.pylori is likely to sustain in the host, thus making the recrudescence of infection possible.

In order to display the hereditary background of coccoid H.pylori, the genes related with virulence mentioned above (involving ureA, ureB, hpaA, vacA and cagA) were detected by PCR and PCR-SSCP. No deletion was in these genes, but there only existed the point mutation in genes hpaA or vacA. These data demonstrate that the coccoid H.pylori may revert into an infectious spiral form under the appropriate conditions and result in recudescence of infection, suggesting that coccoid H.pylori may have potential pathogenicity.

According to the features of coccoid H.pylori, it may escape the techniques usually applied for their detection such as cultivation and assay for urease activity. Because of no deletion in genes mentioned above in coccoid H.pylori, we can use PCR to detect these genes instead of conventional methods to determine whether the bacteria have been completely eliminated after treatment.

Some studies showed that the synthesis of some proteins of coccoid H.pylori increased such as 62KDa and > 94 KDa proteins[16,44,45]. In this study, the results of Western blot showed that the antigenic fraction with molecular weight in Mr 110000 and Mr 63000 was detected more intensively in all three strains of coccoid H.pylori, as compared with spiral H.pylori. The fractions may be the one degraded from a high-molecular-mass antigen. Further studies are required to determine whether these antigenic proteins have special functions.

Footnotes

Edited by Ma JY

References
1.  Yang SM, Lin BZ, Fang Y, Zheng Y. Ultrastructural observation on relation of H. pylori to gastric epithelia in chronic gastritis and peptic ulcer. China Natl J New Gastroenterol. 1996;2:152-154.  [PubMed]  [DOI]  [Cited in This Article: ]
2.  Gao GL, Pan BR, Yang SF, Song G, Xu XQ, Liu Y. The value of Helicobacter pylori in gastro-duodenal diseases. Xin Xiaohuabingxue Zazhi. 1994;2:232-233.  [PubMed]  [DOI]  [Cited in This Article: ]
3.  Li ZX, Zhang WD, Zhou DY, Zhang YL, Guo XP, Yang HT. Relationship between Helicobacter pylori and duodenal ulcer. Xin Xiaohuabingxue Zazhi. 1996;4:153-155.  [PubMed]  [DOI]  [Cited in This Article: ]
4.  Blaser MJ, Perez-Perez GI, Kleanthous H, Cover TL, Peek RM, Chyou PH, Stemmermann GN, Nomura A. Infection with Helicobacter pylori strains possessing cagA is associated with an increased risk of developing adenocarcinoma of the stomach. Cancer Res. 1995;55:2111-2115.  [PubMed]  [DOI]  [Cited in This Article: ]
5.  Maeda S, Yoshida H, Ogura K, Yamaji Y, Ikenoue T, Mitsushima T, Tagawa H, Kawaguchi R, Mori K, Mafune Ki. Assessment of gastric carcinoma risk associated with Helicobacter pylori may vary depending on the antigen used: CagA specific enzyme-linked immunoadsorbent assay (ELISA) versus commercially available H. pylori ELISAs. Cancer. 2000;88:1530-1535.  [PubMed]  [DOI]  [Cited in This Article: ]  [Cited by in F6Publishing: 4]  [Reference Citation Analysis (0)]
6.  Liu WZ, Zheng X, Shi Y, Dong QJ, Xiao SD. Effect of Helicobacter pylori infection on gastric epithelial proliferation in progression from normal mucosa to gastriccarcinoma. World J Gastroenterol. 1998;4:246-248.  [PubMed]  [DOI]  [Cited in This Article: ]
7.  Wang XH, Zhang WD, Zhang YL, Zeng JZ, Sun Y. Relationship between Hp infection and oncogene and tumor suppressor gene expressions in gastric cancer and precancerosis. Huaren Xiaohua Zazhi. 1998;6:516-518.  [PubMed]  [DOI]  [Cited in This Article: ]
8.  Lu W, Chen LY, Gong HS. PCNA and c-erbB-2 expression in gastric mucosal intestinal metaplasia with Helicobacter pylori infection. Shijie Huaren Xiaohua Zazhi. 1999;7:111-113.  [PubMed]  [DOI]  [Cited in This Article: ]
9.  Cai L, Yu SZ, Zhang ZF. Helicobacter pylori infection and risk of gastric cancer in Changle County,Fujian Province,China. World J Gastroenterol. 2000;6:374-376.  [PubMed]  [DOI]  [Cited in This Article: ]
10.  Catrenich CE, Makin KM. Characterization of the morphologic conversion of Helicobacter pylori from bacillary to coccoid forms. Scand J Gastroenterol Suppl. 1991;181:58-64.  [PubMed]  [DOI]  [Cited in This Article: ]  [Cited by in Crossref: 77]  [Cited by in F6Publishing: 74]  [Article Influence: 2.2]  [Reference Citation Analysis (0)]
11.  Cellini L, Allocati N, Angelucci D, Iezzi T, Di Campli E, Marzio L, Dainelli B. Coccoid Helicobacter pylori not culturable in vitro reverts in mice. Microbiol Immunol. 1994;38:843-850.  [PubMed]  [DOI]  [Cited in This Article: ]  [Cited by in Crossref: 124]  [Cited by in F6Publishing: 134]  [Article Influence: 4.5]  [Reference Citation Analysis (0)]
12.  Bode G, Mauch F, Malfertheiner P. The coccoid forms of Helicobacter pylori. Criteria for their viability. Epidemiol Infect. 1993;111:483-490.  [PubMed]  [DOI]  [Cited in This Article: ]  [Cited by in Crossref: 156]  [Cited by in F6Publishing: 151]  [Article Influence: 4.9]  [Reference Citation Analysis (0)]
13.  Costa K, Bacher G, Allmaier G, Dominguez-Bello MG, Engstrand L, Falk P, de Pedro MA, García-del Portillo F. The morphological transition of Helicobacter pylori cells from spiral to coccoid is preceded by a substantial modification of the cell wall. J Bacteriol. 1999;181:3710-3715.  [PubMed]  [DOI]  [Cited in This Article: ]
14.  Xu ZM, Zhou DY, Pan LJ, Song S. Transformation and reversion of Helicobacter pylori in vitro. Shijie Huaren Xiaohua Zazhi. 1999;7:215-217.  [PubMed]  [DOI]  [Cited in This Article: ]
15.  Cellini L, Allocati N, Di Campli E, Dainelli B. Helicobacter pylori: a fickle germ. Microbiol Immunol. 1994;38:25-30.  [PubMed]  [DOI]  [Cited in This Article: ]  [Cited by in Crossref: 65]  [Cited by in F6Publishing: 66]  [Article Influence: 2.2]  [Reference Citation Analysis (0)]
16.  Benaissa M, Babin P, Quellard N, Pezennec L, Cenatiempo Y, Fauchère JL. Changes in Helicobacter pylori ultrastructure and antigens during conversion from the bacillary to the coccoid form. Infect Immun. 1996;64:2331-2335.  [PubMed]  [DOI]  [Cited in This Article: ]
17.  Shahamat M, Mai U, Paszko-Kolva C, Kessel M, Colwell RR. Use of autoradiography to assess viability of Helicobacter pylori in water. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1993;59:1231-1235.  [PubMed]  [DOI]  [Cited in This Article: ]
18.  Cover TL, Dooley CP, Blaser MJ. Characterization of and human serologic response to proteins in Helicobacter pylori broth culture supernatants with vacuolizing cytotoxin activity. Infect Immun. 1990;58:603-610.  [PubMed]  [DOI]  [Cited in This Article: ]
19.  Sambrook J, Fritsch EF, Maniatis T. editor, Jin DY, Li MF. Translation. Molecular cloning a laboratory manual. 2nd ed. Beijing: Kexue Chubanshe. 1992;880-888.  [PubMed]  [DOI]  [Cited in This Article: ]
20.  Evans DG, Evans DJ, Lampert HC, Graham DY. Restriction fragment length polymorphism in the adhesin gene hpaA of Helicobacter pylori. Am J Gastroenterol. 1995;90:1282-1288.  [PubMed]  [DOI]  [Cited in This Article: ]
21.  Clayton CL, Kleanthous H, Coates PJ, Morgan DD, Tabaqchali S. Sensitive detection of Helicobacter pylori by using polymerase chain reaction. J Clin Microbiol. 1992;30:192-200.  [PubMed]  [DOI]  [Cited in This Article: ]
22.  Atherton JC, Cao P, Peek RM, Tummuru MK, Blaser MJ, Cover TL. Mosaicism in vacuolating cytotoxin alleles of Helicobacter pylori. Association of specific vacA types with cytotoxin production and peptic ulceration. J Biol Chem. 1995;270:17771-17777.  [PubMed]  [DOI]  [Cited in This Article: ]  [Cited by in Crossref: 1078]  [Cited by in F6Publishing: 1080]  [Article Influence: 37.2]  [Reference Citation Analysis (0)]
23.  Berry V, Jennings K, Woodnutt G. Bactericidal and morphological effects of amoxicillin on Helicobacter pylori. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1995;39:1859-1861.  [PubMed]  [DOI]  [Cited in This Article: ]  [Cited by in Crossref: 74]  [Cited by in F6Publishing: 80]  [Article Influence: 2.8]  [Reference Citation Analysis (0)]
24.  Zuo JS, Xu KC. Two cases of conversion of Helicobacter pylori from the bacillary to the coccoid form after antibiotic treatment. Zhonghua Xiaohua Zazhi. 1991;11:250.  [PubMed]  [DOI]  [Cited in This Article: ]
25.  Costas M, Morgan DD, Owen RJ, Morgan DR. Differentiation of strains of Helicobacter pylori by numerical analysis of 1-D SDS-PAGE protein patterns: evidence for post-treatment recrudescence. Epidemiol Infect. 1991;107:607-617.  [PubMed]  [DOI]  [Cited in This Article: ]  [Cited by in Crossref: 7]  [Cited by in F6Publishing: 7]  [Article Influence: 0.2]  [Reference Citation Analysis (0)]
26.  Dunn BE, Cohen H, Blaser MJ. Helicobacter pylori. Clin Microbiol Rev. 1997;10:720-741.  [PubMed]  [DOI]  [Cited in This Article: ]
27.  Eaton KA, Brooks CL, Morgan DR, Krakowka S. Essential role of urease in pathogenesis of gastritis induced by Helicobacter pylori in gnotobiotic piglets. Infect Immun. 1991;59:2470-2475.  [PubMed]  [DOI]  [Cited in This Article: ]
28.  Smoot DT, Mobley HL, Chippendale GR, Lewison JF, Resau JH. Helicobacter pylori urease activity is toxic to human gastric epithelial cells. Infect Immun. 1990;58:1992-1994.  [PubMed]  [DOI]  [Cited in This Article: ]
29.  Borén T, Falk P, Roth KA, Larson G, Normark S. Attachment of Helicobacter pylori to human gastric epithelium mediated by blood group antigens. Science. 1993;262:1892-1895.  [PubMed]  [DOI]  [Cited in This Article: ]  [Cited by in Crossref: 840]  [Cited by in F6Publishing: 777]  [Article Influence: 25.1]  [Reference Citation Analysis (0)]
30.  Wang ZX, Shen HF, Chen HJ. Adherent properties of Helicobacter pylori to human epithelial cells. China Natl J New Gastroenterol. 1997;3:35-37.  [PubMed]  [DOI]  [Cited in This Article: ]
31.  Cover TL, Blaser MJ. Purification and characterization of the vacuolating toxin from Helicobacter pylori. J Biol Chem. 1992;267:10570-10575.  [PubMed]  [DOI]  [Cited in This Article: ]
32.  Pan KF, Liu WD, Ma JL, Zhou T, Zhang L, Chang YS, You WC. Infection of Helicobacter pylori in children and mode of trans-mission in a high risk area of gastric cancer. Huaren Xiaohua Zazhi. 1998;6:42-44.  [PubMed]  [DOI]  [Cited in This Article: ]
33.  Yu CQ, Zou QM, Xie QH, Guo XQ, Luo P. The relation between infection of VacA Helicobacter pylori and digestive system diseases. Shijie Huaren Xiaohua Zazhi. 1999;7:439.  [PubMed]  [DOI]  [Cited in This Article: ]
34.  Phadnis SH, Ilver D, Janzon L, Normark S, Westblom TU. Pathological significance and molecular characterization of the vacuolating toxin gene of Helicobacter pylori. Infect Immun. 1994;62:1557-1565.  [PubMed]  [DOI]  [Cited in This Article: ]
35.  Figura N, Guglielmetti P, Rossolini A, Barberi A, Cusi G, Musmanno RA, Russi M, Quaranta S. Cytotoxin production by Campylobacter pylori strains isolated from patients with peptic ulcers and from patients with chronic gastritis only. J Clin Microbiol. 1989;27:225-226.  [PubMed]  [DOI]  [Cited in This Article: ]
36.  Ren JP, Wang Y, Xie XJ, Di X, Qian DM, Men ZR, Li M. The relation between CagA Helicobacter pylori and gastro duodenal diseases. Shijie Huaren Xiaohua Zazhi. 1999;7:119.  [PubMed]  [DOI]  [Cited in This Article: ]
37.  Zhang LX, Zhang L, Zhang NX, Liu YG, Yan XJ, Han FC, Hou Y. Contrast study on the relation between CagA of Helicobacter pylori and development of gastroduodenal ulcer. Shijie Huaren Xiaohua Zazhi. 1999;7:700-701.  [PubMed]  [DOI]  [Cited in This Article: ]
38.  Hu FL, Guo F, Jia BQ. Study on the relationship between the toxin of Helicobacter pylori and the gastric cancer. Zhonghua Neike Zazhi. 1998;37:620-621.  [PubMed]  [DOI]  [Cited in This Article: ]
39.  Brenner H, Arndt V, Stürmer T, Stegmaier C, Ziegler H, Dhom G. Individual and joint contribution of family history and Helicobacter pylori infection to the risk of gastric carcinoma. Cancer. 2000;88:274-279.  [PubMed]  [DOI]  [Cited in This Article: ]  [Cited by in F6Publishing: 7]  [Reference Citation Analysis (0)]
40.  Rugge M, Busatto G, Cassaro M, Shiao YH, Russo V, Leandro G, Avellini C, Fabiano A, Sidoni A, Covacci A. Patients younger than 40 years with gastric carcinoma: Helicobacter pylori genotype and associated gastritis phenotype. Cancer. 1999;85:2506-2511.  [PubMed]  [DOI]  [Cited in This Article: ]  [Cited by in F6Publishing: 2]  [Reference Citation Analysis (0)]
41.  Zhang L, Jiang J, Pan KF, Liu WD, Ma JL, Zhou T, Perez Perez GI, Blaser MJ, Chang YS, You WC. Infection of H.pylori with cagA strain in a high-risk area of gastric cancer. Huaren Xiaohua Zazhi. 1998;6:40-41.  [PubMed]  [DOI]  [Cited in This Article: ]
42.  Zhang L, Yan XJ, Zhang LX, Han FC, Zhang NX, Hou Y, Liu YG. Seroepidemiological study of Hp and CagA Hp infection. Shijie Huaren Xiaohua Zazhi. 2000;8:389-392.  [PubMed]  [DOI]  [Cited in This Article: ]
43.  Tummuru MK, Cover TL, Blaser MJ. Cloning and expression of a high-molecular-mass major antigen of Helicobacter pylori: evidence of linkage to cytotoxin production. Infect Immun. 1993;61:1799-1809.  [PubMed]  [DOI]  [Cited in This Article: ]
44.  Nilsson I, Utt M, Nilsson HO, Ljungh A, Wadström T. Two-dimensional electrophoretic and immunoblot analysis of cell surface proteins of spiral-shaped and coccoid forms of Helicobacter pylori. Electrophoresis. 2000;21:2670-2677.  [PubMed]  [DOI]  [Cited in This Article: ]  [Cited by in F6Publishing: 1]  [Reference Citation Analysis (0)]
45.  Mizoguchi H, Fujioka T, Kishi K, Nishizono A, Kodama R, Nasu M. Diversity in protein synthesis and viability of Helicobacter pylori coccoid forms in response to various stimuli. Infect Immun. 1998;66:5555-5560.  [PubMed]  [DOI]  [Cited in This Article: ]