Abstract
Aims: Several studies have shown the presence of helicobacter species in the human biliary tract and in the intestinal tract of animals. Experimental infection by Helicobacter hepaticus in mice causes...
Highlights
Immunohistochemical staining Slender, curved microorganisms were detected in the hepatic sinus or portal zone in six of the 20 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) by specific H pylori immunostaining, whereas no bacteria were found in the control group
Another study using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and immunohistochemical staining detected a H pylori-like organism in the gallbladder mucosa of a 41 year old woman admitted to hospital with fever and upper right quadrant pain.[13]
A high prevalence of antibodies to H pylori in the serum of patients with liver diseases has been reported.[14 15]. These observations suggested that helicobacter organisms, including H pylori, might play a role in the development of hepatobiliary diseases in humans, as they do in animals
Summary
This study investigated whether helicobacter species could be detected in the liver of patients with HCC. H hepaticus infection has been found to increase the risk of hepatic carcinoma, in inbred strains of mice.[1] The human gastric pathogen H pylori induces a persistent infection and is thought to be a type I carcinogen because of its role in the development of gastric carcinoma and gastric mucosa associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma.[2] It has been proposed that in humans, as in animals, helicobacter species may colonise the liver and induce chronic hepatic diseases, especially hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We detected a 400 bp fragment of the 16S rRNA gene of helicobacter species in the liver tissue of patients with HCC. To ascertain whether these helicobacter species were H pylori, in our present study we amplified and sequenced a 1200 bp fragment of the 16S rRNA gene, and searched for other genes that are specific for H pylori by polymerase chain reaction (PCR)
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