Strong correlation of caga epiya-abc motif with risk of gastric cancer in patients infected with helicobacter pylori in iran

Anahita Dah pahlevan,1,* Saeid latifi-navid,2 Saber zahri,3 Seyedeh zahra bakhti,4

1. Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Mohaghegh Ardabili, Ardabil, 56199-11367, Iran
2. Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Mohaghegh Ardabili, Ardabil, 56199-11367, Iran
3. Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Mohaghegh Ardabili, Ardabil, 56199-11367, Iran
4. Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Mohaghegh Ardabili, Ardabil, 56199-11367, Iran

Abstract

Introduction

The caga protein is associated with helicobacter pylori-induced diseases such as non-atrophic gastritis (nag), gastric ulcer and gastric cancer (gc). at the c-terminal region of the caga protein, there is a wide variety of repetitive sequences called the epiya motifs. the type and number of these epiya motifs are associated with pathogenicity of the bacterium. the aim of this study was to determine the epiya located in the c-terminal region of the caga in iranian strains and their association with gc.

Methods

A total of 150 strains were recruited in this study. the type and number of epiya motifs were detected by pcr on caga-positive strains (n=90).

Results

The caga gene was amplified in 90 of the strains and the analysis of the 3ꞌ- terminal region of caga gene showed the epiya-abc motif (western caga type) in gc strains was higher than those in nag strains (31.6% vs. 5.6%). the logistic regression analysis shows that epiya-abc motif increases the risk of developing gc 7 times higher than the risk of nag (or = 7.731, ci: 1.911-31.276).

Conclusion

We suggest that the epiya-abc motif may be useful as a biomarker predicting the risk of gc in people infected with h. pylori strains in iranian population.

Keywords

Helicobacter pylori, epiya- motif type, gastric cancer, iran.