Journal of microbiology, epidemiology and immunobiologyJournal of microbiology, epidemiology and immunobiology0372-93112686-7613Central Research Institute for Epidemiology135910.36233/0372-9311-298Research ArticleVirulence determinants and genotypes of <i>Helicobacter pylori</i> clinical isolatesSvarvalAlena V.<p>Cand. Sci. (Med.), Head, Department for identification of pathogens</p>dariastarkova13@gmail.comhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-9340-4132StarkovaDaria A.<p>Cand. Sci. (Biol.), researcher, Department for identification of pathogens, Department of molecular epidemiology and evolutionary genetics</p>dariastarkova13@gmail.comhttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-3199-8689FermanRaisa S.<p>researcher, Department for identification of pathogens</p>dariastarkova13@gmail.comhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-7661-3725St. Petersburg Pasteur Institute100120239966927001001202310012023Copyright © 2023, Svarval A.V., Starkova D.A., Ferman R.S.2023<p><strong>Background.</strong> <em>H. pylori </em>is the principal causative agent of gastroduodenal disorders in humans. The development and severity of lesions in infected individuals depend on the virulence of <em>H. pylori</em> strains.</p>
<p><strong>Aims: </strong>Detection of virulence determinants and comparative analysis of <em>H. pylori</em> genotypes in patients with chronic gastritis (CG) and duodenal ulcer (DU).</p>
<p><strong>Materials and methods.</strong> The 53 <em>H. pylori</em> strains were isolated in St. Petersburg from patients with CG (<em>n</em> = 34) and DU (<em>n</em> = 19). The genetic determinants of virulence <em>cagA</em>, <em>iceA</em>, <em>vacA </em>and <em>H. pylori</em> genotypes in patients with CG and UC were determined using the standard PCR method.</p>
<p><strong>Results. </strong>The <em>cagA</em> gene was found in 64.1% of <em>H. pylori</em> strains. The proportions of <em>cagA</em>+ isolates from patients with CG and DU was 55.8% (15/34) and 78.9% (15/19), respectively (<em>p</em> 0.05). The <em>iceA1</em> allele of <em>H. pylori</em> was detected in 47.4% of patients with DU, the <em>iceA2</em> in 47.1% of patients with CG (<em>p</em> 0.05). The <em>vacA</em>s1 allele was significantly dominant in patients with DU 94.7% versus 70.6% in CG (<em>p</em> 0.05). No significant difference in <em>vacA</em> m1 and m2 alleles was found in <em>H. pylori</em> from different groups of patients (<em>p</em> 0.05). All <em>cagA</em>+ strains were carriers of the <em>vacA</em> s1 allele. The vast majority of strains (10 out of 11) of the <em>cagA</em>/<em>vacA</em>s2 genotype were isolated from patients with CG.</p>
<p><strong>Conclusion. </strong>The significant association between <em>vacA</em>s1, <em>vacA</em>s2 allelic variants, as well as <em>vacA </em>s1/m2, <em>vacA</em> s2/m2 genotypes of the pathogen and severity of clinical manifestations of <em>H. pylori</em> infection has been established in our study. The <em>vacA</em>s1 and <em>vacA</em> s1/m2 genotypes of the pathogen are associated with duodenal ulcer.</p>Helicobacter pyloricagAiceAvacAvirulence determinantgenotypingchronic gastritisduodenal ulcerHelicobacter pyloricagAiceAvacAгенотипированиегены вирулентностихронический гастритязвенная болезнь двенадцатиперстной кишки[de Brito B.B., da Silva F.A.F., Soares A.S., Pereira V.A., Santos M.L.C., Sampaio M.M., et al. Pathogenesis and clinical management of Helicobacter pylori gastric infection. World J. Gastroenterol. 2019; 25(37): 5578–89. https://doi.org/10.3748/wjg.v25.i37.5578][Nejati S., Karkhah A., Darvish H., Validi M., Ebrahimpour S., Nouri H.R. 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