seroprevalence of anti-helicobacter pylori and anti-caga igg antibodies in iranian dyspeptic patients

Background: helicobacter pylori, a worldwide infection, is associated with several infectious diseases including gastric ulcer, peptic ulcer, and gastric cancer resulting from the cytotoxin-associated gene a (caga). the purpose of this study was to evaluate the seroprevalence of anti-h. pylori and anti-caga igg antibodies in iranian dyspeptic patients. methods: in this prospective epidemiological survey, a total of 659 patients were evaluated for the presence of general anti-h. pylori igg, and then for anti-caga igg by two commercial elisa kits. results: the prevalence of general anti-h. pylori igg was 58.1% (383 of 659 patients) which increased progressively with age (p < 0.05) and was not significantly influenced by the sex (p = 0.08). the prevalence of anti-caga igg antibody in seropositive and seronegative patients for general h. pylori igg was 52.9% (37 of 70) and 61.9% (13 of 21), respectively. conclusion: this is the first report on the high prevalence of anti-caga igg in both seropositive and seronegative patients for general igg, indicating the importance of this antibody in diagnosis of h. pylori positive patients after seroconversion of the general igg