Serological evidence of association between Helicobacter pylori infection and coronary artery disease

1EL-Ageery, S. M., *1,4Gouda, N. S., 2Fawzy, I. M., 3Bahy-Eldeen, A., and 3Mahmoud, R.

1Medical Microbiology and Immunology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University, Egypt

2Mansoura Central Laboratories, Clinical Pathology Department, Ministry of Health, Egypt

3Internal Medicine Department, Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University, Egypt

4Medical Microbiology and Immunology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Northern Border University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

*Correspondence to: nawalsalama@gmail.com; 00966502933179

Abstract:

Background: Studies have reported relationship between chronic Helicobacter pylori infection and coronary artery disease (CAD). The cytotoxin-associated gene A product (CagA) is an immunodominant protein which indicates infection with virulent H. pylori strains. Significant associations of CagA-positive H. pylori strains with coronary artery disorders have been widely reported. H. pylori is also known to produce different heat shock proteins (HSPs) which can stimulate the production of specific antibody against microbial proteins and capable of eliciting autoimmune reaction against human tissue expressing HSPs such as vascular endothelial cells. The objectives of this study are to investigate the association between H. pylori and CagA with coronary atherosclerosis and CAD, and to determine the possible role of H. pylori HSP60 protein in increasing the risk of CAD development.

Methods: This study included 70 patients with stable angina and 70 age and gender-matched controls. Each group was evaluated by clinical history, physical examination, cardiac echocardiography (ECHO) and electrocardiography (ECG) with and without exercise. Fasting blood glucose, total cholesterol (TC), low density lipoprotein (LDL), high density lipoprotein (HDL) and triglycerides (TG) were estimated by automated enzymatic methods. H. pylori IgG, CagA IgG and HSP60 IgG were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for both groups. Continue reading “Serological evidence of association between Helicobacter pylori infection and coronary artery disease”