REVIEW   

Minerva Biotecnologica 2020 December;32(4):182-7

DOI: 10.23736/S1120-4826.20.02665-8

Copyright © 2020 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Molecular methods for the detection of Helicobacter pylori

Guzel ISAEVA ^{1, 2} ✉, Regina ISAEVA ³

¹ Kazan Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, Kazan, Russia; ² Kazan State Medical University, Kazan, Russia; ³ I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, Moscow, Russia

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection is one of the most common diseases in the world. According to epidemiological data, the infection rate of the population can vary from 30% to 90% depending on the country. This infection is associated with the development of chronic gastritis, peptic ulcer disease and malignant neoplasms of the stomach (gastric adenocarcinoma and mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue - lymphoma). H. pylori is a kind of “pioneer” among bacteria: it is not only the first bacterium with proven carcinogenicity, but also one of the first bacteria to have its genome decoded. Modern science cannot be imagined without the use of molecular genetic research to study microorganisms: decoding the genomes of known pathogens, studying the pathogenesis of the diseases based on pathogenicity genes, monitoring the spread of antibiotic resistance, tracking the circulation of various genotypes for epidemiological labeling of strains, creating diagnostic tests for accelerated diagnosis of infection, and developing new diagnostic and preventive approaches. The purpose of this short review is to analyze modern molecular genetic methods for detecting H. pylori. The use of molecular methods significantly expanded our ability to study H. pylori as the causative agent of a disease, while not abolishing the use of the classical culture method, and are an excellent tool to investigate previously unknown mechanisms of the pathogenesis of H. pylori infection, to conduct rapid diagnosis and determine the strategy for eradication therapy.

KEY WORDS: Helicobacter pylori; Genome; Molecular diagnostic techniques