REVIEW   

Minerva Biotecnologica 2019 December;31(4):122-30

DOI: 10.23736/S1120-4826.19.02564-3

Copyright © 2019 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

lingua: Inglese

Pangenomic studies of Helicobacter pylori: a key to understanding pathogenesis and human history

Guzel S. ISAEVA ^{1, 2} ✉

¹ Kazan Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, Kazan, Russia; ² Kazan State Medical University, Kazan, Russia

Helicobacter pylori is significantly associated with the development of various diseases of the gastrointestinal tract: chronic gastritis, gastric and duodenal ulcer, gastric cancer. However, despite the huge number of publications on the study of this microbe, the question remains about the mechanisms of the formation of different variants of clinical outcomes of H. pylori infection from asymptomatic carriage to oncological transformation of the gastric epithelium. Molecular genetic studies of the H. pylori genome allowed deciphering some pathogenetic mechanisms, although it is still far from a final understanding of the role of this bacterium in human pathology. Despite the high genetic variability, H. pylori strains retain the basic genetic structuring, which can be used to establish phylogenetic relationships between isolates and their geographical origin. Population genetics allows us to decipher the genetic aspects of bacterial and human coevolution by the example of H. pylori evolution. The purpose of this review is to summarize the latest molecular biology data on the virulence factors and genetic diversity of H. pylori. The article presents the current understanding of the genetic determinants of pathogenicity factors, their relationship with the genes of antimicrobial resistance, phage conversion of lysogenic strains of H. pylori and the evolution of this microbe. This approach is the key to understanding the evolutionary processes of the pathogen-host symbiotic relationship. Studying the genetic diversity of H. pylori populations and subpopulations will allow modeling the molecular processes of coevolution of microorganisms and humans.

KEY WORDS: Helicobacter pylori; Virulence factors; Genetics