Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is a common stomach infection, and one of the most prevalent human bacterial pathogens. More than half the people in the world will develop the infection at some point in their lives, which often happen during childhood, particularly in developing countries. The bacteria appears to spread through bodily fluids, poor hand hygiene or tainted food and water.
Many people do not develop symptoms, but in others, it is associated with chronic gastritis, peptic ulcer disease, and gastric malignancies. Currently, the most effective diagnostic is a non-invasive test known as the Urea breath test (UBT). However, researchers are also interested in examining whether the oral cavity acts as a potential reservoir for the bacteria - but to date, the relationship between the mouth and active gastric infection remains unclear.
For Marta's project, the research team investigated further, and collected 100 oral rinse samples from patients attending the UBT clinic in Tallaght University Hospital. The DNA was extracted from these samples followed by qPCR analysis which looked for three H. pylori genes. The results were then compared to the gold-standard UBT results to evaluate the diagnostic performance of our testing method.
While the current results do not show matching presence of H. pylori DNA in oral rinse compared to stomach in general, digging deeper into specific population demographics and continuing to explore oral H. pylori presence and its relatedness to the stomach infection could help develop a novel non-invasive point-of-care test for H. pylori.
For next steps the team are considering using a more sensitive, digital PCR (dPCR) which is supposed to be able to detect target genes if they are present, in even smaller amounts than those detectable by qPCR. Another approach we are considering is using a targeted molecular method which would look for H. pylori DNA in our samples together with around 170 other bacteria. This would allow us to reliably distinguish between H. pylori and other similar bacterial species commonly found in the mouth.
Marta's project is entitled: Evaluation of a multi-target qPCR approach to detect Helicobacter pylori in oral rinse samples compared to urea breath test.
Many people do not develop symptoms, but in others, it is associated with chronic gastritis, peptic ulcer disease, and gastric malignancies. Currently, the most effective diagnostic is a non-invasive test known as the Urea breath test (UBT). However, researchers are also interested in examining whether the oral cavity acts as a potential reservoir for the bacteria - but to date, the relationship between the mouth and active gastric infection remains unclear.
For Marta's project, the research team investigated further, and collected 100 oral rinse samples from patients attending the UBT clinic in Tallaght University Hospital. The DNA was extracted from these samples followed by qPCR analysis which looked for three H. pylori genes. The results were then compared to the gold-standard UBT results to evaluate the diagnostic performance of our testing method.
While the current results do not show matching presence of H. pylori DNA in oral rinse compared to stomach in general, digging deeper into specific population demographics and continuing to explore oral H. pylori presence and its relatedness to the stomach infection could help develop a novel non-invasive point-of-care test for H. pylori.
For next steps the team are considering using a more sensitive, digital PCR (dPCR) which is supposed to be able to detect target genes if they are present, in even smaller amounts than those detectable by qPCR. Another approach we are considering is using a targeted molecular method which would look for H. pylori DNA in our samples together with around 170 other bacteria. This would allow us to reliably distinguish between H. pylori and other similar bacterial species commonly found in the mouth.
Marta's project is entitled: Evaluation of a multi-target qPCR approach to detect Helicobacter pylori in oral rinse samples compared to urea breath test.