Helicobacter pylori Antibodies, IgA, Serum

Helicobacter pylori infection is very common and affects about half the human race. It is more frequent and acquired earlier in life in poorer and less developed countries. In developing countries, 70-90% of the population carries H. pylori; almost all of these acquire the infection before the age of 10 years. Three routes of transmission have been described; iatrogenic (due to medical porcedures), Faecal-oral and oral-oral transmission. H pylori is definitely associated with peptic ulcer disease. It is also regularly associated with antral gastritis, and in some patients, the sequence of progression to intestinal metaplasia, dysplasia and carcinoma means that it is a cause of gastric antral carcinoma. H. pylori infection is a cause of localised gastric lymphoma (MALT lymphoma).

Infection of the gastric mucosa with H. pylori results in systemic as well as local immune responses, including elevation of specific IgG and IgA levels in serum. Serological tests are non-invasive, relatively rapid and simple to perform, and much less expensive than tests requiring endoscopic biopsy. Further, serologic tests are less likely to be confounded by suppression of H. pylori infection by bismuth compounds, proton pump inhibitors, or antibiotics taken for unrelated conditions. In the absence of therapeutic intervention, antibody levels remain elevated, perhaps for a lifetime, reflecting the duration of infection. After eradication of H. pylori, specific immunoglobulin G (IgG) and IgA levels tend to decrease, typically to approximately half of the pre-treatment value within 6 months.

1 ml Serum Stability: 14 Days at 2-8 °C

Negative: < 0.80 Ratio Borderline: 0.80 - 1.0 Ratio Positive: ≥ 1.1 Ratio