ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND/AIMS: In clinical practice, among the technique to detected Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection, IgG serological test is noninvasive, safe, quick, widely available, and inexpensive. We studied that whether the titers of anti-H. pylori IgG antibody were correlated with endoscopic finding, and the degree of microscopic gastric damage and H. pylori density in dyspeptic patients. METHODS: Gastric biopsy specimens were obtained in 109 patients with H. pylori infection undergoing upper gastric endoscopy. The titers of serum IgG antibodies to H. pylori were measured by enzyme immunoassay. Macroscopic gastric damages and histologic grades were scored by the Sydney system. RESULTS: Endoscopic findings showed no significant association with H. pylori antibody titers (p=0.111). There was significant correlation between H. pylori antibody titers and lymphocyte infiltration (p=0.002), neutrophil infiltration (p=0.002), H. pylori density (p=0.0001), respectively. There was no significant correlation between H. pylori antibody titers and atropy (p=0.142), intestinal metaplasia (p=0.368), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: H. pylori antibody titer has significant association with the H. pylori density, neutrophil and lymphocyte infiltration. The serological test using EIA method is a useful in detecting H. pylori infection and it may be used as a predictor for the H. pylori density and degree of inflammation.