BACKGROUND–There is evidence suggesting that early life experience may influence adult risk of coronary heart disease (CHD). Chronic bacterial infections have been associated with CHD.
OBJECTIVE–To determine whether Helicobacter pylori, a childhood acquired chronic bacterial infection, is associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease in later life.
Background—Previous studies have reported an association between chronic Helicobacter pylori infection and ischemic heart disease. However, it is not clear whether this association is really due to the virulence of the bacterium or is merely the result of confounding factors (in particular, age and social class).
Methods and Results—We assessed the prevalence of infection by Helicobacter pylori and by strains bearing the cytotoxin-associated gene-A (CagA),
Background & AIMS: Helicobacter pylori infection is the major cause of peptic ulceration and gastric adenocarcinoma. To address the hypothesis that the human acquired immune response to H. pylori influences pathogenesis, we characterised the gastric T-helper (Th) and regulatory T-cell (Treg) response of infected patients.
METHODS: The human gastric CD4+ T-cell response of 28 H.