Abstract
Background and Objectives: Helicobacter pylori is the major cause of acute and chronic gastritis, gastric and duodenal ulcer and increased incidence of gastric adenocarcinoma and elevated gastric mucosa lymphoproliferation. Reactive oxygen species have been suggested as one of the main causes of cell injury in H. pylori associated gastritis.
Materials and Methods: In this study to evaluate oxidative stress in H. pylori infection the activities of Superoxide Dismutase (SOD) and Glutathione Peroxidase (GPX) were measured in gastric juice of sex and age matched H. pylori positive (n=43) and negative (n=43) individuals. This was determined through endoscopic and urease rapid test examinations.
Results: The mean activities of SOD and GPX in the gastric juice of the patients (H. pylori positive) were significantly higher than those of control group (H. pylori negative) (p=0.0001 in both cases). Correlation test between the mean activities of the both enzyme in gastric juice of control group revealed a direct and significant relationship was noticed (r=0.702, p=0.0001) while in the patient group a reverse but non-significant correlation was found (r=-0.028, p=0.859).
Conclusion: Since the activity of GPX is considered as being complementary to the activity of SOD, direct correlation between the activities of the two enzymes in gastric juice in uninfected group, and indirect correlation between these in that of infected group may suggest the presence of oxidative stress in H. pylori infection.