Gastric Infection by Helicobacter pylori

Helicobacter pylori infects half of the world’s population and plays a causal role in ulcer disease and gastric cancer. This pathogenic neutralophile uniquely colonizes the acidic gastric milieu through the process of acid acclimation. Acid acclimation is the ability of the organism to maintain periplasmic pH near neutrality in an acidic environment to prevent a fall in cytoplasmic pH in order to maintain viability and growth in acid. Recently, due to an increase in antibiotic resistance, the rate of H. pylori eradication has fallen below 80% generating renewed interest in novel eradication regimens and targets. In this article, we review the gastric biology of H. pylori and acid acclimation, various detection procedures, antibiotic resistance and the role that gastric acidity plays in the susceptibility of the organism to antibiotics currently in use and propose several novel drug targets that would promote eradication in the absence of antibiotics.