A neutrophil chemotactic factor present inH. pylori but absent inH. mustelae

This study was designed to compare the capabilities ofHelicobacter pylori andHelicobacter mustelae to generate neutrophil chemotactic activity (NCA)in vitro. H. pylori andH. mustelae were grown in parallel cultures under identical conditions. The cultures were washed and transferred to saline solution for 3 hr to avoid detecting nonspecific chemotactic activity from culture media. Supernatants were subjected to size-exclusion HPLC. All peaks from HPLC were collected and assayed for NCA. Peaks having significant NCA were subjected to gel electrophoresis.H. pylori generated 85.9±1.7% NCA compared to only 41.6±2.5% forH. mustelae (P<0.001). The HPLC peak containing the highest NCA fromH. pylori revealed a band on gel electrophoresis at approximately 10.5 kDa. This band was not present on gels fromH. mustelae. We conclude thatH. pylori produces a neutrophil chemotactic factor lacking fromH. mustelae. This offers an explanation for the histologic difference between gastritides caused by these organisms.Presented in part at the American Gastroenterologic Association in New Orleans, May 1991.This work was supported by a VA MERIT grant and Department of Surgery research funding.