Helicobacter pilori: what is it? Helicobacter pylori: the more dangerous, the analysis, symptoms and treatment

Today, many of us know that a small bacterium with a complex name Helicobacter pylori can cause a pathology such as a stomach ulcer. The history of the discovery of this microorganism has stretched not for one century. Helicobacter pilori studied for a long time, did not want to recognize, and, finally, finally found out its role in the occurrence of diseases of the digestive system. What kind of a bacterium is it and how can you get rid of it?

Dangerous microscopic organism

To date, scientists already know a lot about Helicobacter pylori. That it is a microscopic organism and that it does not have a cell nucleus, the researchers discovered at the very beginning of its study. Conclusion of scientists: the bacterium is the oldest form of life. No wonder it is widespread in the environment. It should be said that they found this parasite not only in the human body, but also in the vents of volcanoes.

Many strains of bacteria are simply necessary for us to exist. With their help in the human body is the development of some useful substances (for example, vitamin K). Some types of bacteria protect the surface layers of the epithelium (urinary and airways, digestive tract, skin) from pathogenic microorganisms. However, Helicobacter pylori can not be classified among them. What is this bacterium? It is considered pathogenic and causes a malfunction in the body.

What confirms the pathogenicity of this bacterium? The fact is that all pathogenic microorganisms have a number of distinctive features. They possess:

- genetic ability to parasitize;
- organotropicity (adaptation to damage to tissues and organs of the human body);
- toxigenicity, that is, the ability to release toxic substances;
- specificity (cause the occurrence of an infectious disease);
- the ability to exist in the body for a long period of time, or to persistirovaniyu.

History of the discovery

Back in the late 19 century. Many scientists could not answer the question with absolute certainty: "Helicobacter pylori - what is this?" But already in those days many researchers assumed that such stomach pathologies as an ulcer, gastritis and cancer are associated with infections. They found the bacteria in the mucus of the diseased organ having a characteristic spiral shape. However, the microbes extracted from the stomach, hitting the external environment, quickly died, and it was not possible to investigate them.

Answer the question: "Helicobacter pylori - what is this?" The researchers were able to only a century later. Only in 1983, scientists from Australia, Barry Marshall and Robin Warren told the world that in the mucus of the stomachs of people suffering from chronic gastritis and peptic ulcer, they found spiral-shaped bacteria.

This year is considered the year of the opening of Helikobakter pylori, since the publications made in the late 19th century were safely forgotten by this time. Most gastroenterologists considered the main causes of the development of gastric pathologies stresses and malnutrition, genetic predisposition, excessive consumption of overly spicy food, etc.

Danger of bacteria

Open by Australian scientists, the microorganism is unique. Until 1983 it was believed that in the stomach can not exist any bacteria, because it contains aggressive hydrochloric acid. However Helikobakter pilori refuted this assumption. This spiral-shaped bacterium can exist in the stomach and duodenum.

The danger of this microorganism, the doctor-scientist B. Marshall proved on himself. He deliberately infected himself with Helicobacter hilori. After that, he developed gastritis.

This whole story has a happy ending. The doctor proved the involvement of the bacterium in the development of the pathology of the digestive tract. He got rid of gastritis after a two-week course of antibiotic therapy, and received along with R. Warren the Nobel Prize.

Later, other varieties of Helicobacter were found. Some of them are the cause of the development of infectious diseases in humans.

The habitat of bacteria

Helicobacter pylori is a microorganism that has been able to adapt to the existence in the antrum of the stomach. Bacteria are found under the layers of a thick mucus protective layer, which covers the inner surface of this organ. It is in this place is a neutral environment in which there is practically no oxygen.

Helicobacter pylori does not have any bacteria-competitors. It quietly multiplies and maintains its populations, feeding on the contents of the stomach. Its only problem is the resistance of the body's defenses.

Thanks to their flagella, the bacterium moves deftly and quickly in the gastric juice with corkscrew movements. However, it constantly populates new areas. In order to survive in an aggressive environment, Helicobacter pylori allocates urease. It is an adaptive enzyme that neutralizes hydrochloric acid in the area around the microorganism. Thus, the bacterium easily overcomes the dangerous environment for all living things and reaches the layers of the mucous membrane whole and unharmed.
The insidiousness of the pathogenic microorganism lies in its ability to isolate specific substances that make it possible to escape from the reaction of the host's immune forces.

The bacterium parasitizes the gastric mucosa and destroys it. This leads to the appearance of small ulcers. Further the process is aggravated. The malignant organism begins to destroy the walls of the stomach, which causes the ulcers.

Prevalence of bacteria

Helicobacter pylori inhabits the digestive tract of almost half of the inhabitants of our planet. However, in most cases this pathogenic bacterium does not show itself. It is believed that Helicobacter pylori appears in children at an early age. It falls into the baby's body from close people or from family members. The way of its transmission is usually contact-everyday, through kisses, common dishes, etc. This is confirmed by the fact that, as a rule, all family members are immediately infected.

An infected person can live with such a bacterium for life and not even know about the presence of a pathogenic microorganism in his stomach. This is why no special measures are taken to identify these harmful media. Well, those who suffer from the symptoms of digestive tract diseases are able to help the course of antibiotics.

The first signs of the presence of bacteria

Helicobacter pylori becomes the cause of gastritis or stomach ulcers in the presence of certain factors. These can be gaps in the diet, reduced immunity, stress, etc.

The manifestation of the disease begins with a disruption of the functioning of the digestive tract. If a person has heartburn, discomfort after eating, bad breath, loss of appetite and sudden weight loss, and problems with stools, this is the first signal that the body began to malfunction.

Sometimes Helicobacter pylori makes itself felt by the appearance of rashes on the skin of the face. Some patients turn to a cosmetologist, not suspecting the presence of microscopic organisms in the stomach.

If you find the symptoms described above, you should immediately consult a doctor who should identify the disease. It is from the timely and correct diagnosis that the effectiveness of subsequent treatment will depend.

Methods of research

Which patients will need to take tests so that the doctor can correctly diagnose it?

To date, in medical practice, several methods are used to determine the presence of harmful bacteria in the human body. At the first signs of the disease, the following studies are assigned:

1. Analysis for Helicobacter pylori blood. Studies are conducted on the presence of antibodies in it, which are nothing more than a signal for the recognition of bacteria by the body's immune forces.

2. Analysis for Helicobacter pylori feces. The conducted studies reveal the presence of the genetic material of a dangerous microorganism.

3. Respiratory test. With its help, specialists are able to determine ureaznuyu activity Helikobakter pylori, located in the stomach.

4. Cytological studies. This method involves the detection of a harmful bacterium with a microscope when examining gastric mucosal samples.

In order for the diagnostics to have the maximum accuracy, doctors prescribe to the patient at least two different research methods.

Blood test

This study is called ELISA. This term means nothing else than an enzyme immunoassay. This study is conducted to determine the Helicobacter pylori bacteria.

ELISA is an analysis of blood plasma. During the study of the obtained biological material, various chemical reactions are performed. With their help determine the titers or the concentration of antibodies in relation to the causative agent Helicobacteriosis. What is the essence of this technique? It reveals the presence of antibodies in the blood plasma, which forms the human immunity when ingested into an organism of a foreign protein (it is a dangerous bacterium).

In what cases can we talk about the presence of Helicobacter pylori in the stomach? The presence of a dangerous microorganism is indicated by the results of tests confirming the presence of antibodies in the blood. But here there is a certain nuance. It is worth remembering that even if the transcript of the blood test on Helicobacter pylori gave a positive result, it does not give a 100% guarantee of infection in the body. After all, antibodies in the blood persist for some, sometimes a long period of time in the human body, completely rid of the dangerous bacteria.

Sometimes it happens that a person gives blood to Helicobacter pylori. The interpretation of the analysis shows a negative result (below 12.5 units / ml). It would seem that all is well, but ... It should be borne in mind that a pronounced response of the immune system appears only after some time after the bacteria enters the body. That is why the results of some analyzes are false-negative. The pathogenic microbe is already in the body, but the immunity has not yet given its antibody response.

In order to overcome the disadvantages of this study, it becomes necessary to perform fractional analysis of immunoglobulins IgA, IgG and IgM. These substances are nothing more than different kinds of antibodies that are capable of producing immune cells.

What are these antibodies? So, IgG is the most common immunoglobulin. It is a substance of a protein nature. IgG begins to be produced by the body 3-4 weeks after the moment of infection in the body. In the presence of Helicobacteriosis, the concentration of this immunoglobulin correlates with the activity of the bacterium. A month after the removal of the infection, IgG in the blood is not detected.
A comparatively small fraction of free proteins are type M immunoglobulins. They are first detected in the blood of a patient infected with Helicobacter pylori.

As for IgA, this immunoglobulin is secretory. Antibodies of this type in the presence of infection can be detected not only in the blood, but also in saliva, as well as in the gastric juice of the patient. Their presence suggests a high activity of the pathological process.

If an analysis is made for Helicobacter pylori, the norm of antibodies of all types is revealed in the case of quantitative, rather than qualitative determination of IgA, IgM and IgG. In such studies, specialists put the final result depending on the laboratory in which the tests are taken. The reference values of the norm are used.

On the form on which you can see the result (Helicobacter pylori is in the body or not), numbers are put. Their values regulate the norm, as well as the presence of a pathology for the reference values of the antibodies present in the body.

There are laboratories in which the indicators indicating the doubtfulness of the result obtained on Helicobacter pylori (12.5-20 units / ml) are given. If such values are available, physicians prescribe the re-delivery of the analysis. But it can be done only after two or three weeks.

What does it mean if after the blood has been donated to Helicobacter pylori, the IgG rate is indicated in the decoding of the results (below 0.9 U / l)? In such cases, a specialist can conclude that Helicobacter pylori is absent in the body.

If a pylori blood test is submitted to Helicobacter pylori, the immunoglobulin IgM value will indicate to the doctor for an early period that the patient experiences after infection. If a negative result of the presence of other types of antibodies in the body is simultaneously obtained, then it will clearly indicate the absence of a pathogenic microbe in the body.

What are the other results that were obtained when Helicobacter pylori blood test was deciphered? The immunoglobulin IgA rate will tell you that the patient is experiencing an early period after infection. However, such an indicator may also indicate the absence of Helicobacter pylori. This is confirmed by the normal values of other types of antibodies.

Preparing for and analyzing blood tests

In order to maximally reliably detect the presence or absence of infection in the body, doctors give certain recommendations to their patients. If a person is assigned an analysis for Helicobacter pylori, how can I take it for the most reliable results? Specialists recommend that on the eve of the visit to the laboratory remove fatty foods from the menu. It should be borne in mind that only in the morning an analysis is conducted on Helicobacter pylori. How to take it? Only on an empty stomach. The patient's blood is taken from the vein. It is placed in a test tube containing a special gel that folds the collected biological material. This separates the plasma, which is investigated for the presence of antibodies.

Respiratory test

Urease analysis allows to determine the presence in the body Helicobacter pylori in connection with the ability of the bacteria to produce a special enzyme that protects it from the aggressive environment of the stomach. This enzyme (urease) produces urea cleavage in the digestive tract. As a result of this reaction, ammonia and carbon dioxide are formed. The last of these two elements is released when the patient breathes.

This analysis has three modifications. They include:

- tests with urea labeled with radioactive isotopes;
- Study 13C, using urea with non-radioactive isotopes;
- helik-test, in which urea is used instead of isotopes.

What can be the breath test for Helicobacter pylori decryption? The norm indicating the absence of contamination is the case when the marked out isotopes are completely absent in the air exhaled by the patient.

Before passing the urease test, the patient should limit the intake of water and food. Morning trip to the laboratory is performed on an empty stomach. An hour before taking the test, drinking is also not recommended. For 1.5 days before the test, the patient should not eat cabbage and apples, black bread and legumes, as well as other products that promote increased gas production.

Getting rid of a dangerous microorganism

How to treat the bacterium Helicobacter pylori? Since a harmful bacterium is able to exist in the human body without any manifestation of symptoms, therapy is performed only in cases where there is already gastritis, ulcer or other pathological processes.

If a bacterium Helicobacter pylori is found in the stomach, how to treat it, the doctor will decide. Only a specialist will be able to select one of several therapy schemes for his patient. And he will do it, based on the individual characteristics of the patient, given his reaction to these or other drugs.

So, the gastroenterologist can be appointed means of antibacterial action. With their help, the Helicobacter pylori bacteria in the stomach can be eliminated. How to treat a patient with antibiotics? In the admission scheme, the physician includes such pharmacological agents as "Azithromycin", "Flemoxin", "Clarithromycin", "Levofloxacin". Also, antibacterial preparations "De-nol", "Metronidazole", etc. can be prescribed.

With a stomach ulcer and 12 duodenal ulcer, gastritis and other pathologies, what else does Helicobacter pylori require? Reviews of gastroenterologists indicate that therapy that contributes to the elimination of such an infection should include medications that reduce the secretion of gastric juice. Only in this case the infection will be in an unfavorable environment. A couple of weeks, and sometimes a bit longer lasts similar to Helicobacter pylori treatment. Patients' feedback confirms the effectiveness and convenience of such therapy.

At the same time, it is recommended to take advice from folk medicine men in complex treatment. Of course, natural remedies will not relieve a person of the bacteria, but they will help in eliminating the painful symptoms and in accelerating the recovery of the gastric mucosa.

Among the most effective folk remedies are the following:

- broths of St. John's wort, chamomile, aira and cranberry leaves, which have antiseptic and soothing effect;
- flax seeds and oil, capable of creating an enveloping effect;
- tinctures made from flowers of a dogrose and a pear.

Before using natural remedies it is recommended to consult your doctor.