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Changes in the severity of gastric mucosal inflammation associated with Helicobacter pylori in humans coinfected with  intestinal helminths

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Abstract

Background

Though a few studies in animal models suggest that intestinal helminths (IH) favorably affect evolution of gastritis associated with Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) the studies supporting this concept in humans are only a few and are based on serological data.

Methods

To evaluate the possible influence of IH on the human gastric mucosa, three groups of Venezuelan adults with gastropathy (endoscopically diagnosed) were studied: H. pylori−/IH− (n = 17), H. pylori+/IH− (n = 18), and H. pylori+/IH+ (n = 11). Histological analysis (hematoxylin-eosin) and immunohistochemical staining (peroxidase) for cytokines interleukin-1beta (IL-1β), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), gamma interferon (IFN-γ), and interleukin 4 (IL-4) were undertaken in gastric antral biopsies.

Results

Expression of the four cytokines was detected in all individuals in varying degrees, but proinflammatory cytokines were expressed in a higher degree in the H. pylori+/IH− group, mainly IL-1β (Th1-dominant immune response), associated with a higher degree of both histological inflammation and gastric cancer risk index (GCRI), as compared to the H. pylori−/IH− group. In contrast, an increased expression of IL-4 and a reduced expression of proinflammatory cytokines (Th2-dominant response), plus the tendency to a lower degree of mononuclear infiltration, mucosal atrophy in gastric corpus, and GCRI, were evidenced in the coinfected group.

Conclusions

The findings of the present study is perhaps the first histological evidence of a possible modulatory effect of IH on the gastric mucosal inflammatory response due to H. pylori infection in humans.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank doctors Jesús Mosquera, Hector Pons, and Yasmir Quiroz for the counseling for quantitation of cytokines. The authors also thank Gladys Colina, Nivia Abreu, and Neyla Molero de Bohórquez for the technical collaboration.

Funding

This work was partially supported by the Scientific and Humanistic Development Council of the Universidad del Zulia, Venezuela (Subvention No. CC-0660-10).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Microbiología, Escuela de Bioanálisis, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad del Zulia, Maracaibo, Venezuela

    Alisbeth Fuenmayor-Boscán & Zulbey Rivero

  2. Laboratorio de Bacteriología, Edificio Ciencia y Salud, planta baja, Avenida 18 con calle 65, Apartado Postal 15165, Maracaibo, Venezuela

    Alisbeth Fuenmayor-Boscán

  3. Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas “Doctores Orlando Castejón y Haydée V. Castejón”, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad del Zulia, Maracaibo, Venezuela

    Ileana Hernández-Rincón, Gabriel Arismendi-Morillo & Edgardo Mengual

  4. Postgrado de Gastroenterología, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad del Zulia, Maracaibo, Venezuela

    Gisela Romero & Maribel Lizarzábal

  5. Laboratorio de Enfermedades del Sistema Inmune y Oncológicas, Departamento de Medicina, Universidad de Alcalá, Madrid, Spain

    Melchor Álvarez-Mon

Authors
  1. Alisbeth Fuenmayor-Boscán
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  2. Ileana Hernández-Rincón
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  3. Gabriel Arismendi-Morillo
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  6. Gisela Romero
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  8. Melchor Álvarez-Mon
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Contributions

Alisbeth Fuenmayor Boscán: study concept and protocol design; collecting data; analysis of data; preparing the initial draft of the manuscript; obtained funding.

Ileana Hernández-Rincón: study concept and protocol design; critical revision of the manuscript for intellectual content; study supervision.

Gabriel Arismendi-Morillo, Edgardo Mengual, Zulbey Rivero, Gisela Romero, and Maribel Lizarzábal: technical, administrative and material support.

Melchor Álvarez-Mon: study concept and protocol design; critical revision of the manuscript for intellectual content.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alisbeth Fuenmayor-Boscán.

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Conflict of interest

AF-B, IH-R, GA-M, EM, ZR, GR, ML, and MA-M declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethics statement

The study was performed conforming to the Helsinki declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000 and 2008 concerning human and animal rights, and the authors followed the policy concerning informed consent as shown on Springer.com.

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Fuenmayor-Boscán, A., Hernández-Rincón, I., Arismendi-Morillo, G. et al. Changes in the severity of gastric mucosal inflammation associated with Helicobacter pylori in humans coinfected with  intestinal helminths. Indian J Gastroenterol 39, 186–195 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12664-020-01023-0

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