Mahsa Molaei - Dept. of Pathology, Research Center for Gastroenterology and Liver Disease, Shaheed Beheshti University of Medical Seiences, Tehran, Iran
Forough Foroughi - Dept. of Pathology, Research Center for Gastroenterology and Liver Disease, Shaheed Beheshti University of Medical Seiences, Tehran, Iran
Reza Mashayekhi - Dept. of Pathology, Research Center for Gastroenterology and Liver Disease, Shaheed Beheshti University of Medical Seiences, Tehran, Iran
Fereshteh Jafari - Dept. of Microbiology, Research Center for Gastroenterology and Liver Disease, Shaheed Beheshti University of Medical Seiences, Tehran, Iran

Background and Objective: Helicobacter pylori has several strains with different degrees of virulence. The aim of this study was to detect two major important virulence factors, cagA/vacAgenotypes, and to determine correlations among different cagA/vacA genotypes and histologicalfeatures of chronic gastritis in Iranian patients. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, gastric biopsy was taken from 166 patients with non-ulcerdyspepsia. The specimens were processed for DNA extraction and identification of glmM gene. The vacA subtypes and cagA gene were tested by PCR. Histopathological features were recorded andgraded according to updated Sydney system. Results: 76.7% of the H.pylori strains were cagA gene positive. The proportions of vacA genesubtypes s1, s2, m1 and m2 in the 78 strains isolated were 70.5%, 29.5%, 37.2% and 62.8%,respectively. 83.3% of the vacA-positive strains had s1 allele. Twenty-six strains (33.3%) werepositive for both cagA and m1 allele. Positive cagA status and vacA subtypes were not associated significantly with presence of neutrophil infiltration, intestinal metaplasia or H.pylori density. Only vacA s1 was significantly associated with more severe inflammation (P=0.02). The dominant genotype of H.pylori was vacA-positive s1/m2. CagA gene positivity rate was not closely associatedwith severity of the disease. Conclusion: H.pylori strains showing vacA s1 genotype were associated with more severe gastritis. These findings show that vacA genotyping may have clinical relevance in Iran

Helicobecter pylori, cagA status, vacA subtypes, Chronic gastritis