Failure to detect Helicobacter pylori DNA in drinking and environmental water in Dhaka, Bangladesh, using highly sensitive real-time PCR assays.

ABSTRACT: The main transmission pathway of Helicobacter pylori has not been determined, but several reports have described detection of H. pylori DNA in drinking and environmental water, suggesting that H. pylori may be waterborne. To address this possibility, we developed, tested, and optimized two complementary H. pylori-specific real-time PCR assays for quantification of H. pylori DNA in water. The minimum detection level of the assays including collection procedures and DNA extraction was shown to be approximately 250 H. pylori genomes per water sample. Using our assays, we then analyzed samples of drinking and environmental water (n = 75) and natural water biofilms (n = 21) from a high-endemicity area in Bangladesh. We could not identify H. pylori DNA in any of the samples, even though other pa

SUBMITTER: Janzon A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2681616 | biostudies-literature | 2009 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature