Korean J Gastrointest Endosc.  1999 Aug;19(4):557-566.

Helicobacter pylori Culture in Dental Plaque of Gastroduodenal Disease Patients

• Kim HR
• Park YS
• Moon YS
• Lee CW
• Sohn HE
• Lee JA
• Kwon SK

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND AIMS
The major mode of transmission of Helicobacter pylori is still uncertain. To investigate whether the oral cavity is a potential reservoir, dental plaques were cultured from patients with dyspeptic symptoms who underwent endoscopy.
METHODS
Rapid urease test (CLO test), Giemsa stain, and culture were performed in 39 gastroscopic biopsy specimens from patients with peptic ulcer, chronic gastritis or gastric cancer. Ten gastric mucosal biopsy specimens and 39 dental plaque specimens were innoculated onto 5% sheep blood agar.
RESULTS
Twenty patients (51%) were found to be H. pylori positive on antral histology or rapid urease test. Among ten patients, 8 patients (80%) were cultured for H. pylori from antral biopsies. However H. pylori was not isolated from any dental plaque regardless of their infective status and their oral hygiene or gingival status.
CONCLUSIONS
We failed to isolate H. pylori from dental plaques in a group of dyspeptic patients with H. pylori-associated gastroduodenal disease. The findings strongly suggest that dental plaque is not an important reservoir of H. pylori and probably not a significant factor in the mode of transmission of H. pylori.

Keyword

H. pylori; Culture; Dental plaque

MeSH Terms

Agar
Azure Stains
Biopsy
Dental Plaque*
Endoscopy
Gastritis
Helicobacter pylori*
Helicobacter*
Humans
Mouth
Oral Hygiene
Peptic Ulcer
Sheep
Stomach Neoplasms
Urease
Agar
Azure Stains
Urease