Abstract:
Helicobacter pylori (H.pylori) causes a major health problem worldwide and more than half of the world population are infected with this pathogen. The diagnosis of infection was initially made through invasive methods but now non- invasive methods were develop to make diagnosis easier.
This is cross sectional study was conducted in Tamboul City, Gazira State, during the period from March 2016 to December 2019 to compare between antigens and antibodies tests results used for diagnosis of H. pylori infection among symptomatic and asymptomatic Sudanese patients.
The stool and blood samples were collected and analyzed for presence of antigen and antibodies by Immunochromatography (ICT) cards. One hundred (n=100) specimens serum and stool were collected, in which 50 were symptomatic and 50 were asymptomatic patients. In symptomatic patients 18/50 (36%) were males and 32/50 (64%) were females with mean age of 16.7±24.6 S.D, while in asymptomatic patients 19/50(38%) were males and 31/50(62%) were females with mean age of 16.7±20.4 S.D.
In symptomatic patients 35/50 (70%) showed positive results for stool antigen while 30/50(60%) for serum antibodies. In asymptomatic patients 18/50(36%) were positive for stool antigen and 25/50(50%) for serum antibodies. There were significant association between antigen results and patients groups (P.value = 0.001) but there was insignificant association between antibodies results and patients groups (P. value = 0.317).
Age groups, history of infected persons in the family, blood group and previous treatment were all not associated with H. pylori infection (P≥0.05).
In conclusion, the frequency of H.pylori antigen was higher than antibodies in symptomatic patients, while the frequency of H.pylori antibodies was higher than antigen in asymptomatic patients.
