Purpose: Gastritis caused by infection with Helicobacter pylori is characterized by chronic inflammation and damage in gastric tissue, which is a main risk factor for gastric cancer. Associated with H. pylori, the TP53 gene tumor suppressor and the cell adhesion glycoprotein epithelial cadherin develop a relevant role in the integrity and carcinogenesis of the epithelium. We aimed to detection of H. pylori and its main virulence markers and measured the messenger RNA (mRNA) expression levels of E-cadherin and TP53 genes.
Methods: The detection of H. pylori and its virulence markers, as well as the mRNA expression levels of E-cadherin and TP53 genes, were obtained for 161 samples of gastric biopsies including 37 with normal gastric tissue, 70 with gastritis, 24 from neoplastic tissue, and 27 from adjacent non-neoplastic by means of a quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction.
Results: The mRNA expression levels of E-cadherin and TP53 were found to be decreased in patients with gastritis, independently of H. pylori infection. In samples from gastric patients, the neoplastic tissue showed an accentuated decrease of expression; on the other hand, the expression of E-cadherin was normal in adjacent non-neoplastic.
Conclusions: No evidence was found of the involvement of the cagA and vacA genes in the decreased expression of E-cadherin and TP53. The process of carcinogenesis is complex, and the decrease of the E-cadherin gene expression and TP53 gene expression appears to contribute significantly.
Keywords: E-cadherin; Gastric cancer; Gene expression; Helicobacter pylori; TP53.