The aim of this study was to develop a non-invasive diagnostic test for the detection of Helicobacter pylori in stool samples from digestive symptomatic patients, using a new protocol of nested-qPCR. A total of 143 patients were invited to participate in the study. A gastric biopsy of each patient was collected for Rapid Urease Testing (RUT) and histology by Giemsa stain. A fecal sample for nested-qPCR analysis was also obtained. DNA was extracted from the fecal samples, and conventional PCR followed by qPCR of the ureC gene of H. pylori was carried out. We evaluated the presence of H. pylori, in 103 females and 40 males, mean (± SD) age of 56.5 ± 14.18. The sensitivity of RUT to detect the infection was 67.0% (95% C.I.: 57.2 - 75.8) and specificity was 92.3% (95% C.I.: 76.5 - 99.1). Histology by Giemsa stain, commonly used as a reference for H. pylori detection, showed a sensitivity of 98.6% (95% C.I.: 92.5 - 100.0) and a specificity of 89.7% (95% C.I.: 72.7 - 97.8). In contrast, detection of H. pylori infection in stools by nested-qPCR showed a sensitivity of 100% (95% C.I.: 94.9 - 100.0) and a specificity of 83.9% (95% C.I.: 66.3 - 94.6). Our test, based in nested-qPCR is a better diagnostic alternative than conventional RUT, and is similar to histology by Giemsa stain in the detection of H. pylori, by which the test could be used for non-invasive diagnosis in clinical practice.
Keywords: Helicobacter pylori; molecular diagnostics; nested-qPCR; stools.