Virulence factors of H. pylori, such as outer inflammatory protein A (oipA), are closely involved in the development of gastric diseases such as chronic gastritis and gastric cancer. The functional status of oipA is regulated by a repair mechanism based on CT dinucleotide repeats that influence the reading frame, thus granting the gene a functional or nonfunctional status; in other words, the functional status of the oipA gene seems to be associated with the development of gastric diseases. This study sought to detect the presence of the oipA gene and to determine its functional status in patients with gastric diseases. We analyzed 516 biopsy samples (101 with normal gastric tissue, 365 with chronic gastritis, and 50 with gastric cancer). The presence of oipA was determined by PCR, and the gene status was determined using sequencing reactions. The oipA gene was found to be associated with the development of chronic gastritis, and the "on" status of the gene was the most frequent in patients with gastric cancer who were from Western countries. The CT repeats revealed geographic characteristics, but it is the functional status of the oipA gene that seems to be involved in the development of gastric diseases and in the development of gastric cancer in particular.
Keywords: Gastric cancer; Helicobacter pylori.; Virulence factor; oipA.