We aimed to detect EBV/Hp (Epstein-Barr Virus/Helicobacter pylori) co-infection by determining the number of copies of EBV/EBER-1 in the gastric biopsy samples of the Hp (+) GC, peptic ulcer (PU), and non-ulcer dyspepsia (NUD) cases. The patient group (PG), with 34 patients (34 GC and 30 PU patients) and a control group with 40 NUD cases were included. All patients and controls were Hp positive. EBV/EBNA-1 IgG were measured by the Anti-EBNA-1 ELISA IgG kit. Determination and quantification of EBV/EBER-1 gene region was performed by qPCR. EBV/EBER-1 positivity was 35.29% (12/34), 6.6% (2/30) and 2.5% (1/40) in GC, PU and 40 NUD cases, respectively. A significant difference was found between the GC and NUD cases (p=0.001). A significant difference was found between the groups for mean EBV/EBER-1 copy numbers (p=0.019). No significant difference was found between GC and the NUD cases (p=0.1455) for EBV/EBNA-1 IgG antibody positivity. EBV/EBER-1 positivity (OR=3.319), and age ≥55 years old (OR=2.331) were found to be a significant in multivariate logistic regression. In conclusion, our data suggest that the GC risk by EBVand Hp co-infection increased 3.3 times.
Keywords: EBER-1 gene; EBV-coded small RNAs (EBERs); EBV/EBNA-1 IgG antibody; Epstein-Barr virus; Gastric cancer; Helicobacter pylori.