Campylobacter pyloridis, gastritis, and peptic ulceration

Campylobacter pyloridis is a spiral bacterium which was seen by histopathologists several years before it was cultured in 1982 in Perth, Western Australia. It has unique cellular fatty acids, predominantly tetradecanoic acid and cis-11, 12 methylene octadecanoic acid. It also has a unique ultrastructure which is different from that of other campylobacters. C pyloridis possesses a powerful urease enzyme and produces large amounts of extracellular catalase. Both these features may be important virulence factors, allowing it to occupy a protected niche in the stomach below the mucus layer but above the gastric mucosa. Specific lesions are found in the gastric mucosa, and ultrastructural studies show the presence of adherence pedestals identical with those found with enteropathogenic Escherichia coli of the intestine. Histological examination of gastric biopsy tissue has shown that C pyloridis is strongly associated with active chronic gastritis, when polymorphonuclear leucocytes are present, and is not found on normal mucosa except when a biopsy specimen from elsewhere in the stomach shows active chronic gastritis. When patients with symptoms caused by gastritis are identified dual antibacterial treatment, combining the action of bismuth in the stomach with a systemic antibiotic, can eradicate C pyloridis, with remission of symptoms and restoration of normal epithelial morphology. Most peptic ulcers relapse after modern acid reducing treatment, and antibacterial treatment may be beneficial in preventing relapse.

Attempt to fulfil Koch's postulates for pyloric Campylobacter

A volunteer with histologically normal gastric mucosa received pyloric campylobacter by mouth. A mild illness developed, which lasted 14 days. Histologically proven gastritis was present on the tenth day after the ingestion of bacteria, but this had largely resolved by the fourteenth day. The syndrome of acute pyloric campylobacter gastritis is described. It is proposed that this disorder may progress to a chronic infection which predisposes to peptic ulceration.

Pyloric Campylobacter infection and gastroduodenal disease

In 1982, a new spiral Gram-negative bacterium which was similar to those of the genus Campylobacter was isolated from the gastric mucosa of 11 patients with gastritis. From then on, the organism was isolated in a further 114 of 267 patients who underwent antral biopsy in Fremantle Hospital between January 1983 and September 1984. During 1984, the bacterium was cultured from 88% of patients in whom it was detected histologically, and was not cultured from any patient with histologically normal gastric mucosa. The new bacterium, pyloric campylobacter, grew in three days on brain-heart infusion blood-agar at 37 degrees C in an atmosphere with added CO2. All isolates tested were sensitive to penicillin, erythromycin, tetracycline, cephalosporins, gentamicin and bismuth citrate; 80% of isolates were sensitive to metronidazole or tinidazole. It is suggested that pyloric campylobacter infection is a major factor in the causation of dyspeptic disease and peptic ulceration. Antibacterial regimens directed against the bacterium may provide a permanent cure for these chronic disorders.

Unidentified curved bacilli in the stomach of patients with gastritis and peptic ulceration

Biopsy specimens were taken from intact areas of antral mucosa in 100 consecutive consenting patients presenting for gastroscopy. Spiral or curved bacilli were demonstrated in specimens from 58 patients. Bacilli cultured from 11 of these biopsies were gram-negative, flagellate, and microaerophilic and appeared to be a new species related to the genus Campylobacter. The bacteria were present in almost all patients with active chronic gastritis, duodenal ulcer, or gastric ulcer and thus may be an important factor in the aetiology of these diseases.

Unidentified curved bacilli in the stomach of patients with gastritis and peptic ulceration

Biopsy specimens were taken from intact areas of antral mucosa in 100 consecutive consenting patients presenting for gastroscopy. Spiral or curved bacilli were demonstrated in specimens from 58 patients. Bacilli cultured from 11 of these biopsies were gram-negative, flagellate, and microaerophilic and appeared to be a new species related to the genus Campylobacter. The bacteria were present in almost all patients with active chronic gastritis, duodenal ulcer, or gastric ulcer and thus may be an important factor in the aetiology of these diseases.

Unidentified curved bacilli in the stomach of patients with gastritis and peptic ulceration

Biopsy specimens were taken from intact areas of antral mucosa in 100 consecutive consenting patients presenting for gastroscopy. Spiral or curved bacilli were demonstrated in specimens from 58 patients. Bacilli cultured from 11 of these biopsies were gram-negative, flagellate, and microaerophilic and appeared to be a new species related to the genus Campylobacter. The bacteria were present in almost all patients with active chronic gastritis, duodenal ulcer, or gastric ulcer and thus may be an important factor in the aetiology of these diseases.

Thin film thickness monitor shutter

This article describes a simple electronic dual-activated shutter which is designed to interface with the Sloan digital thickness monitor model DTM-200 or a set of double-pole double-throw switches which can be operated manually.

Some factors affecting the viability of dried bacteria during storage in vacuo

The effects of various substances on the viability of freeze-dried cells of Pseudomonas fluorescens and Salmonella newport were studied during storage in vacuo for 5 years. Mixtures of two organisms were dried together and studied in two factorial experiments. The first was a complete factorial using six factors and two levels; the second was a fractional replicate with four factors at two levels and three others at four concentrations. A study of ribose binding by cells of S. newport was made by using [U-(14)C]ribose. Substantial improvements in viability were obtained by drying in the presence of sucrose, glutamate, and semicarbazide. Low concentrations of ribose increased the death rate during drying, but these adverse effects were prevented by equimolar amounts of semicarbazide. Ribose binding increased with storage time and, although its incorporation changed, most of the increase in total ribose occurred after the main decrease in viability. Storage temperature caused larger changes in viability than did level changes of residual water in the cells. Although the results are complicated by a large number of interactions, they confirm and extend the hypothesis that reactions between carbonyl compounds and cellular components are a major cause of the mortality occurring during storage of dried microorganisms. A particular mixture of sucrose, glutamate, and semicarbazide is proposed as a means of reducing death when prolonged storage in the dry state is desired.

Effects of various gases on the survival of dried bacteria during storage

Salmonella newport and Pseudomonas fluorescens were dried together in papain digest broth and sucrose-glutamate, and stored in several gases at various water activities (a(w)) between 0.00 and 0.40 at 25 C for various periods up to 81 weeks. Both S. newport and P. fluorescens, dried in papain digest broth and stored in air, died rapidly if the conditions were very dry (0.00 a(w)) or moist (0.40 a(w)). Storage in carbon dioxide and argon gave greater survival than storage in air but lower survival than did storage in nitrogen or in vacuo. When the organisms were dried in a sucrose-glutamate mixture the differences between the gases were very small, and variations in residual water were less important. Of the inert gases, argon gave the best survival when the organisms were dried in papain digest broth, especially at 0.00 a(w); the survival in neon and krypton was lower and in xenon and helium it was much lower.

Tolerance of bacteria to high concentrations of NaCl and glycerol in the growth medium

When compared at similar levels of water activity, glycerol was more inhibitory than sodium chloride to relatively salt-tolerant bacteria and less inhibitory than salt to salt-sensitive species.

An enzymically catalysed reaction between D-glucose and the protein cyst coat of the ciliate Colpoda steinii

1. The isolated protein cyst coat of Colpoda steinii reacted with [(14)C]glucose to bind (14)C label in a reaction that was not an artifact of bacterial contamination or of adsorption. 2. The reaction was enzymically catalysed, had optimum pH7.0-7.4 and a temperature optimum of 36-38 degrees C, was non-competitively and reversibly inhibited by 10mum-p-hydroxymercuribenzoate and was specific for d-glucose. It had K(m)8.2x10(-6)m. 3. With the exception of C-1, all the carbon atoms of glucose were bound to the same extent and, measured relative to C-2 or C-6, the binding of C-1 varied between 0.45 and 0.82. The lost C-1 was not accounted for as carbon dioxide. 4. On prolonged incubation a coat preparation reacted with 3.6% of its own weight of glucose. 5. The label was tightly bound, but after acid treatment a variable proportion was recovered as glucose and there was no evidence for the release of any other (14)C-containing compound. 6. Even after dissolution of the coat protein, bound label was not removed by treatment with periodate or lead tetra-acetate.