Detection of H. pylori in Pediatric Patients’ Stool Sample by Multiplex Urease PCR

Abstract

ABSTRACT Background and objectives: This study aims to detect the H. pylori infection in pediatric patients’ stool samples by using a multiplex urease PCR assay. Materials and Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed and the H. pylori multiplex urease PCR test from a stool sample of 55 pediatric patients was evaluated from August 2017 to November 2018 compared with the H. pylori antigen test and histopathology. Results: Thirty-six patients (65%) were detected H. pylori-positive including nineteen boys (50%) and nineteen girls (50 %) by H. pylori multiplex urease PCR test. Fifteen (54 %) of the positive patients were in the 0-6 age range, eighteen (95%) in the 7-12 age range, and three (38%) in the 13-18 age range. Comparison results with the histopathology and H. pylori antigen test were showed that the positive predictive value of the multiplex urease PCR test for the stool sample was 72.22%. The test could detect a negative sample of 100 %. Conclusions: Due to the results of this study it was showed that the prevalence of H. pylori infection is still high for pediatric patients. The multiplex urease PCR test for stool samples could be used in the clinic detection of H. pylori as a non-invasive method and easy to applicable method, but it needs to be evaluated for high specificity and sensitivity to detect accurate results.