TY - JOUR AU - Akeel, Mohammed AU - Elhafey , Ahmed AU - Shehata , Atef AU - Elmakki , Erwa AU - Aboshouk, Thanaa AU - Ageely , Hussein AU - Mahfouz , Mohammed Salih PY - 2021/07/20 Y2 - 2024/03/29 TI - Efficacy of immunohistochemical staining in detecting Helicobacter pylori in Saudi patients with minimal and atypical infection JF - European Journal of Histochemistry JA - Eur J Histochem VL - 65 IS - 3 SE - Articles DO - 10.4081/ejh.2021.3222 UR - https://www.ejh.it/ejh/article/view/3222 SP - AB - <p>Gastric <em>Helicobacter pylori </em>infection is diagnosed based on histopathological evaluation of gastric mucosal biopsies, urease test, urea breath test, <em>H. pylori </em>culturing, or direct detection using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of immunohistochemical (IHC) staining in detecting <em>H. pylori </em>in gastric biopsies from patients with chronic gastritis and minimal or atypical infection. Gastric biopsies from 50 patients with chronic gastritis were subjected to routine haematoxylin and eosin (H-E), modified Giemsa, and IHC staining. The results of staining were compared with those of quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). The qRT-PCR analysis identified 32 (64%) <em>H. pylori</em>-positive cases, whereas IHC, H-E, and modified Giemsa staining identified 29 (58%), 27 (54%), and 21 (42%) positive cases. The sensitivity of IHC staining (87.50%) was higher than that of H-E (59.38%) and modified Giemsa (43.75%) staining. The specificity of H-E, modified Giemsa, and IHC staining was 55.56%, 61.11%, and 94.44%, respectively. IHC staining exhibited the highest diagnostic accuracy (90%), followed by H-E (58%) and modified Giemsa (50%) staining. Active gastritis, intestinal metaplasia, and lymphoid follicles were detected in 32 (64%), 4 (8%), and 22 (44%) cases, respectively, and all of these cases were <em>H. pylori</em> positive. In contrast to routine H-E and modified Giemsa staining, IHC allows for the accurate <em>H. pylori </em>detection in cases with minimal or atypical infection. Moreover, IHC can be an alternative diagnostic method to qRT-PCR for detection of <em>H. pylori</em> in such cases.</p> ER -