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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, October 2001, p. 3591-3596, Vol. 39, No. 10
University Children's
Hospital,1 Munich, and Institute for
Microbiology of the University, Regensburg,2
Germany
Received 20 April 2001/Returned for modification 2 June
2001/Accepted 4 August 2001
Serological testing to diagnose Helicobacter pylori
infection in children is still controversial, although commonly used in clinical practice. We compared the immunoglobulin G (IgG) and IgA
results of two commercially available enzyme immunoassays (EIAs)
(Pyloriset IgG and IgA and Enzygnost II IgG and IgA) for 175 children
with abdominal symptoms divided into three age groups (0 to
0095-1137/01/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/JCM.39.10.3591-3596.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Evaluation of Two Commercial Enzyme Immunoassays,
Testing Immunoglobulin G (IgG) and IgA Responses, for Diagnosis of
Helicobacter pylori Infection in Children
6 years,
n = 47; >6 to
12 years, n = 77;
>12 years, n = 51). A child was considered H. pylori infected if at least two of three tests (histology, rapid
urease test, 13C-urea breath test) or culture were positive
and noninfected if all results were concordantly negative. Of 175 children, 93 (53%) were H. pylori negative and 82 were
H. pylori positive. With the recommended cutoff values, the
overall specificity was excellent for all four EIAs (95.7 to 97.8%)
regardless of age. Sensitivity varied markedly between tests and was
92.7, 70.7, 47.5, and 24.4% for Enzygnost II IgG, Pyloriset IgG,
Enzygnost II IgA, and Pyloriset IgA, respectively. Sensitivity was low
in the youngest age group (25 to 33.3%), except for Enzygnost II IgG
(91.6%). Receiver-operating curve analyses revealed that lower cutoff
values would improve the accuracy of all of the tests except Enzygnost
II IgG. Measurement of specific IgA, in addition to IgG, antibodies
hardly improved the sensitivity. The specificity of commercial
serological tests is high in children when the cutoff values obtained
from adults are used. In contrast, sensitivity is variable, with a
strong age dependence in some, but not all, tests. We speculate that young children may have a different immune response to H. pylori, with preferable responses to certain antigens, as well as
lower titers than adults. The Pyloriset test may fail to recognize
these specific antibodies.
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Kinderklinik & Kinderpoliklinik, Dr. v. Haunersches Kinderspital,
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Pettenkoferstr. 8a,
D-80336 Munich, Germany. Phone: 49-89-5160 3679. Fax: 49-89-5160 4733. E-mail: koletzko{at}pk-i.med.uni-muenchen.de.
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