Helicobacter in the blood is the norm. Helicobacter pylori blood test

Helicobacter is still a poorly studied microorganism. However, many experts argue that the risk of developing a stomach ulcer and duodenal ulcer is directly related to damage to the body by this bacterium. That is why many citizens who care about their health condition periodically pass a preventive test for Helicobacter pylori. Of course, only the attending specialist can decrypt it correctly. However, we will introduce you to the norm in the blood of Helicobacter, other useful information that will help to learn more about both the features of the analysis and the bacterium itself.

About Helicobacter pylori

Why is it important to control the rate of Helicobacter in the blood? It is this bacterium, according to statistics, that causes about 70% of cases of all gastrointestinal ulcer diseases. This is 38% of cases of stomach ulcers, 56% of cases of duodenal ulcers.

Helicobacter pylori is a pyloric spiral bacterium. The first part of the name speaks of the place of residence of the microorganism. This is the pylorus - the area where the stomach passes into the duodenum. Spiral - this is the form of the bacterium itself. Helicobacter pylori is a mobile microorganism. On the walls of internal organs, he easily moves with the help of his flagella. Another of its amazing features - the body comfortably exists in the acidic environment of the stomach.

The bacterium was discovered in 1875. Many scientists have devoted their work to the study of Helicobacter pylori. However, the loudest discovery was made not so long ago - in 2005. It was awarded the Nobel Prize. Associated with the name of the microbiologist B. Marshall (Western Australia University). A brave researcher conducted an experiment on himself - he drank a cup of liquid, which contained Helicobacter pylori. After 10 days, endoscopic diagnosis showed the presence of inflammatory processes in his stomach and, in fact, the bacterium itself. The scientist did not stop there - he devoted his further research to the treatment of gastritis with the help of various medications, antibiotics.

Modern science allows us to determine not only the proper norm of Helicobacter in the blood. It was established what the bacterium eats, the energy of hydrogen molecules that are secreted by beneficial intestinal microflora. Helicobacter synthesizes catalase, oxidase and urease.

From the immune forces of the host, it encloses itself with a special protective film. Most of the time in the human body is asymptomatic for the latter. But as soon as the immune defense weakens, Helicobacter begins to behave aggressively. This becomes the cause of both inflammatory processes in the digestive tract, and cancers. To prevent this, you need to control the rate of Helicobacter in the blood.

When is analysis needed?

The introduction of bacteria into the walls of the gastric region is manifested by certain symptoms. The following indicates an elevated Helicobacter in the blood:

1. Pain in the epistragal region. They can be different in intensity, felt before, during, and after eating, on an empty stomach.
2. Heartburn. This is a consequence of the casting of acidic gastric juice into the esophagus, which leads to irritation of the latter. Her frequent relapses will talk about a violation of acidity, damage to regulatory processes.
3. A feeling of heaviness in the epigastric zone. Appears even after a mild snack.
4. Causeless nausea.
5. Sometimes, with an increase in the Helicobacter pylori level in the blood, signs of food poisoning are observed - vomiting, sharp, cutting stomach pains.
6. In the feces, mucus and bloody inclusions are found.
7. The patient is tormented by periodic burping.
8. Flatulence, bloating.
9. Unreasonable weight loss.
10. Various disorders of bowel movement - from diarrhea to constipation.

Risk groups

Be aware of the concentration of Helicobacter pylori in the blood is necessary if you belong to the so-called risk group:

1. Overeat periodically.
2. You experience constant discomfort in the epistragal region.
3. Exhausting yourself with diets, starvation.
4. Abuse alcohol.
5. Have a hereditary predisposition to diseases of the gastrointestinal tract.

Symptoms related to symptoms

Helicobacter determination in blood is also necessary to exclude the likelihood of developing other diseases that are quite similar in symptoms to the defeat of this bacterium. Among them, it is important to highlight the following:

1. Cancer of the esophagus or stomach.
2. Peptic ulcer affecting the duodenum or stomach.
3. Inflammation of the esophagus - esophagitis.
4. Duodenitis.
5. Gastritis.

The analysis also helps determine if you are at risk. Since Helicobacter is considered an infectious bacterium, it is important to know about its presence in your body to exclude the fact of infection of close relatives, your children.

Helicobacter in children

It is important to know the norm of Helicobacter pylori in the blood in an adult and in a child. What for? The answer is statistics. In Russia, 35% of children under 7 years old and 75% of schoolchildren are infected with the bacterium today.

What are the most likely ways to kill children? Often a mother, in whose body the helicobacter has settled, licks a spoon, a baby's nipple. The bacterium can also be transmitted through a kiss, the use of common utensils.

Healing a child here is half the battle. It is also necessary to identify the carrier among adult members of his family. Otherwise, the child faces re-infection. According to statistics, this happens in 35% of cases.

The defeat of the body of Helicobacter in children is most often manifested as follows:

1. Refusal of food.
2. Constant complaints of nausea.
3. Unreasonable pain in the stomach.
4. Profuse regurgitation of food.
5. Bloating.

Bacteria test

How are Helicobacter blood counts determined? Turn to school biology. Our body will respond to any foreign body by producing certain protective antibodies. The higher their number, the more significant the threat.

Therefore, the diagnosis for the detection of Helicobacter pylori in the body will primarily be aimed at:

1. Search for specific antibodies, determining their quantity.
2. Study of the structure of immunoglobulins that were found to be involved in the antigen-antibody complex.
3. DNA analysis of those cells that were included in the inflammation.

Basic diagnostic techniques

If you want to know the blood norm (in numbers) of Helicobacter pylori, first of all decide what kind of study you will undergo. Its main varieties are three:

1. ELISA - enzyme immunoassay.
2. PCR is a polymerase chain reaction method.
3. Analysis for immunoglobulins (protein components) and antibodies.

Let's analyze the features of each of the analyzes, their advantages and disadvantages in detail.

IFA

What is the essence of enzyme immunoassay? Here, specialists identify a certain concentration of antibodies in the blood serum. Their indicator will be evaluated by titer or dilution. If the analysis revealed a positive reaction, then the fact will indicate that the body is reacting with a foreign antigen - Helicobacter pylori.

The advantages of IFA are as follows:

1. The study can be carried out in the average laboratory at the clinic.
2. A bacterium can be detected at the first stage of infection of the body.
3. To confirm the etiology of the disease, it is not necessary to conduct unpleasant fibroscopy.

And now the disadvantages of enzyme immunoassay:

1. If the patient has weak immunity, then the analysis may show a false negative result.
2. It is possible to diagnose a false positive result in those people who have already been cured of Helicobacter pylori, but in whose body antibodies to this microorganism have been preserved.
3. Isolation of the bacterium itself is impossible.
4. If the patient was prescribed therapy consisting of taking cytostatics, then the analysis reveals low antibody titers.
5. If the subject was taking antibiotics (moreover, not only because of gastrointestinal diseases), against the background of such treatment, the results of the analysis of a blood sample for antibodies to Helicobacter pylori are difficult to evaluate.

Hence the conclusion: the ELISA method for our case is not effective enough. It does not allow obtaining important information for diagnosis and subsequent treatment; it requires additional examinations.

Immunoglobulin test

How can Helicobacter pylori be detected in the blood? Another method is immunoglobulin analysis. This is the name for specific proteins that take an active part in the “battle” with the infecting antigen.

There is one feature - they are not produced immediately. When fixing the lesion of the patient’s body, Helicobacter attaches importance to the detection of three types of these proteins in the blood - M, A, G. In the inflammatory process, each of them will play a special role:

1. M - an indicator of early infection of the body, when a person does not manifest any symptoms. Note that it is detected very rarely. However, this fact allows you to prevent infection of families close to the subject.
2. A - also indicates an early degree of infection with a bacterium or an obvious inflammatory process. Possible detection in the saliva and gastric juice of the subject. A high content of immunoglobulin A indicates Helicobacter infectivity, high bacterial activity.
3. G - this marker confirms the presence of Helicobacter pylori in the body in general. It can be detected for 3-4 weeks of stay of the bacteria. However, it should be noted that high rates of this titer will remain for some time after the death of the bacteria, the complete cure of the patient.

Now we will analyze the pros and cons of this type of analysis for Helicobacter pylori. The advantages of the method are as follows:

1. Laboratory research is quite effective. Statistics show that immunoglobulins G are found in 95-100% of cases, proteins of group A in 65-85% of cases, category M in 18-20% of cases.
2. You can compare the results of this analysis with the indicators of the previous ones. This helps to track the development of the pathological process, detect deviations from the norm, and judge the effectiveness of the prescribed therapy.
3. The study will be more likely to prove infection of the body than an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for antibodies.

But this research technique, however, has a number of disadvantages:

1. Almost a month should pass before the manifestation of the most important marker (immunoglobulin G). Such a delayed diagnosis does not contribute to the effectiveness of therapy.
2. After a complete cure (especially in age-related patients), a high titer is maintained for a rather long period - up to 1-1.5 years.
3. The research method does not allow to distinguish the acute stage of the lesion from the passive penetration of Helicobacter into the stomach.

PCR

What other method allows you to find out the norm in the blood of Helicobacter pylori in numbers? This is a polymerase chain reaction, which today provides the most reliable information. It reveals the presence of bacterial DNA in the body, which is the basis of its gene composition.

Thus, the patient is provided with only two results - positive (a bacterium in the body is detected) and negative (there is no helicobacter in the stomach). But the method confirms only the presence or absence of a bacterium, without giving out any information about its pathogenicity. And this is a very important fact - for many people, Helicobacter will not cause the development of the inflammatory process.

Another feature of PCR is that any medication should not precede an analysis. In particular, this concerns the use of antibiotics. The condition is unattainable, because almost every person from time to time takes funds to relieve the pain effect, unpleasant sensations in the body.

It should be noted that the analysis is carried out only in some specialized clinics. From here its minus is low availability.

How to prepare for the analysis?

Thus, in order to compare your indicators with the Helicobacter norm in the blood of a woman or a man, you need to pass one of the above tests. The procedure should be properly prepared - detailed instructions are provided by the attending specialist.

General recommendations for patients are as follows:

1. The day before your blood sample is taken to the laboratory, eliminate fatty foods from your diet.
2. It is strictly forbidden to drink alcohol of any strength before the procedure!
3. You must stop taking your prescribed medicines two weeks before the test.
4. Try to minimize physical activity on your body.
5. A blood test is only given on an empty stomach! In the morning, he is not allowed to have breakfast, but the patient is not limited in the use of clean drinking water. From the last meal before passing the analysis must pass at least 8 hours.

How is a blood sample tested in a laboratory?

A venous blood sample is taken from a patient for analysis. Further, after the deposition of red blood cells and other blood elements, plasma is released - it is needed for research.

A plasma sample is taken with a micropipette and placed in a special well of the tablet, where the antigen standard is already applied. If antibodies to it are present in the blood serum of the subject, then a reaction occurs between the substances (antigen-antibody). As a result, complex compounds are formed that become visible to the laboratory assistant by adding a special coloring composition.

In order to obtain a more accurate result, photometry on an spectrophotometer device is additionally used. Here, the test element will be compared with a number of control samples. Quantitative indicators (they help to identify abnormalities of Helicobacter pylori) are derived using mathematical processing of the results.

How long does the test take? For example, the patient receives the results for immunoglobulin G only a day after passing the blood test. To study other immunoglobulins, specialists need a period of a week.

Decryption of analysis results

Decoding Helicobacter in the blood is the prerogative of specialists. It should be noted that the normal content of bacteria, deviations from it are secondary information for the attending physician. For the doctor, a positive (a bacterium is in the body) or a negative test result is sufficient.

What does the deviation from the norm of Helicobacter pylori testify to? Only about the activity of reproduction of the microorganism in the digestive tract of the subject.

It often happens that a laboratory cannot deliver a precisely negative or positive result. Then a conclusion is drawn up on a questionable analysis - you need to re-donate blood in a week.

Normal figures

Analysis for Helicobacter pylori - 8 units. in blood. What is this talking about?

By and large, laboratory technicians evaluate immunoglobulin titers, moreover, in various systems. The norm in units per milliliter of blood plasma (units / ml) is 0.9. From here we derive the following:

1. The norm for immunoglobulins G and A is less than 0.9.
2. The norm for immunoglobulin M is less than 30.

If the study is conducted according to the S / system:

1. A negative result (no bacteria in the body) - less than 0.9.
2. The doubtful result is 0.9-1.1.
3. A positive result is more than 1.1.

Units / ml study:

1. A positive result is more than 20.
2. The dubious result is 12.5-20.
3. A negative result is less than 12.5.

It should be noted that a negative response to immunoglobulins M and G may indicate the absence of infection with Helicobacter pylori. If the negative answer is only for group A, then this fact also indicates the fact of early infection.

What does the increased level of certain immunoglobulins in the blood indicate (a deviation from the norm of Helicobacter pylori in the blood in an adult)?

1. G - the body contains a bacterium. Or the patient has recently had an infection, he is currently at the recovery stage.
2. M is a recent infection of the body.
3. A - the height of the inflammatory process is diagnosed, the bacterium is most active.
4. Increased performance immediately for all three types of immunoglobulins - inflammation occurs in the most aggressive form.

So, a Helicobacter blood test helps to detect the presence of bacteria in the patient's body. But there is the likelihood of a false result, moreover, with any type of plasma study. Hence, a blood test should be combined with other diagnostic methods, a comprehensive examination of the patient.