MOLECULAR ANALYSIS OF HELICOBACTER-PYLORI POPULATIONS IN ANTRAL BIOPSIES FROM INDIVIDUAL PATIENTS USING RANDOMLY AMPLIFIED POLYMORPHIC DNA (RAPD) FINGERPRINTING

In the present study, randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) finger printing has been used to analyse multiple single colony isolates of H elicobacter pylori from antral biopsies in an attempt to ascertain whe ther or not multiple strains are present in individual patients using single biopsy samples. The RAPD fingerprints derived from single colon ies obtained from the same biopsy specimen were in all cases indisting uishable. The previously noted heterogeneity between H. pylori strains from different individuals was confirmed. RAPD fingerprinting, combin ed with a simple method of template preparation, was shown to be an ex cellent method for H. pylori strain differentiation. The results of th is study indicate that the H. pylori population is homogeneous in indi vidual patients at a single gastric site.