Performance of native and recombinant antigens for diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori infection

The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of three antigenic pr eparations for serological diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori infection: (i) native antigens from Helicobacter pylori strain N6 or its aflagellated isog enic mutant N6flbA(-), or an acellular extract (antigen AgFA) from a pool o f six clinical strains, (ii) recombinant antigens consisting of CagA fused to MS2 polymerase and HspA or recombinant UreA and UreB fused to the maltos e-binding protein, and (iii) the preparations provided with two commercial kits, the Cobas Core (Roche Diagnostic Systems, France) and the Pylori Stat (BioWhittaker, Belgium). All preparations were used in an enzyme immunoass ay to test 92 sera from dyspeptic patients for whom the status of Helicobac ter infection was established. Sensitivities were higher (90 to 100%) for t he native antigens and the commercial kits than for the recombinant antigen s. Specificities were higher than 90%, except with UreA + UreB (42%). The m ost useful antigens were those extracted from strains N6 and N6flbA(-).