Authors: María José Ramírez-Lázaro, Sergio Lario, Alex Casalots, Esther Sanfeliu, Loreto Boix, Pilar García-Iglesias, Jordi Sánchez-Delgado, Antònia Montserrat, Maria Rosa Bella-Cueto, Marta Gallach, Isabel Sanfeliu, Ferran Segura, Xavier Calvet
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0020009
Abstract Summary
Real-time PCR significantly improves H. pylori detection in biopsy samples from bleeding ulcer patients compared to standard tests. Study found PCR methods achieved 41-55% sensitivity vs just 7% for immunohistochemistry, with combining two PCR assays reaching 64% sensitivity. This suggests H. pylori prevalence in bleeding ulcers may be underestimated due to conventional test limitations.
Why Brain? 🧠
Real-time PCR detects H. pylori in 64% of bleeding ulcer patients with negative histology, suggesting many “idiopathic” ulcers are actually undiagnosed H. pylori infections.
The image is AI-generated for illustrative purposes only. Courtesy of Midjourney.
