Non- invasive assay for diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori

The diagnosis of Helicobater pylori infection in human may be accomplished with or without endoscopy. Each of these methods requires several hours to days before the final test result is known. We sought to determine whether direct measurement of ammonium level by spectrophotometric method allows accurate diagnosis of Helicobater pylori infection. In patients (n=32) with mean age of 49.7  5.4 years undergoing upper GI endoscopy had gastric juice (5ml) was collected tested for ammonium using spectrophotometric method. Control subjects (n=11), with mean age of 45.8  7.9 years were subjects without Helicobacter pylori undergoing upper GI endoscopy. Ammonium concentration of gastric juice was determined by spectrophotometric method in 340 nm. Severity of gastritis was graded using the Sydney Classification and correlated to gastric juice ammonium level. Gastric juice ammonium levels were significantly higher in Helicobater pylori- infected individuals than in those without the infection (3.2  0.3 vs. 1.3  0.2 mmol/l, P<0.05). Determination of gastric juice ammonium level by spectrophotometric technique is a suitable means of diagnosing Helicobater pylori infection.