• May 8, 2024

Which bacterium is spiral, resistant to the acidic environments of the stomach and it lives exclusively in humans, it lodges in the stomach mucosa and lives there for years? You guessed right, Helicobacter pylori.

Studies conducted in Mexico report that the infection caused by this microorganism occurs during childhood and, up to three decades later, an individual may present some pathology. Some scientists think that Helicobacter pylori can reach the gastric mucosa through the consumption of contaminated water.

Gastritis, gastric ulcers and, occasionally, stomach cancer are caused by said bacteria, according to the discovery of Australian researchers Robin Warren Y Barry Marshall, fact that made them worthy of the Nobel Prize in the year 2005.

Later studies confirmed it and left behind the belief that these evils were caused by stress or certain foods. However, it is important to note that not all carriers of Helicobacter pylori get sick; 85% of them never have symptoms and the remaining 15% develop some severe pathology.

In fact, recent research assumes that the combination of the characteristics of the bacteria with the individual's genetics, environmental conditions, smoking, alcoholism and the consumption of smoked or sausage foods are the trigger of the disease.

After the trace of the bacteria

The medicine has methods to detect the presence of the bacteria: biopsy of the gastric mucosa, analysis of blood or feces and the study of the breath of the patient, among others. In the School of Medicine (FM) of the UNAM, the doctor Gonzalo Castillo, in collaboration with the doctor Yolanda Vidal , look for biomarkers that support the diagnosis and prognosis of Helicobacter pylori.

The specialists of Department of Microbiology and Parasitology of FM , point out that the biomarkers sought are proteins related to the genes of the microorganism that are considered as a trace of the bacteria that we could identify in a blood sample.

Finding the history of this bacterium is a scientific challenge, the first reports of the presence of "spiral bacilli" in the gastric mucosa date back to 1875. Even mummies have been analyzed to detect the presence of the organism.

Researchers from the National Institute of Anthropology and History invited us to participate in the detection of some pathogens in mummies found in the cave of La Ventana, in the north of the country. Some contained remains of tissue from the abdomen that were preserved thanks to the environmental conditions of the site, says Gonzalo Castillo.

Six mummies were analyzed, only 2 kept remains of the tissue of the stomach; of these, one was positive for the presence of Helicobacter pylori by molecular techniques.
 

"According to anthropologists, the fabric we studied dates from 1095 or 1300 AD. This shows that the bacteria did not reach the indigenous populations through the European conquerors as it was thought, but that it already inhabited them, "concluded the researcher.

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