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World J Gastroenterol. Oct 7, 2006; 12(37): 6021-6025
Published online Oct 7, 2006. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v12.i37.6021
Short mucin 6 alleles are associated with H pylori infection
Thai V Nguyen, Marcel JR Janssen, Paulien Gritters, René HM te Morsche, Joost PH Drenth, Henri van Asten, Robert JF Laheij, Jan BMJ Jansen
Thai V Nguyen, Department of Gastroenterology, Can Tho University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Can Tho, Viet Nam
Marcel JR Janssen, Paulien Gritters, René HM te Morsche, Joost PH Drenth, Robert JF Laheij, Jan BMJ Jansen, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Henri van Asten, Nijmegen Institute for International Health, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Co-first-author: Marcel JR Janssen
Correspondence to: Marcel JR Janssen, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Internal code: 455, PO box 9101, Nijmegen 6500 HB, The Netherlands. marceljanssen6@hotmail.com
Telephone: +31-24-3617272 Fax: +31-24-3540103
Received: March 11, 2005
Revised: March 25, 2005
Accepted: April 26, 2005
Published online: October 7, 2006
Abstract

AIM: To investigate the relationship between mucin 6 (MUC6) VNTR length and H pylori infection.

METHODS: Blood samples were collected from patients visiting the Can Tho General Hospital for upper gastrointestinal endoscopy. DNA was isolated from whole blood, the repeated section was cut out using a restriction enzyme (PvuII) and the length of the allele fragments was determined by Southern blotting. H pylori infection was diagnosed by 14C urea breath test. For analysis, MUC6 allele fragment length was dichotomized as being either long (> 13.5 kbp) or short (≤ 13.5 kbp) and patients were classified according to genotype [long-long (LL), long-short (LS), short-short (SS)].

RESULTS: 160 patients were studied (mean age 43 years, 36% were males, 58% H pylori positive). MUC6 PvuII-restricted allele fragment lengths ranged from 7 to 19 kbp. Of the patients with the LL, LS, SS MUC6 genotype, 43% (24/56), 57% (25/58) and 76% (11/46) were infected with H pylori, respectively (P = 0.003).

CONCLUSION: Short MUC6 alleles are associated with H pylori infection.

Keywords: H pylori; Mucin 6; Polymorphism; Variable number of tandem repeats