Local Immune Responses to Helicobacter pylori Infections

It is widely accepted that the majority of people with H. pylori infections amount a large circulating antibody response against that organism [1]. This response has proved to be so predictable that it forms the basis of serodiagnostic tests such as ELISA [2, 3]. The sensitivity and specificity of such tests depends largely on the antigen preparations used, although ELISAs using a variety of crude and more purified antigens are reported to be greater than 90 % sensitive and specific for detecting H. pylori infection [4, 5].