Local and Systemic Antibody Responses During Helicobacter pylori Infections

The majority of patients with a Helicobacter pylori infection mount a systemic antibody response which is easily detectable by serological assays such as the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) [1]. Positive results in bacterial agglutination and complement fixation tests [2] suggest that these antibodies possess some anti-bacterial activity. However, the infection persists suggesting an underlying ineffectiveness in the ability of the systemic antibody response to eradicate the infection.