Department of Food and Environmental Hygiene, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
Helicobacter. 2010 Feb;15(1):58-66. doi: 10.1111/j.1523-5378.2009.00730.x.
Helicobacter pylori is the primary cause of gastritis and peptic ulceration in humans. In a minority of patients with upper gastrointestinal symptoms, long tightly coiled spiral bacteria, provisionally named "Helicobacter heilmannii," are observed in gastric biopsies. These bacteria are extremely fastidious and only one previous study has succeeded in obtaining an isolate in vitro.
We used two different selective media to isolate "H. heilmannii" from the gastric mucosa of a Finnish patient presenting with severe dyspeptic symptoms. The isolates were characterized by testing for urease and catalase activity, by using light and electron microscopy, and by sequencing of the partial 16S rRNA and ureAB genes. Single-enzyme amplified fragment length polymorphism (sAFLP) was used to analyze the genetic diversity among the isolates.
We obtained 15 isolates from different gastric biopsies prior and three after unsuccessful treatment of the patient. The isolates were identified as Helicobacter bizzozeronii. Eradication therapy was unsuccessful most probably due to high level of resistance to metronidazole. Persistent colonization by the same H. bizzozeronii clone was confirmed by sAFLP, however, small differences between the profiles suggested long-term colonization of the patient.
Helicobacter bizzozeronii remains the only "H. heilmannii" species isolated from human gastric mucosa although it has been an infrequent observation among "H. heilmannii"-infected patients in PCR-based screening studies. The relevance of H. bizzozeronii and other potentially zoonotic gastric Helicobacter spp. in human disease remains to be determined.
幽门螺杆菌是人类胃炎和消化性溃疡的主要病因。在少数有上消化道症状的患者中，胃活检中观察到一种长而紧密螺旋的细菌，暂命名为“Helicobacter heilmannii”。这些细菌非常挑剔，之前只有一项研究成功地在体外获得了分离物。
我们使用两种不同的选择性培养基从一名芬兰患者的胃黏膜中分离“H.heilmannii”，该患者表现出严重的消化不良症状。通过检测脲酶和过氧化氢酶活性、使用光镜和电子显微镜以及部分 16S rRNA 和 ureAB 基因测序来对分离物进行特征描述。使用单酶扩增片段长度多态性（sAFLP）分析分离物之间的遗传多样性。
我们从不同的胃活检中获得了 15 个分离物，在患者治疗失败后又获得了 3 个。分离物被鉴定为 Helicobacter bizzozeronii。由于对甲硝唑的高度耐药，根除治疗失败的可能性很大。通过 sAFLP 证实了同一 H. bizzozeronii 克隆的持续定植，但图谱之间的微小差异表明患者长期定植。
尽管在基于 PCR 的筛查研究中，“H.heilmannii”感染患者中很少观察到 Helicobacter bizzozeronii，但它仍然是唯一从人类胃黏膜中分离出的“H.heilmannii”物种。H. bizzozeronii 及其他潜在的动物源性胃幽门螺杆菌在人类疾病中的相关性仍有待确定。
