Circulating antibodies to the 60‐kD heat shock protein (hsp) family in patients with Helicobacter pylori infection

Whilst the mechanism by which Helicobacter pylori causes different gastroduodenal diseases is uncertain, strains producing the cytotoxin‐associated protein (CagA) have greater pathogenicity. Hsps are immunogenic molecules induced by inflammatory mediators. The aim of this study was to assess pathogenicity of hsp antibodies in H. pylori‐infected patients. ELISA techniques were used to assay sera of H. pylori‐positive patients with gastritis, gastric atrophy, duodenal or gastric ulcer, and H. pylori‐negative controls, for antibodies to CagA and to human, mycobacterial, and in 20 sera, H. pylori (hspB) 60‐kD hsp. IgA antibodies to mycobacterial hsp60 in atrophy patients were elevated compared with patients with gastritis (P