Ornithine Decarboxylase in Gastric Epithelial Cells Promotes the Immunopathogenesis of Helicobacter pylori Infection

Colonization by is associated with gastric diseases, ranging from superficial gastritis to more severe pathologies, including intestinal metaplasia and adenocarcinoma. The interplay of the host response and the pathogen affect the outcome of disease. One major component of the mucosal response to is the activation of a strong but inefficient immune response that fails to control the infection and frequently causes tissue damage. We have shown that polyamines can regulate -induced inflammation. Chemical inhibition of ornithine decarboxylase (ODC), which generates the polyamine putrescine from l-ornithine, reduces gastritis in mice and adenocarcinoma incidence in gerbils infected with However, we have also demonstrated that deletion in myeloid cells enhances M1 macrophage activation and gastritis. Here we used a genetic approach to assess the specific role of gastric epithelial ODC during infection. Specific deletion of the gene encoding for ODC in gastric epithelial cells reduces gastritis, attenuates epithelial proliferation, alters the metabolome, and downregulates the expression of immune mediators induced by Inhibition of ODC activity or knockdown in human gastric epithelial cells dampens -induced NF-κB activation, mRNA expression, and IL-8 production. Chronic inflammation is a major risk factor for the progression to more severe pathologies associated with infection, and we now show that epithelial ODC plays an important role in mediating this inflammatory response.