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Little is known about the mode of transmission of Helicobacter pylori, one of the most common human bacterial infections. Some domestic animals, including the cat, have been suggested as a reservoir of H. pylori disease, but the data have been inconsistent. This paper evaluates the role of exposure to pets and other domestic animals in the etiology of H. pylori in a rural area of China with a high prevalence of H. pylori infection. In this double-blind, population-based, cross-sectional investigation, interviews were completed with 3288 (1994 seropositive, 1019 seronegative, 275 indeterminate) H. pylori-infected adults enrolled in a randomized intervention trial in Linqu County, Shandong Province, China. We found no evidence to suggest that exposure to pets or other domestic animals during either childhood or adulthood was related to the prevalence of H. pylori infection. In fact, odds ratios (ORs) were reduced for subjects who had kept a cat (OR = 0.7, 95% CI = 0.4–1.0) or any animal (OR =0.5, 95% CI =0.3–0.9) in the house as an adult, or a cat as a child (OR =0.7, 95% CI = 0.5–1.0). ORs were also reduced for all 11 types of animal studied that subjects had kept in their courtyard as an adult. These findings suggest that zoonotic transmission, including that from domestic cats, is an unlikely route of H. pylori infection in this rural Chinese population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Stomach cancer is generally thought to evolve through a series of gastric mucosal changes, but the derterminants of the precancerous lesions are not well understood. : Our purpose was to assess risk factors for intestinal metplasia and gastric dysplasia arising from chronicatrophic gastritis in a genral population at high risk for stomach cancer. : A population-based gastroscopic screening of more than 3000 residents was conducted in a county in china eith one of the world's highest rtes of stomach cancer. Information on the lifestyle and other charateristics of the participants was obtained by interview, and responses were compared between those in whom the most advanced gastric lesion was dysplasiaor intestinal metaplasia versus those with chronic atrophic gastritis. : Cigarette smoking was found to nearly double the risk of transition to dysplasia and to be a mild risk factor for intestinal metaplasia. Smoling accounted almost entirely for the 55% higher prevalence of dysplasis among men than among women. Risk of transition to dysplasis had a weak association with several dietary factors and was increased among those participants with a family history of stomach cancer and with blood type A. Conclusions: The findings provide storng evidence for a role of tobacco consumption and offer clues to other enviromental and genetic factord involved in the process of gastric carcinogenesis. (J Natl cancer Inst 84: 1261–1266, 1992] [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background The increased odds of stomach cancer among subjects with blood type A have been reported in epidemiological studies. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]