Helicobacter pylori infection is associated with decreased expression of SLC5A8, a cancer suppressor gene, in young children

Background: Helicobacter pylori infects half of the world's population and causes gastric cancer in a subset of infected adults. Previous blood microarray findings showed that apparently healthy children, persistently infected with H. pylori have differential gene expression compared to age-matched, non-infected children. SLC5A8, a cancer suppressor gene with decreased expression among infected children, was chosen for further study based on bioinformatics analysis. Methods: A pilot study was conducted using specific qRT-PCR amplification of SLC5A8 in blood samples from H. pylori infected and non-infected children, followed by a larger, blinded, case-control study. We then analyzed gastric tissue from H. pylori infected and non-infected children undergoing endoscopy for clinical purposes. Results: Demographics, clinical findings and family history were similar between groups. SLC5A8 expression was decreased in infected versus non-infected children in blood, 0.12 (IQR: 0 – 0.89) versus 1.86 (IQR: 0 – 8.94, P=0.002), and in gastric tissue, 0.08 (IQR: 0.04 – 0.15) versus 1.88 (IQR: 0.55 – 2.56; P=0.001). Children who were both stool positive and seropositive for H. pylori had the lowest SLC5A8 expression levels.Conclusions: H. pylori infection is associated with suppression of SCL5A8, a cancer suppressor gene, in both blood and tissue samples from young children.