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Background: Numerous diagnostic tests are available to detect Helicobactor pylori (H. pylori). There has been no single test available to detect H. pylori infection reliably. We evaluated the accuracy of a new fluorescence quantitative PCR (fqPCR) for H. pylori detection in children. Methods: Gastric biopsy specimens from 138 children with gastritis were sent for routine histology exam, rapid urease test (RUT) and fqPCR. 13C-urea breath test (13C-UBT) was carried out prior to endoscopic procedure. Gastric fluids and dental plaques were also collected for fqPCR analysis. Results: 38 children (27.5%) were considered positive for H. pylori infection by gold standard (concordant positive results on 2 or more tests). The remaining 100 children (72.5%) were considered negative for H. pylori. Gastric mucosa fqPCR not only detected all 38 H. pylori positive patients but also detected 8 (8%) of the 100 gold standard-negative children or 11 (10.7%) of the 103 routine histology-negative samples. Therefore, gastric mucosa fqPCR identified 46 children (33.3%) with H. pylori infection, significantly higher than gold standard or routine histology (P<0.01). Both gastric fluid and dental plaque fqPCR only detected 32 (23.2%) and 30 (21.7%) children with H. pylori infection respectively and was significantly less sensitive than mucosa fqPCR (P<0.05) but was as sensitive as non-invasive UBT. Conclusions: Gastric mucosa fqPCR was more sensitive than routine histology, RUT, 13C-UBT alone or in combination to detect H. pylori infection in children with chronic gastritis. Either gastric fluid or dental plaque PCR is as reliable as 13C-UBT for H. pylori detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) is an autoimmune liver disease characterized by the presence of antimitocondrial autoantibodies (AMA) which has an essential role also for diagnosis. In addition, also some antinuclear antibodies (ANA) have been shown to be highly specific PBC. The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of PBC among the adults referring hospital for annual health check-up in Southern China by screening sera for PBC-specific autoantibodies. Methods: AMA and ANA were screened in 8,126 adults (mean age 44 ± 15 years, 48% females) by indirect immunofluorenscence (IIF). Positive sera were tested by ELISA/immunoblotting for AMA-M2, anti-sp100 and antigp210. A diagnosis of PBC was re-assessed six months after the initial testing. Results: Out of 8,126 individuals 35 were positive for AMA and 79 positive for ANA. Nineteen, 4, and 3 of the subjects positive for AMA and/or ANA showed reactivity for AMA-M2, anti-sp100 or gp210, respectively, further tested with ELISA/immunoblotting. Fourteen in the 39 individuals positive for AMA at IIF, AMA-M2, anti-gp210, or anti-sp100 had abnormal cholestatic liver functional indices. One definite and 3 probable PBC diagnosis could be made in 4 cases including 3 females and 1 male after half a year. Conclusions: We found a point prevalence rate of PBC among Southern Chinese adults attending for yearly health check-up of 492 cases per million (95% CI, 128 to 1,093) and 1,558 cases per million (95% CI, 294 to 3,815) for women over 40, a finding similar to prevalence reported in other geographical areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]