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Abstract Helicobacter pylori is a gram-negative bacteria etiologically involved in peptic ulcer disease, gastric carcinoma as well as functional dyspepsia. Although infection with H. pylori almost always results in chronic active gastritis, only afraction of those infected develop clinical disease. While this phenomenon remains unexplained, host genetics, host immune response, and the relationship of the host response to bacterial virulence factors appear to play critical roles. A tremendous number of studies are investigating the roles of putative virulence factors of H. pylori, and the best studied are the cagA gene. CagA producing strains are reported to be related to severe clinical outcomes, especially in Western countries. In developing countries especially in African setting, the prevalence and associated pathology of such putative virulent gene (CagA) is not well defined. The present work was planned to study the relationship between Helicobacter pylori CagA and dyspepsia associated with structural (gastric cancer and peptic ulcer disease) and non-structural disorders (functional dyspepsia). |