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Posted on Sep 30, 2002, 6 a.m.
By Bill Freeman
A particularly potent strain of the stomach ulcer-causing bacterium Helicobacter pylori could also increase the risk of stroke, according to Italian researchers. Dr Antonio Pietroiusti of Tor Vergata University in Rome and his colleagues found that 43% of people who had suffered a type of stroke known as atherosclerotic stroke were infected with the cytotoxin-associated gene-A (of H.
A particularly potent strain of the stomach ulcer-causing bacterium Helicobacter pylori could also increase the risk of stroke, according to Italian researchers. Dr Antonio Pietroiusti of Tor Vergata University in Rome and his colleagues found that 43% of people who had suffered a type of stroke known as atherosclerotic stroke were infected with the cytotoxin-associated gene-A (of H. pylori, compared with 20% of other stroke patients, and 18% of healthy participants. The researchers also found that patients infected with CagA-positive H. pylori tended to have elevated blood levels of the inflammatory marker C-reactive protein. The researchers suspect that the CagA strain raises atherosclerotic stroke risk by causing inflammation of artery walls, which encourages the development of atherosclerosis.
SOURCE/REFERENCE: Circulation 2002; 106: 184-190
