Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for Campylobacter pyloridis: correlation with presence of C. pyloridis in the gastric mucosa. 1 Infect Dis 1987;155:488-94

Antibody to Campylobacter pyloridis was measured by ELISA in the sera of 160 patients from whom gastric biopsy specimens were also obtained. The antigen was an acid-glycine extract of C. pyloridis, and titers ranged from 80 to 22,000 ELISA units (EU). Of 117 patients in whom C. pyloridis was detected microhiologically or histologically, 87 (74070) had a titer ~300 EU, and only one had a titer <150 ED. Of 43 patients in whom C. pyloridis was not detected, only two (5070) had a titer>300 ED. Thus, for a titer of 300 EU the ELISA test had a specificity of 97070 and a sensitivity of 81070. At 150 EU the specificity was 78070, and the sensitivity was 99070. Histological diagnosis of active chronic gastritis was associated with a high median ELISA titer (485 E), chronic gastritis with a much lower titer (150 EU), and normal histology with a titer of 110 ED. Discriminating use of this serological test could be of assistance to detect C. pyloridis in the gastric mucosa. The name Campylobacter pyloridis has now been validated [1] for the campylobacter-like spiral bac-teria first cultured at Royal Perth Hospital in 1982 from specimens of the gastric antral mucosa ob