Methylation status of CDH1 gene in samples of gastric mucous from brazilian patients with chronic gastritis infected by Helicobacter pylori

Kague, Erika; Thomazini, Cristiane Melissa; Pardini, Maria Inês de Campo Moura; Carvalho, Fabrício de; Leite, Celso Vieira; Pinheiro, Nídia Alice

doi:10.1590/S0004-28032010000100002

Abstracts

CONTEXT: Gastric cancer is one of the top list of cancer types that most leads to death in Brazil and worldwide. Helicobacter pylori(H. pylori) is a class I carcinogen and infect almost 90% of chronic gastritis patients. Some genotypes confer different virulent potential to H. pylori and can increase the risk of gastritis development. Methylation of CpG islands can inactivate tumor suppressor genes and therefore, it can be involved in the tumorigenic process. CDH1 is a tumor suppressor gene that encodes the E-cadherin protein, which is important in maintaining cell-cell contacts. The inactivation of this gene can increase the chance of metastasis. Promoter methylation of CDH1 at early steps of gastric carcinogenesis is not yet completely understood. OBJECTIVE: In this study, we investigated the methylation status of CDH1 in chronic gastritis samples and correlated it with the presence of H. pylori. METHODS: Sixty gastric mucosal biopsies were used in this study. The detection of H. pylori was performed with the PCR primers specific to urease C gene. H. pylori genotyping was performed by PCR to cagA and vacA (s and m region). The methylation status of these gene CDH1 was analyzed using methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction and direct sequencing of the PCR products was performed using primers methylated and unmethylated in both forward and reverse directions. RESULTS: H. pylori was detected in 90% of chronic gastritis samples; among these 33% were cagA positive and 100% vacA s1. The genotype vacA s2/m1 was not detected in any sample analyzed. Methylation of CDH1 was detected in 63.3% of chronic gastritis samples and 95% of them were also H. pylori-positive. CONCLUSION: This work suggests that CDH1 gene methylation and H. pylori infection are frequent events in samples from Brazilian patients with chronic gastritis and reinforces the correlation between H. pylori infection and CDH1 inactivation in early steps of gastric tumorigenesis.

Helicobacter infections; Gastritis; Cadherins; Methylation

CONTEXTO:O câncer gástrico é uma das principais neoplasias que causam o óbito no Brasil e no mundo. Helicobacter pylori é um carcinógeno do tipo I relacionado à gastrite crônica. Diferenças no grau de virulência de suas cepas levam a maior risco de desenvolvimento de doenças gástricas. A metilação de ilhas CpGs está envolvida com o processo de tumorigênese em diferentes tipos de câncer. CDH1 é um gene supressor tumoral que, quando inativado, pode aumentar as chances de metástase. A metilação deste gene em estágios precoces da carcinogênese gástrica ainda não é totalmente compreendida. OBJETIVO: Investigar o padrão de metilação do gene CDH1 em amostras de gastrites crônicas e correlacionar com a presença do H. pylori. MÉTODOS: Foram usadas 60 biopsias de mucosas gástricas. A detecção de H. pylori foi realizada por PCR para o gene da urease C e a genotipagem com PCR para os genes cagA e vacA (região s e m). O padrão de metilação do gene CDH1 foi analisado usando a técnica de PCR e específica para a metilação e sequenciamento direto dos produtos de PCR. RESULTADOS: A bactéria H. pylori foi detectada em 90% das amostras de gastrites crônicas; destas, 33% portavam o gene cagA e 100% vacA s1. O genótipo vacA s2/m1 não foi detectado nas amostras analisadas. Metilação de CDH1 foi detectada em 63,3% das amostras de gastrites e 95% delas eram portadoras de H. pylori. CONCLUSÃO: Os resultados deste estudo sugerem que a metilação em CDH1 e a infecção pelo H. pylori são eventos frequentes em amostras de pacientes brasileiros com gastrite crônica e reforça a correlação entre infecção por H. pylori e inativação do gene CDH1 em estágios precoces da tumorigênese gástrica.

Infecções por helicobacter; Gastrite; Caderinas; Metilação

ORIGINAL ARTICLE ARTIGO ORIGINAL

Methylation status of CDH1 gene in samples of gastric mucous from brazilian patients with chronic gastritis infected by Helicobacter pylori

Erika Kague^I; Cristiane Melissa Thomazini^I; Maria Inês de Campo Moura Pardini^I; Fabrício de Carvalho^II; Celso Vieira Leite^III; Nídia Alice Pinheiro^I

^IHemocentro-Faculdade de Medicina-UNESP-Botucatu, SP, Brazil

^IILudwig Institute for Câncer Research, São Paulo Branch, São Paulo, Brazil

^IIIDepartamento de Cirurgia e Ortopedia, Faculdade de Medicina-UNESP-Botucatu, SP, Brazil

^{Correspondence} Correspondence to Dr. Nídia Alice Pinheiro Universidade Federal do ABC (UFABC) - Centro de Ciências Naturais e Humanas (CCNH) Rua Catequese, 242 - 4º andar - Bairro Jardim 09090-400 - Santo André, SP, Brazil E-mail: nidialice@uol.com.br/ nidia.pinheiro@ufabc.edu.br

ABSTRACT

CONTEXT: Gastric cancer is one of the top list of cancer types that most leads to death in Brazil and worldwide. Helicobacter pylori(H. pylori) is a class I carcinogen and infect almost 90% of chronic gastritis patients. Some genotypes confer different virulent potential to H. pylori and can increase the risk of gastritis development. Methylation of CpG islands can inactivate tumor suppressor genes and therefore, it can be involved in the tumorigenic process. CDH1 is a tumor suppressor gene that encodes the E-cadherin protein, which is important in maintaining cell-cell contacts. The inactivation of this gene can increase the chance of metastasis.

Promoter methylation of CDH1 at early steps of gastric carcinogenesis is not yet completely understood.

OBJECTIVE: In this study, we investigated the methylation status of CDH1 in chronic gastritis samples and correlated it with the presence of H. pylori.

METHODS: Sixty gastric mucosal biopsies were used in this study. The detection of H. pylori was performed with the PCR primers specific to urease C gene. H. pylori genotyping was performed by PCR to cagA and vacA (s and m region). The methylation status of these gene CDH1 was analyzed using methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction and direct sequencing of the PCR products was performed using primers methylated and unmethylated in both forward and reverse directions.

RESULTS:H. pylori was detected in 90% of chronic gastritis samples; among these 33% were cagA positive and 100% vacA s1. The genotype vacA s2/m1 was not detected in any sample analyzed. Methylation of CDH1 was detected in 63.3% of chronic gastritis samples and 95% of them were also H. pylori-positive.

CONCLUSION: This work suggests that CDH1 gene methylation and H. pylori infection are frequent events in samples from Brazilian patients with chronic gastritis and reinforces the correlation between H. pylori infection and CDH1 inactivation in early steps of gastric tumorigenesis.

Headings: Helicobacter infections. Gastritis. Cadherins. Methylation.

RESUMO

CONTEXTO:O câncer gástrico é uma das principais neoplasias que causam o óbito no Brasil e no mundo. Helicobacter pylori é um carcinógeno do tipo I relacionado à gastrite crônica. Diferenças no grau de virulência de suas cepas levam a maior risco de desenvolvimento de doenças gástricas. A metilação de ilhas CpGs está envolvida com o processo de tumorigênese em diferentes tipos de câncer. CDH1 é um gene supressor tumoral que, quando inativado, pode aumentar as chances de metástase. A metilação deste gene em estágios precoces da carcinogênese gástrica ainda não é totalmente compreendida.

OBJETIVO: Investigar o padrão de metilação do gene CDH1 em amostras de gastrites crônicas e correlacionar com a presença do H. pylori.

MÉTODOS: Foram usadas 60 biopsias de mucosas gástricas. A detecção de H. pylori foi realizada por PCR para o gene da urease C e a genotipagem com PCR para os genes cagA e vacA (região s e m). O padrão de metilação do gene CDH1 foi analisado usando a técnica de PCR e específica para a metilação e sequenciamento direto dos produtos de PCR.

RESULTADOS: A bactéria H. pylori foi detectada em 90% das amostras de gastrites crônicas; destas, 33% portavam o gene cagA e 100% vacA s1. O genótipo vacA s2/m1 não foi detectado nas amostras analisadas. Metilação de CDH1 foi detectada em 63,3% das amostras de gastrites e 95% delas eram portadoras de H. pylori.

CONCLUSÃO: Os resultados deste estudo sugerem que a metilação em CDH1 e a infecção pelo H. pylori são eventos frequentes em amostras de pacientes brasileiros com gastrite crônica e reforça a correlação entre infecção por H. pylori e inativação do gene CDH1 em estágios precoces da tumorigênese gástrica.

Descritores: Infecções por helicobacter. Gastrite. Caderinas. Metilação.

INTRODUCTION

Gastric cancer comprises one of cancers that most kill in Brazil and worldwide, occupying the third and second position, respectively^{(20, 35)}. Its detection is common in advanced stages of cancer progression and patients rarely survive more than 5 years after this point, moreover surgery in most cases is just palliative⁽²⁷⁾. Therefore, the investigation of molecular markers that could help with diagnosis in early steps of gastric carcinogenesis indubitable suits important in gastric cancer. The risk for gastric cancer has been attributed to DNA alterations associated with chronic inflammation, imbalance of epithelial proliferation and apoptosis, and infection by Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori)⁽²¹⁾. It corresponds to a curved, microaerophilic gram-negative bacterium⁽²⁵⁾ that infects about 90% of patients with chronic gastritis and it is also associated with the development of peptic ulcer disease, atrophic gastritis and gastric malignancies⁽⁴²⁾. It was classified as a class I carcinogen by the World Health Organization International Agency for Research on Cancer. Although almost 50% of the world's population is infected with H. pylori^{(15, 32, 33, 38)}, only a subset of infected individuals develop H. pylori associated gastroduodenal disease and gastric cancer during their life time⁽¹¹⁾. Virulence factors of H. pylori are attributed by the flagella, bacterial urease and by genes such as cagA and vacA⁽¹¹⁾cagA gene (cytotoxin associated gene) is found in 60%-70% of the bacterium's strains. cagA positive strains are considered more virulent than negative strains vacA gene codifies a vacuolating cytotoxin present in almost all strains^{(12, 26)}, it is involved in epithelial cell injury. The s region of vacA gene (signal peptide) exists as s1 or s2 allele and the m region (middle) as m1 or m2 allele. Therefore, the variety of H. pylori strains could be related with different pathogenic effects. Considering the model which gastric cancer progresses from a normal mucosa⁽¹⁶⁾, we questioned if pathogenic strains of H. pylori could play a role in the initial steps of changes that lead to advance from chronic gastritis to gastric carcinogenesis.

Methylation of CpG islands consists in an epigenetic process of gene regulation involved in chromatin conformation changes, genomic imprinting process, inactivation of X chromosome and carcinogenesis^{(14, 20, 23)}. In tumors, methylation is observed in promoter regions impairing gene transcription, and can be considered as an additional way to inactivate tumor suppressor genes⁽²⁴⁾. Methylation was previously detected in early steps of gastric carcinogenesis and it was also shown its accumulation over cancer progression⁽¹⁸⁾. Studies associating methylation in non-neoplasic tissues are relevant.

CDH1 codifies E-cadherin, a calcium-dependent transmembrane adhesion glycoprotein^{(17, 37)}. CDH1 considered a tumor suppressor gene that is expressed in epithelial cells and is important in cell architecture, tissue integrity and is involved in cellular processes including adhesion, morphology, migration, and development^{(2, 38)}. Its inactivation is related with tumor progression through invasion and metastasis and it is found in a variety of cancers, including gastric cancer^(4,³⁰⁾. Around 50% of diffuse histological type gastric carcinoma carries mutation in CDH1, furthermore hypermethylation of CDH1 was found to be the second cause gene expression inactivation in two kindred harboring a familial gastric cancer and germ line CDH1 mutation⁽³⁰⁾.

Therefore, we attempted to correlate the methylation status of CDH1 in patients with chronic gastritis infected by pathogenic strains of H. pylori.

METHODS

Patients and specimens

In total, we analyzed 60 gastric mucosal biopsies, in which 30 samples were from patients with chronic gastritis and other 30 from patients underlining normal mucosa. The mucosa was collected in duplicate in the Endoscopy Surgery Department of Clinical Hospital of Medical University of Botucatu (FMB-UNESP), Botucatu, SP, Brazil, between April 2003 and July 2004. Through microscopic examination, histopathological investigation was carried out for all 60 tissues samples, hematoxylin and eosin-stained histological slides were scored for their histological parameters to the presence of chronic inflammation, acute inflammation, intestinal metaplasia and gastritis. All chronic gastritis included in this work had inflammation activity observed by histopathological analysis, and all the controls had normal mucosa wherein no inflammation activity was observed. Detection of H. pylori in histological tissues was performed by Giemsa (400x) (Figure 1). The age ratio was 52 years old, varying between 20-89 and 24-81 years old in chronic gastritis and control groups, respectively. Fifty three percent of the patients were women. All molecular analyses were performed in the Molecular Biology Laboratory of Hemocenter of FMB-UNESP.

Committee of Ethics in Research of institutions approved this study (1892/2004) and each subject signed an informed consent term form before tissue was obtained.

DNA extraction

Wizard Kit Genomic DNA Purification (Promega) was utilized to purify the genetic material for further analysis. After DNA preparation, samples were stored at -70ºC. Quality of DNA was assessed by amplification of GAPDH by PCR. Primer sequences and the amplicon are showed in Table 1. PCR reactions were performed in a volume of 25 mL containing 1% Buffer, 0.4 mM concentration of the deoxynucleoside triphosphate, 1.5 mM MgCL₂, 1 U of Recombinant Taq (Invitrogen), 100 ng of DNA and 0.4 mM of both forward and reverse primers. Amplification was carried out in a thermal cycler with denaturation for 3 minutes at 94ºC and for 35 cycles of 40 seconds at 94ºC, 40 seconds at 57ºC and 2 minutes at 72ºC. Final extension was performed for 7 minutes at 72ºC. The PCR product was submitted to electrophoresis on 6% non-denaturing polyacrylamide gels and the bands were visualized by silver staining.

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H. pylori detection and genotyping

The detection of H. pylori was performed with the PCR primers specific to urease C gene. Amplification of cagA and vacA (s and m region) were used for genotyping. Primers sequences and amplicon are illustrated in Table 1.

PCR of urease C and cagA were carried out in a total volume of 25 mL containing 1% Buffer, 0.2 mM concentration of dNTPs, 1.5 mM MgCL₂, 1.5 U of Taq Platinum (Invitrogen), 100 ng of DNA and 0.4 mM of both forward and reverse primers. The cycling conditions were of urease C: 3 minutes of preincubation at 94ºC followed by 35 cycles of 30 seconds at 94ºC, 1 minute at 59ºC and 2 minutes at 72ºC. Final extension was performed for 7 minutes at 72ºC. Annealing temperature was 55ºC for 40 seconds.

The amplification of vacA s region was performed in a volume of 25 mL containing 1% Buffer, 0.4 mM of dNTPs, 3 mM MgCL₂, 1 U of Taq Gold (Applied Biosystems), 100 ng of DNA and 0.4 mM of both forward and reverse primers. The cycle conditions of vacA s region were: 5 minutes of preincubation at 95ºC followed by 35 cycles of 30 seconds at 94ºC, 1 minute at 55ºC and 2 minute at 68ºC. Final extension was performed for 7 minutes at 68ºC. The annealing temperature was 54ºC. PCR product of urease C, cagA and vacA amplifications were electrophoresed on 6% not denaturized polyacrylamide gels and the bands were visualized by silver staining.

Bisulfite modification

Purified DNA was subjected to bisulfite modification, as described by Herman et al.⁽¹⁷⁾. Bisulfite treatment converts unmethylated cytosine in uracil and methylated cytosine is unchanged. Briefly, 2 µg of genomic DNA (per sample) and 1 µg of Hering Sperm DNA (10 mg/mL) (Invitrogen) were heated at 97ºC for 6 minutes, and then cooled on ice. Fifteen micro liter of 1 M NaOH was added to 35 µl of the denatured DNA solution. Mixture was stored at room temperature for 15 minutes. We added 150 µl of bisulfite (0.22 g) (Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, MO, USA) and hydroquinone (0.08 mg) (pH 5.0) (Sigma-Aldrich) and followed to incubation at 55ºC for 16 hours. Extraction was carried out with Wizard^® SV Gel and PCR Clean Up System - (Promega, USA). DNA was desulphonated with 15 µl of 1 mol/L NaOH. DNA was precipitated in ethanol and resuspended in 50 µl TE buffer (10 mmol/L Tris and 1 mmol/L EDTA (pH 8.0)).

MSP (methylation-specific PCR)

Bisulfite-modified DNA (2 uL) was amplified with primers specific for either the methylated or unmethylated, sequences. All primer sequences, annealing temperatures, cycle numbers and references are summarized in Table 1. PCR was performed in 25-µL reaction volumes, containing 1X PCR buffer, primers (0.4 mM each) and 1 unit of Taq polymerase Gold (Applied Biosystems). Six percent non-denatured polyacrylamide gels and silver nitrate staining were used. Samples showing band intensities approximately equivalent to that of the size marker were scored as methylated. Samples with week positive signals were repeated 3 times and only those samples with consistent positive signals were scored as methylated. Normal peripheral blood lymphocytes DNA, obtained from patients with no evidence of cancer, were used as negative control samples.

To confirm the specificity of MSP-PCR products, amplicons from PCR reactions with methylated and unmethylated primers were purified and sequenced in automatic sequencer ABI Prism 377 (Applied Biosystems) and compared with the expected sequence.

Statistical analysis

To verify the significance of association we utilized chi-square and Fisher tests and to analyze association between the groups studied we used the Goodman test with significance of 5%.

RESULTS

Genotype of H. pylori

Detection and genotyping of H. pylori was performed in 30 chronic gastritis samples and 30 normal mucosa samples (controls). H. pylori was detected by amplification of urease C gene and showed to be present in 90% (27/30) of chronic gastritis samples and in 43% (13/30) of controls (Table 2). To genotype H. pylori strains we amplified cagA and vacA genes. Thirty three percent (9/27) of chronic gastritis samples were cagA + and 23.1% (3/13) cagA + of controls (Table 2). Despite the higher number of cagA + strains in chronic gastritis compared with control, we did not observe association between cagA + and gastritis (chi-square P = 0.57; Fisher P = 0.391). All chronic gastritis samples (27/27) were vacA s1 type and only 54% (7/13) of controls were vacA s1 (chi-square and Fisher tests, P = 0.0004). The region m of vacA was also analyzed. vacA m1 was found in 41% (11/27) of chronic gastritis and 31% (4/13) of controls. However vacA m2 was more frequent in both groups: 59% (16/27) of chronic gastritis and 69% (9/13) of controls. Combining cagA and vacA we found the following genotypes: 26% cagA + s1/m1, 7% cagA + s1/m2, 15% cagA - s1/m1 and 52% cagA - s1/m2 in chronic gastritis strains (Table 2); and 8% cagA + s1/m1, 15% cagA + s1/m2, 23% cagA - s1/m1, 8% cagA - s1/m2 and 46 % cagA - s2/m2 in the control samples (Table 2). Strains cagA + s2/m1, cagA + s2/m2, cagA - s2/m1 and cagA - s2/m2 were not identified in chronic gastritis samples and cagA + s2/m1, cagA + s2/m2 and cagA - s2/m1 were not identified in controls. H. pylori strains cagA - s2/m2 were identified only in controls and not in chronic gastritis samples.

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MSP for E-cadherin

Bisulfite genomic sequencing of the representative PCR products of CDH1 gene showed that all cytosine at non-CpG sites were converted to thymine. This excluded the possibility that successful amplification could be attributable to incomplete bisulfite conversion. All PCR products analyzed showed extensive methylation of CpG sites, located inside the amplified genomic fragments. The results of both the MSP and bisulfite sequencing analyses were consistent, indicating that it is appropriate to draw inferences from the results of a methylation-specific PCR assay regarding the methylation status of gene promoters. A representative picture of a MSP PCR gel can be seen in Figure 2.

CDH1 methylation in patients with chronic gastritis

The methylation status of CDH1 was observed in 63.3% (19/30) of chronic gastritis samples and in just 20% (6/30) of control samples (Table 3). Applying the Goodman test, the difference is statistically significant. There was no difference between the average of age of patients with gastritis and patients with normal mucosa.

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CDH1 methylation and H. pylori

Ninety-five percent of chronic gastritis samples which CDH1 promoter was methylated were also infected by H. pylori (18/19), showing association between methylation status and H. pylori infection (P = 0.031). Fifty percent of control samples with CDH1 methylation were infected with H. pylori with the following genotypes: cagA + s1/m1 (33%), cagA + s1/m2 (33%), cagA - s2/m2 (33%). The genotype vacA s2/m1 was not detected. The small number of samples analyzed in this study did not allow application of statistical tests to evaluate an association between the methylation status of CDH1 and all possible pathogenic strains of H. pylori.

DISCUSSION

In the present study we analyzed 30 samples from chronic gastritis patients and 30 samples from normal mucosa. Ninety percent of chronic gastritis samples were positive for H. pylori and in control only 43%, showing a direct correlation between infection by H. pylori and chronic gastritis, confirming the importance of this bacterium to the inflammation process in the stomach mucosa. In average, H. pylori is found in 50% of the population⁽³⁰⁾, our data goes in accordance with this statistic.

In evaluation of cagA strains and gastritis, we did not observe statistic correlation in our samples. However, cagA positive strains were previously linked with chronic gastritis and other gastric diseases^{(3, 5, 41)}. We detected cagA positive strains in 33% and 23% of gastritis and control samples, respectively. The presence of cagA citotoxin increases the risk of peptic ulcer disease in 1.5 times and gastric ulcer in 1.3 times⁽²⁸⁾. Analyzing the vacA gene, we observed that all chronic gastritis samples were vacA s1 and just 54% of controls presented this strain type. In m region we found vacA m2 to be more frequent than m1. We observed that cagA + vacA s1/m1 are the most frequent in chronic gastritis and cagA - s2/m2 in control samples. This data is consistent with those already described, where s1/m1 is found in about 80% of patients^{(23, 27)}. In Brazil, the genotype s1/m1 is the most frequently found⁽²⁾. vacA s1/m1 genotype is related with high citotoxin liberation and higher virulence^{(40, 42)}. Moreover, these strains might be involved with increase of inflammation in chronic gastritis and collaboration for Correa's⁽¹⁰⁾ model to gastric cancer progression. Strain vacA s1/m2 is the second most virulent and it was found in higher number in gastritis, otherwise the most passive strain (cagA- vacA s2/m2) was observed only in controls and not in chronic gastritis samples. It corroborates to the fact that virulent strains predispose the mucous to an inflammatory status. The most frequent type of strain was cagA - s1/m2 (chi-square, P = 0.0065). We did not detect any cagA s2/m1 strain among the samples tested. This strain might be rare and related with poor colonization power and survival capacities guarantee to H. pylori, as in other studies it was also not detected^{(8, 9, 29, 34, 42)}.

Inactivation of CDH1 was described in advanced and invasive stages of the carcinogenic process and its methylation has been linked with depth of tumor invasion, however recently, CDH1 methylation process was found in initial stages of diffuse gastric tumors, and was also observed in not cancerous gastric tissues⁽¹⁷⁾. Here, we verified methylation of CDH1 in chronic gastritis samples. It suggests CDH1 inactivation by promoter methylation might be a common process in very early stages of gastric carcinogenesis. Epithelial CDH1 expression is significantly reduced in H. pylori infected gastric tissues^{(1, 36, 39)}. CDH1 promoter methylation was not detected in a high proportion of chronic gastritis submitted to eradication of H. pylori^{(7, 19, 22, 36)}. We demonstrated a positive association between H. pylori and CDH1 methylation. Therefore, patients with chronic gastritis infected by H. pylori have a higher pattern of methylation and H. pylori could act as an inductor of methylation of CDH1 in early stages of carcinogenesis. The presence of H. pylori is associated with increase of inflammatory mediators, such as IL-8, GRO-α, MIP-1α, ENA-78 and MCP-1, in gastric mucosa^{(1, 4)}. It has demonstrated that H. pylori did not influence activation of methyltransferase genes DNMT1, DNMT3A or DNMT3B⁽¹³⁾, thus it might act through inflammatory mediators. Recently, it was demonstrated inducement of E-cadherin promoter methylation in gastric cancer cell lines when treated with IL-1 or co-cultured with H. pylori^{(6, 31)}. Thus, inflammatory mediators may be involved in stimulus for methylation in chronic gastritis. Still, further studies must be undertaken to understand the role H. pylori in gene inactivation by promoter methylation in chronic gastritis.

In conclusion, we showed that CDH1 gene methylation and H. pylori infection are frequent events in samples from Brazilian patients with chronic gastritis and reinforced the correlation between H. pylori infection and CDH1 inactivation in early gastric tumorigenesis.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We are thankful to the Pathology Department and Dr. Luiz Eduardo Naresse from Surgery Department of FMB-UNESP for the anatomopathological analyses and helpful with samples collections. We also thank Adriana Camargo Ferrasi and Graziela A.P.P.Marafiotti from Hemocenter-FMB-UNESP, Valéria Paixão from LICR for their expert technical assistance. And Otávia L. Caballero from LICR for the discussions.

Received 2/9/2008.

Accepted 9/6/2009.

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25. Marshall BJ, Warren JR. Unidentified curved bacilli in the stomach of patients with gastritis and peptic ulceration. Lancet. 1984;1:1311-5.
26. Nakajima T, Yamashita S, Maekita T, Niwa T, Nakazawa K, Ushijima T. The presence of a methylation fingerprint of Helicobacter pylori infection in human gastric mucosae. Int J Cancer. 2009;124:905-10.
27. Nardone G. Review article - Molecular basis of gastric carcinogenesis. Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 2003;17(Suppl 2):75-81.
28. Nomura AM, Hankin JH, Kolonel LN, Wilkens LR, Goodman MT, Stemmermann GN. Case-control study of diet and other risk factors for gastric cancer in Hawaii (United States). Cancer Causes Control. 2003;14:547-58.
29. Perez-Perez GI, Peek RM, Legath AJ, Heine PR, Graff LB. The role of CagA status in gastric and extragastric complications of Helicobacter pylori J Physiol Pharmacol. 1999;50:833-45.
30. Pisani P, Parkin DM, Munoz N, Ferlay J. Cancer and infection: estimates of the attributable fraction in 1990. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 1997;6: 387-400.
31. Qian X, Huang C, Cho CH, Hui WM, Rashid A, Chan AO. E-cadherin promoter hypermethylation induced by interleukin-1beta treatment or H. pylori infection in human gastric cancer cell lines. Cancer Lett. 2008;263:107-13.
32. Qiao W, Hu JL, Xiao B, Wu KC, Peng DR, Atherton JC, Xue H. cagA and vacA genotype of Helicobacterpylori associated with gastric diseases in Xi'an area. World J Gastroenterol. 2003;9:1762-6.
33. Rodrigues MN, Queiroz DM, Rodrigues RT, Rocha AM, Braga-Neto MB, Braga LL. Helicobacterpylori infection in adults from a poor urban community in northeastern Brazil: demographic, lifestyle and environmental factors. Braz J Infect Dis. 2005;9:405-10.
34. Rudi J, Rudy A, Maiwald M, Kuck D, Sieg A, Stremmel W. Direct determination of HelicobacterpylorivacA genotypes and cagA gene in gastric biopsies and relationship to gastrointestinal diseases. Am J Gastroenterol. 1999;94:1525-31.
35. Suerbaum S, Michetti P. Helicobacterpylori infection. N Engl J Med. 2002;347:1175-86.
36. Tahara T, Arisawa T, Shibata T, Nakamura M, Yoshioka D, Okubo M, Maruyama N, Kamano T, Kamiya Y, Fujita H, Nakagawa Y, Nagasaka M, Iwata M, Takahama K, Watanabe M, Yamashita H, Hirata I. Increased number of methylated CpG islands correlates with Helicobacterpylori infection, histological and serological severity of chronic gastritis. Eur J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2009;21:613-9.
37. Tamura G. Genetic and epigenetic alterations of tumor suppressor and tumor-related genes in gastric cancer. Histol Histopathol. 2002;17:323-9.
38. Tepass U, Truong K, Godt D, Ikura M, Peifer M. Cadherins in embryonic and neural morphogenesis. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol. 2000;1:91-100.
39. Terres AM, Pajares JM, O'Toole D, Ahern S, Kelleher D. H pylori infection is associated with downregulation of E-cadherin, a molecule involved in epithelial cell adhesion and proliferation control. J Clin Pathol. 1998;51:410-2.
40. Umit H, Tezel A, Bukavaz S, Unsal G, Otkun M, Soylu AR, Tucer D, Bilgi S. The relationship between virulence factors of Helicobacterpylori and severity of gastritis in infected patients. Dig Dis Sci. 2009;54:103-10.
41. van Doorn LJ, Figueiredo C, Rossau R, Jannes G, van Asbroek M, Sousa JC, Carneiro F, Quint WG. Typing of HelicobacterpylorivacA gene and detection of cagA gene by PCR and reverse hybridization. J Clin Microbiol. 1998;36:1271-6.
42. Wyatt JI. Histopathology of gastroduodenal inflammation: the impact of Helicobacterpylori Histopathology. 1995;26:1-15.

Correspondence to

Dr. Nídia Alice Pinheiro

Universidade Federal do ABC (UFABC) - Centro de Ciências Naturais e Humanas (CCNH)

Rua Catequese, 242 - 4º andar - Bairro Jardim

09090-400 - Santo André, SP, Brazil

E-mail:

nidialice@uol.com.br/

nidia.pinheiro@ufabc.edu.br

Publication Dates

Publication in this collection
23 June 2010
Date of issue
Mar 2010

History

Accepted
09 June 2009
Received
02 Sept 2008

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

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[18] 18. Kang GH, Lee S, Kim JS, Jung HY. Profile of aberrant CpG island methylation along multistep gastric carcinogenesis. Lab Invest. 2003;83:519-26.

[19] 19. Knudson AG, Jr. Contribution and mechanisms of genetic predisposition to cancer: hereditary cancers and anti-oncogenes. Prog Clin Biol Res. 1983;132C:351-60.

[20] 20. Koifman S, Koifman RJ. Environment and cancer in Brazil: an overview from a public health perspective. Mutat Res. 2003;544:305-11.

[21] 21. Leung WK. Helicobacter pylori and gastric neoplasia. Contrib Microbiol. 2006;13:66-80.

[22] 22. Leung WK, Chan MC, To KF, Man EP, Ng EK, Chu ES, Lau JY, Lin SR, Sung JJ. H. pylori genotypes and cytokine gene polymorphisms influence the development of gastric intestinal metaplasia in a Chinese population. Am J Gastroenterol. 2006;101:714-20.

[23] 23. Lopez-Vidal Y, Ponce-de-Leon S, Castillo-Rojas G, Barreto-Zuniga R, Torre-Delgadillo A. High diversity of vacA and cagAHelicobacter pylori genotypes in patients with and without gastric cancer. PLoS ONE. 2008;3:e3849.

[24] 24. Magalhaes-Queiroz DM, Luzza F. Epidemiology of Helicobacter pylori infection. Helicobacter. 2006;11(Suppl 1):1-5.

[25] 25. Marshall BJ, Warren JR. Unidentified curved bacilli in the stomach of patients with gastritis and peptic ulceration. Lancet. 1984;1:1311-5.

[26] 26. Nakajima T, Yamashita S, Maekita T, Niwa T, Nakazawa K, Ushijima T. The presence of a methylation fingerprint of Helicobacter pylori infection in human gastric mucosae. Int J Cancer. 2009;124:905-10.

[27] 27. Nardone G. Review article - Molecular basis of gastric carcinogenesis. Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 2003;17(Suppl 2):75-81.

[28] 28. Nomura AM, Hankin JH, Kolonel LN, Wilkens LR, Goodman MT, Stemmermann GN. Case-control study of diet and other risk factors for gastric cancer in Hawaii (United States). Cancer Causes Control. 2003;14:547-58.

[29] 29. Perez-Perez GI, Peek RM, Legath AJ, Heine PR, Graff LB. The role of CagA status in gastric and extragastric complications of Helicobacter pylori J Physiol Pharmacol. 1999;50:833-45.

[30] 30. Pisani P, Parkin DM, Munoz N, Ferlay J. Cancer and infection: estimates of the attributable fraction in 1990. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 1997;6: 387-400.

[31] 31. Qian X, Huang C, Cho CH, Hui WM, Rashid A, Chan AO. E-cadherin promoter hypermethylation induced by interleukin-1beta treatment or H. pylori infection in human gastric cancer cell lines. Cancer Lett. 2008;263:107-13.

[32] 32. Qiao W, Hu JL, Xiao B, Wu KC, Peng DR, Atherton JC, Xue H. cagA and vacA genotype of Helicobacterpylori associated with gastric diseases in Xi'an area. World J Gastroenterol. 2003;9:1762-6.

[33] 33. Rodrigues MN, Queiroz DM, Rodrigues RT, Rocha AM, Braga-Neto MB, Braga LL. Helicobacterpylori infection in adults from a poor urban community in northeastern Brazil: demographic, lifestyle and environmental factors. Braz J Infect Dis. 2005;9:405-10.

[34] 34. Rudi J, Rudy A, Maiwald M, Kuck D, Sieg A, Stremmel W. Direct determination of HelicobacterpylorivacA genotypes and cagA gene in gastric biopsies and relationship to gastrointestinal diseases. Am J Gastroenterol. 1999;94:1525-31.

[35] 35. Suerbaum S, Michetti P. Helicobacterpylori infection. N Engl J Med. 2002;347:1175-86.

[36] 36. Tahara T, Arisawa T, Shibata T, Nakamura M, Yoshioka D, Okubo M, Maruyama N, Kamano T, Kamiya Y, Fujita H, Nakagawa Y, Nagasaka M, Iwata M, Takahama K, Watanabe M, Yamashita H, Hirata I. Increased number of methylated CpG islands correlates with Helicobacterpylori infection, histological and serological severity of chronic gastritis. Eur J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2009;21:613-9.

[37] 37. Tamura G. Genetic and epigenetic alterations of tumor suppressor and tumor-related genes in gastric cancer. Histol Histopathol. 2002;17:323-9.

[38] 38. Tepass U, Truong K, Godt D, Ikura M, Peifer M. Cadherins in embryonic and neural morphogenesis. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol. 2000;1:91-100.

[39] 39. Terres AM, Pajares JM, O'Toole D, Ahern S, Kelleher D. H pylori infection is associated with downregulation of E-cadherin, a molecule involved in epithelial cell adhesion and proliferation control. J Clin Pathol. 1998;51:410-2.

[40] 40. Umit H, Tezel A, Bukavaz S, Unsal G, Otkun M, Soylu AR, Tucer D, Bilgi S. The relationship between virulence factors of Helicobacterpylori and severity of gastritis in infected patients. Dig Dis Sci. 2009;54:103-10.

[41] 41. van Doorn LJ, Figueiredo C, Rossau R, Jannes G, van Asbroek M, Sousa JC, Carneiro F, Quint WG. Typing of HelicobacterpylorivacA gene and detection of cagA gene by PCR and reverse hybridization. J Clin Microbiol. 1998;36:1271-6.

[42] 42. Wyatt JI. Histopathology of gastroduodenal inflammation: the impact of Helicobacterpylori Histopathology. 1995;26:1-15.