According to the research, Helicobacter Pylori is the culprit of gastric disease. Gastric wall, in general condition, have a strong immunity to defeat foreign invaders. But when infected with HP, the immunity of gastric mucosa is broken down. So it fails to keep various microorganism off and people gain the chance to have gastric disease. In addition, infection of HP will increase the risk of duodenal ulcer and gastric ulcer. About 1/6 patients who are infected with HP may have peptic ulcer disease. The worst thing is that infection of HP will lead to gastric cancer.
So testing HP plays a vital role in curing gastric disease. As technology and medicine advance, there are a variety of methods to testing HP.
First, C14 breathing test. HP is the only bacterium in stomach which can produce plenty of Urease, so Urease can test whether a patient was infected or not. This test is regarded as the most convenient and accurate way to test HP.
Second, biopsy. Clip disease tissue to do pathological examination when a patient do gastroscopy. If it is positive, it means infection.
Third, blood test. It test the HP antibody in serum to test the HP. This test includes complement fixation test, agglutination test, passive hemagglutination assay, immunoblotting and combined enzyme assay. Antibody test is an important part of blood test. It utilize the colloidal gold to test detect HP antibody in serum and plasma. The test area covered with nitrocellulose film have HP antibody and QC area is marked with HP polyclonal antibody. Glass fiber paper in the bottom of sample is fixed with colloidal gold particles of H pylori antigen. This is the test process: first, add sample into the colloidal gold particles and membrane will move to test are because of capillary action mixture. When the sample of the patient have HP specific antibody, it will have an action with antigen of test line and form a mixture of antigen,antibody and antigen colloidal gold particles, then a red line shows. On the contrary, test are having no presence of color means negative.
These are the main methods to test HP. It is advised to have a regular test of HP to prevent gastric disease from you.