Human papillomavirus in pterygium.

PubMedID: 8082148Between August 1991 and 1992 consecutive pterygium cases and eight normal conjunctival tissues were examined for the presence of polyclonal Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) antigen by the avidin-biotin-complex technique and 16 of the pterygium cases and 25 pc of the control conjunctivas revealed HPV positivity. In six of the HPV positive pterygium tissues, there were also an epithelial proliferation. In conclusion, HPV infection was not endemic, but sporadic in Cukurova region, and it may be contributed to development of pterygium. In addition, because it is seen together with six cases of epithelial hyperplasia, it seems to play an important role in the development of neoplasia and such patients need to be followed up for possible malignant transformation

Relationship of helicobacter pylori infection to several malignant and non-malignant gastrointestinal diseases

PubMedID: 9387903The importance of the Helicobacter Pylori infection was investigated as a risk factor for several gastrointestinal diseases. In this study 203 patients with gastric cancer, 61 with peptic ulcus, 60 with gastritis and 100 asymptomatic control subjects were investigated. Serum samples were examined for IgC antibodies to H. pylori by enzyme linked immunoassay - tissue samples were stained for H. pylori by Wartin-Stary technique and by Giemsa for routine histopathology. H. pylori seropositivity was 58.1% in gastric cancer, 54% in peptic ulcus, 63.3% in gastritis and 27% in asymptomatic control group. There was a 10.1% discordance between the serum and tumor determinants in the seropositive group and 11.3% of discordance in the seronegative group. The frequency of H. pylori seropositivity was lowest in cardia tumors (22.7%) and highest in antral tumors (65.5%, p = 0.00002). H. pylori seropositivity was 29% in diffuse type of histology, 35% in mixed type and 79% in the intestinal type (p = 0.00000). In the gastric cancer patients the frequent use of salty food (p = 0.00001, OR = 6.4), excessive salt, pickled food ( p = 0.0000, OR = 24.92) and proteins (p = 0.003, OR = 0.45) were more significant than asymptomatic volunteers. In gastric cancer patients the frequent use of salty and pickled food were relevantly associated with H. pylori infection (p = 0.001). It was concluded that H. pylori infection could play a role in the pathogenesis of non-malignant gastrointestinal diseases which may be the precursor of carcinoma. However, other contributing factors to carcinogenesis must be investigated