J Appl Biomed 22:141-148, 2024 | DOI: 10.32725/jab.2024.018

Salivary glands - a new site of Helicobacter pylori occurrence

Jan Rotnágl^{1, 2, *}, Jiří Hložek^{1, 2}, Richard Holý^{1, 2}, Emil Pavlík^{3, 4}, David Kalfeřt^{4, 5}, Jaromír Astl^{1, 2}

¹ Military University Hospital Prague, Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Maxillofacial Surgery, Prague, Czech Republic

² Charles University, Third Faculty of Medicine, Prague, Czech Republic

³ General University Hospital In Prague , Institute of Immunology and Microbiology, Czech Republic

⁴ Charles University, First Faculty of Medicine, Prague, Czech Republic

⁵ University Hospital in Motol, Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, Prague, Czech Republic

Objective: The role of Helicobacter pylori (Hp) in the pathological processes of the gastric mucosa is well understood. Decreasing trend in successful eradication of HP from the stomach was observed in last years. This lack of succes is mainly caused by increasing ATB resistance. Nevertheless other possible causes of this phenomenon are being explored. Thus, many studies have focused on the search for extragastric reservoirs as potential sources of persistence or reinfection after successful Hp eradication. The pathological potential of Hp at these localities has also been studied.

Methods: Our study aimed to determine the presence of Hp inside the salivary glands ductal system through its detection from sialolites. Subsequently, we tried to prove the possible ability of Hp to penetrate the salivary gland parenchyma by detecting Hp from the tissue of salivary tumors. Concrements and salivary tumor tissue samples were collected using sialendoscopy or standard surgery, and Hp detection and genotyping were performed through PCR.

Results: Hp was detected in 68.3% of the sialopathy samples. VacA S1AM1 was the most common genotype. CagA-positive genotype represented only 34% of the total number of positive samples.

Conclusion: Our findings of Hp positivity in concrements provide compelling evidence of Hp presence in the ductal system of salivary glands. Confirmation of Hp presence in tumor tissue suggests its potential ability to infiltrate the gland's parenchyma. Further research is needed to confirm Hp's ability to cause local infection, as well as the possible causal association between Hp presence in the studied region, sialolithiasis, and salivary gland tumors.

Keywords: Extragastric reservoirs; Genotyping; Helicobacter pylori; Salivary tumors; Sialolithiasis

Grants and funding:

This research was funded by the Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic, Project MO 1012. It was supported by the Cooperatio Program, research area SURG.

Conflicts of interest:

The authors have no conflict of interest to declare.

Received: September 10, 2023; Revised: May 16, 2024; Accepted: August 5, 2024; Prepublished online: September 6, 2024; Published: September 26, 2024  Show citation