Molecular Mechanisms of Helicobacter pylori Pathogenesis and Host Factors

Dear Colleagues,

Helicobacter pylori is considered the most common etiologic agent worldwide in adults and children. It infects 50% of humankind and represents the most important risk factor for gastric malignancies. The slow sequence, known as Correa’s cascade passes through a series of intermediated stages of precancerous lesions in the following order: gastritis, atrophy, intestinal metaplasia, and eventually dysplasia. Among infected individuals, approximately 10% develop severe gastric lesions such as peptic ulcer disease, 1–3% progress to gastric cancer (GC) with a low 5-year survival rate, and 0.1% develop mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma. The evolution versus different gastric diseases is correlated with H. pylori features, including genomic plasticity, capacity for adaptation to individual host conditions, modulation of the reaction to the host immune system response, and presence and production of various virulence factors; and with host factors, for example, genetic background or physiological and immunological state, especially those that enhance or reduce the inflammatory response to the infection. In addition, environmental factors such as smoking, diet, high salt, and meat consumption could be implicated.

This Special Issue has the goal to focus on new clinical, epidemiological, and experimental evidence as well as possible mechanisms of H. pylori and host factors involved in gastric and other diseases. Finally, it will review the known clinical indications for H. pylori vaccination.

Dr. Teresa Fasciana
Dr. Anna Giammanco
Guest Editors

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• Helicobacter pylori
• Virulence factors
• Host response
• Environmental factors