Detection of Helicobacteraceae in intestinal biopsies of children with Crohn's disease

Background: Given that members of Helicobacteraceae family colonize the intestinal mucus layer, it has been hypothesized that they may play a role in Crohn’s disease. This study investigated the presence of Helicobacteraceae DNA in biopsies collected from children with Crohn’s disease and controls. Materials and Methods: The presence of Helicobacteraceae DNA was investigated in intestinal biopsies collected from 179 children undergoing colonoscopy (Crohn’s disease n = 77, controls n = 102) using a Helicobacteraceae‐specific PCR. Results: Members of the Helicobacteraceae were detected in 32/77 children with Crohn’s disease (41.5%) and 23/102 controls (22.5%). Statistical analysis showed the prevalence of Helicobacteraceae detected in patients to be significantly higher than that in controls (p = .0062). Analysis of non‐pylori Helicobacteraceae showed that their prevalence was also significantly higher in patients than in controls (p = .04). Helicobacter pylori was detected in 14.0% of the biopsies across all groups. Given that all children tested were negative for gastric H. pylori, this was a surprising finding. Phylogenetic analysis of H. pylori sequences detected in the biopsies showed that the H. pylori strains identified in the patients did not group with gastric H. pylori included in the analysis, but rather with other H. pylori strains detected in the intestine, gall bladder, and liver. Conclusions:  The higher prevalence of Helicobacteraceae DNA in Crohn’s disease patients would suggest that members of this family may be involved in this disease. In addition, phylogenetic analysis of H. pylori strains showed that extragastric sequences clustered together, indicating that different H. pylori strains may adapt to colonize extragastric niches.