Helicobacter pylori defense against oxidative attack

Abstract

Helicobacter pylori is a microaerophilic, gram-negative pathogen of the human stomach. Despite the chronic active gastritis that develops following colonization, H. pylori is able to persist unharmed in the stomach for decades. Much of the damage caused by gastric inflammation results from the accumulation of reactive oxygen/nitrogen species within the stomach environment, which can induce oxidative damage in a wide range of biological molecules. Without appropriate defenses, this oxidative damage would be able to rapidly kill nearby H. pylori, but the organism employs a range of measures, including antioxidant enzymes, biological repair systems, and inhibitors of oxidant generation, to coun..