Abstract

GUEVARA T, Alix Andrea et al. A Systematic Review of Genetic Coevolution of Homo Sapiens and Helicobacter Pylori: Implications for Development of Gastric Cancer. Rev Col Gastroenterol [online]. 2016, vol.31, n.4, pp.376-390. ISSN 0120-9957.

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is classified as carcinogen type I for gastric cancer (GC). Although it has accompanied man for at least 116,000 years, knowledge of the evolutionary forces that modulate the role of this bacterium within the development of the spectrum of gastric diseases is still scarce. This systematic review compiles articles that report a process of  coevolution process, relate host-host ancestral components, and describe H. pylori’s mechanisms of adaptation to the human gastric environment in order to understand if coevolution has modulated the pathogenicity of these bacteria and the development of gastric diseases. A systematic search was carried out in MEDLINE (OvidSP), Scopus (ScienceDirect), Scielo and Tree of Science (ToS). The following search terms were used: "Stomach", "Cancer", "Neoplasms", "Ethinicity", "Evolution", "Genetics", "Ancestry" and "Helicobacter pylori", and searches were conducted in both English and Spanish. The data were filtered by one reviewer using a standard extraction form and then reviewed by another. The risk of bias and the methodological quality of the studies were evaluated using the Critical Appraisal Skills Program (CASP). Thirty-six of the total 1,584 studies found met the inclusion criteria. The most relevant factors in the development of the spectrum of diseases associated with H. pylori infection are amino acid substitutions, binding and positive selection mainly in the hypervariable regions, and disruption of the coevolution process between the bacteria and their human hosts as the result of horizontal transfer of gene segments that did not evolve with their host.

Keywords : Helicobacter pylori; evolution; gastric neoplasms; genetic flow.

        · abstract in Spanish     · text in English | Spanish     · English ( pdf ) | Spanish ( pdf )