Abstract:

Objective To investigate the diagnostic roles of pepsinogen Ⅰ（PGⅠ）,pepsinogen Ⅱ（PGⅡ） and pepsinogen Ⅰ/ pepsinogenⅡ ratio（PGR） for Helicobacter pylori（HP） infection. Methods A total of 88 inpatients who were examined by serum HP antibody and pepsinogen determinations and urea breath test were enrolled. The cases with positive results of both urea breath test and HP antibody determination were classified as HP infection group（56 cases）,and those with negative results were classified as HP non-infection group（32 cases）. Serum PGⅠand PGⅡ levels were determined,and PGR was calculated. Receiver operating characteristic（ROC） curve was used to evaluate their roles in the diagnosis of HP infection. Results The levels of PGⅠand PGⅡ were higher in HP infection group than those in HP non-infection group（P=0.021 and 0.000）,and PGR was lower（P=0.000）. The levels of PGⅠand PGⅡ were higher in males than those in females（P=0.002 and 0.008）,and there was no statistical significance in PGR between males and females（P=0.601）. ROC curve analysis showed that the areas under curves （AUC） of PGⅠ,PGⅡ and PGR for the diagnosis of HP infection were 0.648,0.785 and 0.789,respectively. The optimal cut-off value of PG Ⅱ was 15.57 μg/L,and that of PGR was 9.27. The sensitivities were 76.79% and 75.00%,and the specificities were 78.13% and 68.75%,respectively. The AUC of the combined determination of PGⅡ and PGR was 0.829,and the sensitivity and specificity were 92.86% and 65.63%,respectively. Conclusions PGⅡ and PGR play roles in the diagnosis of HP infection. If PGⅡ and PGR were combinedly determined,the diagnostic effect would be improved.

Key words: Pepsinogen, Helicobacter pylori, Infection