Not that we know of, except that we do know that the CLOtest does detect urease in the stomach of dogs, and dogs do sometimes develop gastric ulcers similar to humans.

Serologic diagnosis of H. pylori is discussed in the following papers:

1. Aucher P, Petit ML, Mannant PR, Pezennec L, Babin P, Fauchere JL. Use of immunoblot assay to define serum antibody patterns associated with Helicobacter pylori infection and with H. pylori- related ulcers. Journal.of.Clinical.Microbiology. 1998; 36: 931-936.

2. Chey WD, Murthy UK, Linscheer W, et al. The ChemTrak Hp Chek fingerstick whole blood serology test for the detection of Helicobacter pylori infection. American.Journal.of.Gastroenterology 1998; 93: 1629.

3. Fallone CA, Loo VG, Barkun AN. Utility of serology in determining Helicobacter pylori eradication after therapy. Canadian.Journal.of.Gastroenterology 1998; 12: 117224.

4. Glupczynski Y. Microbiological and serological diagnostic tests for Helicobacter pylori: an overview. [Review] [44 refs]. British.Medical.Bulletin. 1998; 54: 175286.

5. Kroser JA, Faigel DO, Furth EE, Metz DC. Comparison of rapid office-based serology with formal laboratory- based ELISA testing for diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori gastritis. Digestive.Diseases.&.Sciences. 1998; 43: 103208.

6. Laheij RJ, Witteman EM, Bloembergen P, de Koning RW, Jansen JB, Verbeek AL. Short-term follow-up by serology of patients given antibiotic treatment for Helicobacter pylori infection. Journal.of.Clinical.Microbiology. 1998; 36: 11932196.

To be absolutely certain that you do not have H. pylori, you may wish to repeat the serologic test at another laboratory. The rapid serology tests done in doctors' practices are not as accurate as the serology tests that are performed by sending the blood to the lab. To be doubly sure you may wish to have a breath test.

Yes, this may occur in 5% of persons in laboratory based tests. DNA can be used to detect H. pylori if the specimen is gastric juice or a gastric biopsy. DNA tests are not routine at this time.

Blood tests and breath tests exist which are non-radioactive. These test are less convenient and usually more expensive than the radioactive test. The C14 Urea Breath Test described in these web pages is such a low dose that it is no worse that spending an hour on an aeroplane or 24 hours of background radiation so there is no logical reason for concern about it.

Every lab may give a different normal range and abnormal range for H. pylori. This just depends on how the test is done. Usually the investigation report will quote what the normal range is for that laboratory. Typically, in a H. pylori IgG test, the patient's serum is compared with the levels in normal people and in persons known to have H. pylori.

It is possible to test positive for H. pylori after receiving gammaglobulin or blood transfusion.

For a blood test to accurately show eradication of H. pylori it is usual to test the antibody level at 3 and 6 months after the infection and to show that at each time point antibodies are lower than at the baseline (before treatment) level.