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Detection of Helicobacter in gastric washing of cats

Correspondence: ¹Corresponding Author: Paola Pregel, Dipartimento di Patologia Animale, Università degli Studi di Torino, via L. Da Vinci 44, 10095 Grugliasco (Torino), Italy. paola.pregel{at}unito.it

The aim of the current study was to evaluate the efficacy of gastric washing for detecting the presence of Helicobacter spp. in feline gastric mucus. Gastric fluids were collected from 11 cats undergoing routine surgical procedures. The fluids were centrifuged and the pellets were subjected to cytological examination by May–Grünwald/Giemsa (MGG) staining and testing by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for the presence of Helicobacter after DNA extraction. Helicobacter spp. were detected in 8 of 11 samples by MGG staining and in 10 of 11 samples by PCR. Gastric washing proved to be a useful sampling technique and a valuable alternative to the gold-standard method of gastric biopsy, which has the risk of missing colonized spots in the case of patchy Helicobacter colonization. Gastric washing, a noninvasive way of sampling, could be applied to cats undergoing general anesthesia for different causes. Detection of Helicobacter in cats could allow epidemiological investigations, and sequencing of samples could assist in assessing the distribution of various Helicobacter species.

Key Words: Cats • Helicobacter • stomach • washing