Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is a cork-screw-spiral-like gram-negative bacterium that has adapted to grow in the human stomach. The prevalence of H. pylori infection worldwide is approximately 66%, and in developing countries, it is as high as 80% – 90%. The testing and treatment of H. pylori is very important as it has been estimated that up to 20% of people infected with H. pylori will develop ulcers which may lead to specific cancers. MP Diagnostics ASSURE H. pylori Rapid Test and Helico Blot 2.1 Western Blot incorporate a unique marker, CIM, which is used to detect the current infection of H. pylori bacteria. CIM stands for Current Infection Marker which is actually a H. pylori-specific protein. The nucleotide sequence of the CIM antigen is homologous to a conserved secreted protein. This protein has been found to be highly immunogenic for detection of H. pylori infected patients with high Positive Predictive Value of >90%. It has been coined as Current Infection Marker because IgG antibodies for CIM have been found in patients with active H. pylori infection. These patients are confirmed to have active H. pylori infection by two or more active infection diagnostic tests such as rapid urease test, culture, histology, and Urea Breath Test. With CIM-based products, no additional tests are needed for detecting current H. pylori infection.
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The hallmark of H. pylori infection is inflammation of the gastric mucosa. While gastritis is typically subclinical, more severe consequences of infection include mucosa associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma, gastric carcinoma and peptic ulceration. Nearly all patients with gastric MALT lymphoma are infected with H. pylori, and the risk of developing this tumour is over six times higher in infected people than in uninfected people. Furthermore, up to eighty percent of patients with gastric MALT lymphoma achieve complete remission of their tumours after treatment with H. pylori-eradicating antibiotic therapy. Several aspects such as performance, costs, time, and feasibility should be considered in the selection of the diagnostic tests for H. pylori infection. However, invasive and intense methods are not suitable simply because of their invasive nature. The clinically accepted C-UBT test are expensive, H. pylori stool antigen tests are cumbersome and time consuming and most of the serologic tests cannot differentiate between current and non-current H. pylori infection. MP Diagnostics has developed CIM (Current Infection Marker) that detects a H. pylori specific protein. The benefits of CIM (high correlation with known gold standards, high positive predictive value of > 90% as well as detection of active H. pylori infections) provided by the ASSURE® H. pylori rapid test are also to be found in the Helico Blot 2.1 confirmatory western blot.
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Globe Scientific introduces a new line of high quality borosilicate glass culture tubes. The tubes feature well-rounded bottoms and smooth, fire-polished rims. They are neatly packaged in heavy duty boxes of 250 and shrink wrapped to keep them particle free. The boxes are compact and fit into most test tube dispensers.
    
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The AU5800 series of clinical chemistry systems is designed for high-volume core hospital labs to ultra-high-volume commercial reference laboratories. With true random access capabilities and throughputs ranging from 2,000 tests per hour to up to an impressive 9,800 tests per hour, Beckman Coulter’s AU5800 series offers:

• Multiple configurations, ranging from one to four analyzer units

• Choice of single or dual interface

• Precision micro-sampling

• High capacity rack trays, holding a total of 400 samples to maximize walk-away capability

• Three lanes to transport racks – including bypass lane with true STAT capability

• AU proven reliability

• Standalone operation and/or designed to be connected with Beckman Coulter laboratory automation

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