International Conference on
Advanced Microbiology and Research

Biography:

Daphne Santhosh completed her PhD in the field of infectious neuroimmunology with emphasis on pneumococcal meningitis and neuronal stem cell proliferation after inflammatory damage. She has her Masters in Medical Microbiology from Manipal University, India and a Masters in Molecular Medicine from Trinity College,Ireland. She has worked on her dissertation as a research scholar at the Department of Biochemsitry, Royal College of Suregons in Ireland (RCSI)-activation and migration of human umbilical vein endothelial cells following CD44 signaling during cancer metastasis. She has worked as a medical eduactor at Manipal University for 12 years and therafter taught Microbiolopgy and Immunology, Cell and Molecular Biology for 2 years at the American University of Antigua, Antigua and Barbuda. She is currently the Course director for Microbiology and Immunology at St. James School of Medicine, SVD. She has published more than 12 papers in peer-reviewed journals and is  a contributing member of the American Socitey for Microbiology (ASM) and a member of the International Association of Medical Science Educators (IAMSE).  

Abstract:

Helicobacter pylori (H.pylori) is an important  risk factor for gastritis and gastric carcinoma.  It is a gram-negative, flagellated, motile bacterium that adapts well to the acidic gastric environment by elucidating the enzyme urease which neutralizes the gastric pH, allowing the bacterium to adhere to the gastric mucosa causing infection and inflammation leading to peptic ulcers. However, other important factors are thought to be responsible, such as diet, and familial genetic predisposition. A study by Mard et.al. in 2014 showed adequate nutritional status, especially high consumption of fruits, vegetables, and vitamins appear to protect against the pathological consequences of H. Pylori infection. The aim of our study was to evaluate the association of dietary consumption of starch  rich diet common to the island of St. Vincent and the Grenadines to H. Pylori. This was a cross-sectional study conducted between January and March of 2017. Dietary consumption of participants was assessed using food frequency questionnaire approved by the institutional research committee (IRC) of St. James School of Medicine along with informed/ signed consent from 200 willing participants. H.pylori infection status was diagnosed using the one-step H.pylori blood test kit (All Test ^TM, All Test Biotech Co. Ltd.). Among a sample size of 200 (n=200); 14.5% were were positive for H.pylori infection while 85.5% were negative. The data among the 14.5% were statistically insignificant between the sexes (males=16%) and (females=13%) (p>0.05). Among the eight variables, family history and incidence of H.pylori was in accordance with established data with 33% showing positive with family history Vs. 13% without; with a statistically significant data (p=0.031). A higher trend was noticed for complex carbohydrate consumption in H.pylori infected individuals but the data was statistically insignificant (p=0.63); but a larger sample size would have benefited the research towards the hypothesis. Among the food groups; starch, protein and vegetables were of higher consumption than other food groups but the data was statistically insignificant (p=0.61).