Performance of PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis of the Helicobacter pylori ureB gene in differentiating gene variants

Recently, PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) of the urease genes of Helicobacter pylori was evaluated in a meta-analysis; acceptable discriminatory indices of the ureAB and C genes were found. In the present investigation, we found a discriminatory index of 0.95 for 191 unrelated clinical H. pylori isolates with PCR-RFLP typing of the ureB gene (933 bp), combining the results obtained with restriction enzymes HaeIII and Sau3A, and a mixture of the enzymes. We therefore find that PCR-RFLP typing of the ureB gene of H. pylori with restriction enzymes HaeIII and Sau3A is comparable to typing of other H. pylori urease genes.