HELICOBACTER-PYLORI LIPOPOLYSACCHARIDE INHIBITION OF GASTRIC-MUCOSAL LAMININ RECEPTOR - EFFECT OF SULGLYCOTIDE

1. The effect of cell-wall lipopolysaccharide from Helicobacter pylori, a bacterium implicated in the etiology of gastric disease, on the gastric mucosal laminin-receptor was investigated. 2. The receptor, isolated from gastric epithelial cell membrane by affinity chromatography on laminin-coupled Sepharose, was radioiodinated and incorporated into liposomes which exhibited specific affinity towards laminin-coated surface. 3. The binding of liposomal receptor to laminin-coated surface was inhibited by H. pylori lipopolysaccharide, which at 50 mug/ml caused a nearly complete (97%) inhibition in binding. 4. The inhibitory effect of the lipopolysaccharide was prevented by a cytoprotective agent, sulglycotide, that evoked a 92% restoration in binding at 40 mug/ml. 5. The results demonstrate that through its lipopolysaccharide H. pylori is capable of disrupting the gastric mucosal integrity and that this detrimental effect could be successfully countered by sulglycotide.