Abstract

Background:
Several studies have reported infections with Helicobacter (H) pylori in different veterinary species, raising concerns about the zoonotic potential of this gastric ulcer and cancer-causing pathogen.

Aim:
The present study was conducted to test the presence of anti-H. pylori antibodies in serum collected from different animal species in the Eastern Region of Saudi Arabia. In addition, the impact of some physiologic factors, including age, gender, breed, and reproduction status of animals, on the prevalence of H. pylori in the livestock species studied was discussed.

Methods:
This study was conducted on 288 animals kept at different farms in the Eastern Region of Saudi Arabia. The animals included 120 cattle, 88 camels, 18 sheep, and 62 goats. The prevalence of anti-H. pylori antibodies in animal serum samples were investigated using a commercial indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit along with a protein A/G conjugate, enabling antibody detection in multiple species. Samples with ODsample /ODcontrol ≥ 1.1 were considered positive. Samples with an ODsample/ ODcontrol ratio ≥ 0.8 to < 1.1 were considered borderline positive. Samples with ODsample/ODcontrol < 0.8 were considered negative.

Results:
Seroprevalence ratios were calculated as percentages of positive samples related to the total number of samples tested for each species. The results revealed the presence of H. pylori antibodies in serum samples collected from cattle, camel, and goat, with the highest prevalence observed in cattle. For all species, 16 samples were positive for H. pylori with an overall prevalence of 5.6%, 24 samples (8.3%) were considered borderline, and 248 samples (86.1%) were negative. The highest seroprevalence was found in the cattle population (10% seropositive and 15% borderline positive), followed by goats (3.2% seropositive and 3.2% borderline positive) and camels (2.2% seropositive and 4.5% borderline positive). All tested sheep samples were negative for H. pylori antibodies.

Conclusion:
To the best of our knowledge, this study represents the first report on the prevalence of H. pylori antibodies in serum from different animal species in Saudi Arabia. The results of the current study support the potential role of ruminants as a natural reservoir of H. pylori, highlighting the need for further research to investigate the zoonotic potential of this bacterium and the role of animals in human infections with this pathogen in Saudi Arabia.

Key words: Helicobacter pylori; Cattle; Camel; Seroprevalence; Sheep and goat.