Geospatial analysis of H. pylori sub-populations in Western Honduras

Keywords: gastric cancer, H. pylori, health geography, Honduras
Session Type: Virtual Poster Abstract
Day: Friday
Session Start / End Time: 2/25/2022 05:20 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/25/2022 06:40 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 21

Abstract

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is the primary risk factor associated with the development of gastric cancer. There is growing evidence that humans and H. pylori evolved together, and this coevolution modulates disease risk. In Western Honduras, a gastric cancer registry has collected data on gastric cancer cases and population based controls (n=3,000), including data on human genetics and behaviors, and infection with H. pylori. Gastric cancer rates in Western Honduras are among the highest in the world and with relatively isolated indigenous populations, making this a unique and interesting setting to study the coevolution of H. pylori and humans. 79 samples of H. pylori were taken from the study cohort and gene-mapped to yield H. pylori ancestry data. These H. pylori ancestry data and human host ancestry data were geocoded and analyzed using a spatial scan statistic (SaTScan). The results yielded that there are statistically significant clustering patterns of H. pylori ancestry in the region, especially in areas of indigenous populations (RR = 5.91; p < 0.02). These results demonstrate that there may be sub-populations of H. pylori strains that are distributed across Western Honduras which may have evolved rapidly to more harmful strains. These findings support the need for more genomic analysis of H. pylori in Western Honduras and other areas where gastric cancer is highly prevalent to generate a deeper understanding of how much evolutionary mismatch between humans and H. pylori may contribute to the development of disease.