Helicobacter pylori detection in gastric biopsy: immunohistochemistry and toluidine blue comparison

Background: Helicobacter pylori is a bacterium often found in the stomach and can cause several diseases, including gastritis, gastric ulcers, MALT-lymphoma, and gastric carcinoma. An invasive and direct gastric biopsy is a more appropriate way to see the presence of these bacteria. Microscopy of Helicobacter pylori on gastric biopsy specimens can be seen using several tissue stains. This study aimed to analyze the concordance of immunohistochemistry and toluidine blue tissue stain results on gastric biopsies in detecting Helicobacter pylori at Dr. Soetomo Hospital. Methods: This study was a retrospective study with a cross-sectional design to detect Helicobacter pylori in paraffin-block of gastric biopsy specimens at Dr. Soetomo Hospital, Surabaya. Each sample would be stained by immunohistochemistry and toluidine blue. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 25 for Windows. Results: Helicobacter pylori have been found in all 45 samples by immunocytochemical staining and in 66.67% of them by toluidine blue staining. The Kappa test indicated a significant difference between immunohistochemical staining and toluidine blue (p=0.000; p<0.05). Conclusion: There are significant differences between the two methods for detecting Helicobacter pylori in gastric biopsy. Their concordance is at 66,67%. Some factors should be considered for the future routine process.