Association of carcinoma of the gallbladder with typhoid carriage in a typhoid endemic area using nested PCR

Abstract

Background: Although well studied the association between chronic typhoid carrier state and carcinoma of the gallbladder (CaGB) remains unproven. Methodology: The study was performed at a tertiary care medical center in North India and involved 52 patients with CaGB, 223 patients with benign gallbladder diseases, 508 healthy individuals and, 424 corpses. For the detection of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi, hepatobiliary specimens were subjected to DNA extraction for specific nested- PCR amplification of the S. Typhi flagellin gene. Anti-Vi S. Typhi antibodies were detected in serum samples from patients by indirect haemagglutination. Results: Thirty five of the 52 (67.3%) CaGB patients were PCR-positive for the S. Typhi flagellin gene; significantly higher than for patients with benign gallbladder diseases (95/223, 42.6%; p

Keywords

• S. Typhi
• chronic typhoid carriers
• Ca GB
• nested PCR