High-Salt Diets May Increase Risk of Stomach Ulcer

Helicobacter pylori, a spiral-shaped bacterium that can live in the acidic environment of the stomach and duodenum, the section of intestine below the stomach, accounts for up to 90% of duodenal ulcers and up to 80% of gastric ulcers. According to new research sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), high concentrations of salt in the stomach appear to make the ulcer-causing bacterium more virulent.

"Apparently the stomach pathogen H. pylori closely monitors the diets of those people whom it infects," says Hanan Gancz, researcher, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD. "Bacterial cells exposed to increased salt exhibited striking morphological changes: cells became elongated and formed long chains. We conclude that H. pylori exposed to high levels of salt in vitro exhibit a defect in cell division."

Researchers also reported that the copying (transcription) of two genes associated with bacterium virulence was increased during high-salt conditions. "The altered expression patterns of some virulence genes may partially explain the increased disease risk that is associated with a high salt diet in H. pylori-infected individuals," says Gancz.