Laboratoire de Bactériologie A, Faculté de Médecine, Lille, France.
Monoclonal antibodies were produced against an acid glycine extract of Helicobacter pylori ATCC 43504T. One of these appeared to be specific for H. pylori; it recognized all H. pylori isolates by an indirect immunofluorescence assay (IIF) but it did not cross-react with the other strains tested, including different species of the genera Helicobacter, Campylobacter, and Wolinella. Different strains of members of the families Enterobacteriaceae and Pseudomonadaceae or other gram-negative bacteria tested also gave negative reactions. Indirect immunofluorescence assay of antral biopsy specimens identified 54 of 56 infected patients (96.4%), and it may be able to detect nonviable organisms after antibiotic therapy.