ARTICULOS ORIGINALES

 

Formas cocoides de Helicobacter pylori: viables o degenerativas.

 

Coccoid forms of Helicobacter pylori: viable or degenerative forms.

Felipe Cava1 y Guillermo Cobas2

1. Centro de Biología Molecular "Severo Ochoa ",Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. Madrid, España. E-mail: [e-mail]

2. Centro de Estudios de Biotecnología. Universidad de Oriente. Santiago de Cuba. Cuba. E-mail: [e-mail]

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RESUMEN

De los trabajos presentados acerca de las formas cocoides de Helicobacter pylori se deduce una controversia mucho mayor que la resultante del mero estudio clínico de este microorganismo. Parece claro que existe una conversión tanto in vivo como in vitro de las formas espirales a las formas cocoides inducida por varios motivos, como cultivos prolongados, estrés físico y químico, y agentes antimicrobianos. En esta revisión repasamos los puntos de vista que han dividido a investigadores de esta área en dos grupos bien definidos: Los que consideran a estas formas cocoides como un producto no viable de degeneración celular y los que piensan que estas formas son estructuras viables,durmientes o de resistencia frente a condiciones ambientales adversas. Esta discrepancia conlleva a que interrogantes sobre la relación entre la transmisión de la enfermedad y estas formas cocoides permanezcan sin respuesta todavía.

Palabras claves: Helicobacter pylori, formas cocoides, viabilidad, cultivabilidad.

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ABSTRACT

From the work on Helicobacter pylori coccoid forms, a much bigger controversy than the simple clinical study of this microorganism is inferred. It seems clear that there is a conversion between spiral forms and coccoid forms, which occurs both in vivo and in vitro. Several factors such as prolonged culture; physical and chemical stresses and antimicrobial agents induce this conversion. In this review we examine the points of view that have divided researchers working in this field into two well-defined groups. One group considers coccoid forms as a non-viable product of cellular degeneration and the other considere that these forms are viable structures: latent or resistance forms to face adverse environmental conditions. Such disagreement causes that questions concerning the link between disease transmission and these coccoid forms still remain unanswered.

Keywords: Helicobacter pylori, coccoid forms, viability, cultivability.

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