Ability of Helicobacter pylori to internalize into Candida

The following are our views regarding the“letter to the editor”(Helicobacter is preserved in yeast vacuoles!Does Koch’s postulates confirm it?)by Alipour and Gaeini,and the response“letter to the editor”(Candida accommodates nonculturable Helicobacter pylori in its vacuole-Koch’s postulates aren’t applicable)by Siavoshi and Saniee.Alipour and Gaeini rejected the methods,results,discussion,and conclusions summarized in a review article by Siavoshi and Saniee.The present article reviews and discusses evidence on the evolutionary adaptation of Helicobacter pylori(H.pylori)to thrive in Candida cell vacuoles and concludes that Candida could act as a Trojan horse,transporting potentially infectious H.pylori into the stomach of humans.

Vacuoles of Candida yeast as a specialized niche for Helicobacter pylori

Helicobacter pylori(H.pylori)are resistant to hostile gastric environments and antibiotic therapy,reflecting the possibility that they are protected by an ecological niche,such as inside the vacuoles of human epithelial and immune cells.Candida yeast may also provide such an alternative niche,as fluorescently labeled H.pylori were observed as fast-moving and viable bacterium-like bodies inside the vacuoles of gastric,oral,vaginal and foodborne Candida yeasts.In addition,H.pylori-specific genes and proteins were detected in samples extracted from these yeasts.The H.pylori present within these yeasts produce peroxiredoxin and thiol peroxidase,providing the ability to detoxify oxygen metabolites formed in immune cells.Furthermore,these bacteria produce urease and VacA,two virulence determinants of H.pylori that influence phago-lysosome fusion and bacterial survival in macrophages.Microscopic observations of H.pylori cells in new generations of yeasts along with amplification of H.pylori-specific genes from consecutive generations indicate that new yeasts can inherit the intracellular H.pylori as part of their vacuolar content.Accordingly,it is proposed that yeast vacuoles serve as a sophisticated niche that protects H.pylori against the environmental stresses and provides essential nutrients,including ergosterol,for its growth and multiplication.This intracellular establishment inside the yeast vacuole likely occurred long ago,leading to the adaptation of H.pylori to persist in phagocytic cells.The presence of these bacteria within yeasts,including foodborne yeasts,along with the vertical transmission of yeasts from mother to neonate,provide explanations for the persistence and propagation of H.pylori in the human population.This Topic Highlight reviews and discusses recent evidence regarding the evolutionary adaptation of H.pylori to thrive in host cell vacuoles.

Candida accommodates non-culturable Helicobacter pylori in its vacuole-Koch's postulates aren't applicable

The following are the responses to the "letter to the editor"("Helicobacter is preserved in yeast vacuoles! Does Koch's postulates confirm it?") authored by Nader Alipour and Nasrin Gaeini that rejected the methods, results, discussions and conclusions summarized in the review article authored by Siavoshi F and Saniee P. In the article, 7 papers, published between 1998 and 2013, were reviewed. The 7 papers had been reviewed and judged very carefully by the assigned expertise of the journals involved, including the reviewers of the World Journal of Gastroenterology(WJG), before publication. In the review article, 121 references were used to verify the methods, results and discussions of these 7 papers. The review article was edited by the trustworthy British editor of the(WJG), and the final version was rechecked and finally accepted by the reviewers of(WJG). None of the reviewers made comments like those in this "letter to the editor", especially the humorous comments, which seem unprofessional and nonscientific. Above all, the authors' comments show a lack of understanding of basic and advanced microbiology, e.g. bacterial endosymbiosis in eukaryotic cells. Accordingly, their comments all through the letter contain misconceptions. The comments are mostly based on personal conclusions, without any scientific support. It would have been beneficial if the letter had been reviewed by the reviewers of the article by Siavoshi and Saniee.