Background：Helicobacter pylori is the single most common pathogen that causes chronic bacterial infection in human. The authors designed a new type of urease detection method (Asan Helicobacter test) that can be used for rapid early detection of H. pylori as well as a transport medium. This medium has a strong acidity with a minimal concentration of urea for the purpose of the detection of H. pylori. The current study was to evaluate the bacteriological and clinical usefulness of this medium.

Method：252 antral biopsies from patients underwent upper gastrointestinal endoscopies in Inha University Hospital were inserted Asan Helicobacter Test and CLO test. 37 antral biopsies from patients underwent upper gastrointestinal endoscopies in Konyang University Hospital were inserted Asan Helicobacter Test. Biopsies were cultured on nonselective media only.

Result：The sensitivity and specificity of the Asan Helicobacter test were comparable with the CLO test (88.0% and 94.0%, respectively), and the results agreed in 99.2% of 252 cases with the CLO test. With this transport medium, all 23 specimens that showed positive reaction among 37 patients yielded satisfactory isolation of H. pylori.

Conclusion：These findings suggest that the reagent in the kit inhibit the growth of microbial contaminant due to low pH and do not suppresses growth of H. pylori due to low concentration of urea. This kit may be used as a transport medium as well as a rapid urease test for H. pylori. (Korean J Clin Microbiol 2003;6(2):156-159)