MedWire News: Two novel blood tests could make it quicker and easier to be tested for an infection that underlies many cases of indigestion, research suggests.

Scientists say that the tests, called the 'immunoblot' test and the 'ICT' test, could be useful for diagnosing stomach infections in developing countries where it is common.

A stomach infection with the bacteria Helicobacter pylori can cause indigestion (dyspepsia) and, in serious cases, can lead to stomach ulcers, but it can be cured with antibiotics.

However, doctors have not yet chosen a single, "gold standard" test for detecting Helicobacter pylori, explain the researchers.

Some tests use endoscopy, where a flexible tube with lights is passed down the throat to look at the throat and stomach and take a piece of tissue, called a biopsy, for closer study.

But these tests are problematic because they are expensive, inconvenient for patients and they are only available at specialised centres, say Sufi Rahman, from Dhaka Medical College in Bangladesh, and colleagues.

Another option is blood tests that detect the bacteria's antibodies. These antibody tests are widely used because they are less problematic for patients and cheaper.

But they can cause problems because they only say that a patient has had the infection at some point, not that they have it now.

The latest developments to overcome this problem are tests that can look for a protein.

The protein, called current infection marker or CIM, has been made using DNA technology and is special because it is a reliable marker of a current infection with Helicobacter pylori bacteria.

The researchers studied the accuracy of two tests for the protein in 61 patients infected with Helicobacter pylori and 21 free from the infection in Bangladesh, where Helicobacter pylori and stomach ulcers are common.

The results revealed that immunoblot was the most accurate test, identifying 94% of current infections.

They comment in the World Journal of Gastroenterology that the immunoblot test "may be useful for non-invasive diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori infection."

The ICT (immunochromatographic) test was slightly less accurate, at 89%, but the researchers say it would be a more realistic option.

"As ICT with CIM has good performance and it is cheap, easy and rapid, it may be useful for non-invasive diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori infection in adult dyspeptic patients in Bangladesh."