Context: Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is the major cause of chronic gastritis, peptic ulcer and gastric cancer. It causes varied histological derangements & hence the detection of H. pylori is important. Aims: The study was done to evaluate the efficacy of various stains- Hematoxylin & Eosin (H & E), modified Giemsa and Immunohistochemistry (IHC) in the detection of H. pylori and to correlate the H. pylori positivity with histological changes. Settings and Design: Methods and Material: 100 samples of gastric biopsy & resected specimen were studied with H & E, modified Giemsa and IHC stain. Detection of the organism & associated morphological changes were assessed. The stains were validated using IHC as gold standard. Statistical analysis used: Comparison between the stains were assessed using chi square test. Results: Out of 100 cases, 67 showed positivity with IHC & 58 and 63 were positive with H & E and modified Giemsa respectively. Sensitivity and specificity of H & E was 86.6% and 100% & modified Geimsa was 94% and 100% respectively. Mononuclear infiltrate were noted in 67 cases with H. pylori infection. Similarly in 61 cases with neutrophil activity, 12 cases with atrophy and 4 cases with intestinal metaplasia showed associated H. pylori infection. Conclusions: Modified Geimsa stain is less time consuming, cost effective and easily available when compared to IHC but IHC can detect mild infection, where H & E and modified Giemsa are negative.

Keywords: Gastritis; H. pylori; H & E; Immunohistochemistry; Modified Giemsa.