Figure 3.

Association between positivity of individual antigens (●CagA, ■VacA, ▲GroEL, ▼UreA, ♦HcpC, and ○gGT) and histologic findings such as (a) chronicity and (b) activity of inflammation as well as (c) most severe lesions. The chronicity and activity are categorized as mild, moderate, and severe. Most severe lesions are categorized as either absent, atrophy, intestinal metaplasia, ulcer, or gastric cancer (GC) according to histology. A significant correlation could be found between CagA or VacA and the chronicity of inflammation (p = 0.015; p < 0.01, resp.), as well as CagA and the activity of inflammation (p < 0.01).