Effect of high salt diet and Helicobacter pylori infection on gastric carcinogenesis

Helicobacter pylori(Hp) infection and a high salt diet are considered important enhancing factors in gastric carcinogenesis. A high salt diet is considered to cause temporary tissue damage, alteration of the viscosity of the protective mucous barrier, and to facilitate colonization of Hp, resulting in gastric tumor progression. The high prevalence of Hp infection and high salt diets might have greatly affected the rates of gastric carcinogenesis, especially in Japan. In Mongolian gerbils treated with a chemical carcinogen, the highest incidence of adenocarcinoma was observed in animals with both a high salt diet and Hp infection. The two factors of Hp infection and a high salt might interact to produce gastric cancers, and thus have implications for cancer prevention.