Helicobacter pylori infection is very common in Pakistan as compared to other developing countries. The aim of this study was to detect the virulence genes of H. pylori cagA, vacA, ureA and ureC genes in gastric biopsy isolated from dyspepsia patients belonging to Peshawar district. A total 80 samples of gastric biopsy were collected from dyspepsia patients with different age groups during endoscopy from June to October 2021 in Peshawar district. Genomic DNA was extracted after isolation of Helicobacter pylori from the biopsy culture. All the virulence genes of H. pylori were amplified by process of polymerase chain reaction as well as compared with a reference database. The prevalence rate of Helicobacter pylori among the dyspepsia patients was reported 75% (60/80). The detection of virulence genes: cagA, vacA, ureA and ureC were 52 (65.0%), 39 (48.7%), 35 (43.7%), and 18 (22.5%) in gastric biopsies, respectively. It was found that the CagA gene is more specific for the detection of H. pylori than vacA, ureA and ureC gene. The statistical difference (P>0.05) was not found between the investigated genes and gastric disorders, probability of the alternative (P>0.05) as per hypothesis was rejected and null hypothesis was accepted, which was detected among the dyspepsia patients.

KEY WORDS: Helicobacter pylori, Gastric biopsy, PCR, Virulence genes, CagA, VacA, UreA and ureC gene, prevalence