{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,31]],"date-time":"2026-08-31T18:51:03Z","timestamp":1788202263738,"version":"build-2803163510"},"update-to":[{"DOI":"10.12688\/f1000research.170290.1","type":"new_version","label":"New version","source":"publisher","updated":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,10]],"date-time":"2026-01-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1768003200000}}],"reference-count":27,"publisher":"F1000 Research Ltd","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,10]],"date-time":"2026-01-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1768003200000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Deanship of Research at Sultan Qaboos University","award":["UF\/MED\/BIOM\/24\/01"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["UF\/MED\/BIOM\/24\/01"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["f1000research.com"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["F1000Res"],"abstract":"<ns3:p>\n                    Background Hematoxylin and Eosin (H&amp;E), Alcian Blue\/Periodic Acid-Schiff (AB\/PAS), and Giemsa stains are routinely used in the histopathological evaluation of gastric biopsies. However, comparative data on their diagnostic performance and cost-effectiveness in detecting\n                    <ns3:italic>Helicobacter pylori<\/ns3:italic>\n                    are limited. This study aimed to assess the feasibility of using H&amp;E and AB\/PAS as alternatives to Giemsa. Methods A retrospective study was conducted on 816 gastric biopsy cases collected between 2019 and 2021. Three slides (H&amp;E, Giemsa, and AB\/PAS) were previously prepared from each paraffin-embedded tissue sample and blindly evaluated by three independent examiners. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), and overall diagnostic accuracy were calculated using 2\u00d72 contingency tables. Results &gt;H&amp;E yielded a sensitivity of 51.6%, specificity of 74.4%, and diagnostic accuracy of 66.4% when compared to Giemsa as the reference standard. In comparison, AB\/PAS exhibited a sensitivity of 45.9%, specificity of 73.2%, and an accuracy of 63.7%. When evaluating operational factors, H&amp;E emerged as the most cost-effective and fastest method, while AB\/PAS was associated with higher costs and longer processing times. Overall, Giemsa consistently demonstrated superior diagnostic performance across the assessed metrics, positioning it as the more reliable choice for\n                    <ns3:italic>H. pylori<\/ns3:italic>\n                    detection within this comparative framework. Conclusions H&amp;E shows potential for initial screening but its limited sensitivity prevents definitive diagnosis. AB\/PAS proved less effective and economical. Giemsa maintained superior diagnostic performance. This study provides a comparative methodological assessment, suggesting H&amp;E and Giemsa combinations could enhance detection efficiency and accuracy. Further prospective validation is needed before clinical implementation.\n                  <\/ns3:p>","DOI":"10.12688\/f1000research.170290.2","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,27]],"date-time":"2026-05-27T09:09:05Z","timestamp":1779872945000},"page":"1148","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.12688\/f1000research.crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Assessing the diagnostic accuracy of routine hematoxylin and eosin, Alcian Blue\/Periodic Acid-Schiff, and Giemsa stains in the detection of Helicobacter pylori in gastric biopsies"],"prefix":"10.12688","volume":"14","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9421-0951","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nasar","family":"Alwahaibi","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biomedical Science Muscat 123 Sultan Qaboos University College of Medicine and Health Science"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Al-Mutaz","family":"Al Mamari","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biomedical Science Muscat 123 Sultan Qaboos University College of Medicine and Health Science"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Arwa","family":"Al Aamri","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biomedical Science Muscat 123 Sultan Qaboos University College of Medicine and Health Science"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yaqeen","family":"Al Sulimani","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biomedical Science Muscat 123 Sultan Qaboos University College of Medicine and Health Science"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Alwaleed","family":"Al Balushi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biomedical Science Muscat 123 Sultan Qaboos University College of Medicine and Health Science"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"2560","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,10]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"319-326","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1751-2980.2011.00529.x","article-title":"Global guideline: Helicobacter pylori in developing countries.","volume":"12","year":"2011","journal-title":"J. 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Popa\u201d University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Iasi, 25 Nov 2025, version 1, 1 approved, 1 approved with reservations","URL":"https:\/\/f1000research.com\/articles\/14-1148\/v1#referee-response-429654","order":0,"name":"referee-response-429654","label":"Referee Report","group":{"name":"article-reports","label":"Article Reports"}},{"value":"10.5256\/f1000research.194814.r449128, Hengrui Liu, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Traditional Chinese Medicine Informatization, Guangzhou, 12 Jan 2026, version 2, indexed","URL":"https:\/\/f1000research.com\/articles\/14-1148\/v2#referee-response-449128","order":1,"name":"referee-response-449128","label":"Referee Report","group":{"name":"article-reports","label":"Article Reports"}},{"value":"Financial support to conduct the study was obtained from the Deanship of Research at Sultan Qaboos University in Oman, with the UF\/MED\/BIOM\/24\/01. The funder did not have any role in the study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation of data, or writing the manuscript. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.","order":2,"name":"grant-information","label":"Grant Information"},{"value":"This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.","order":0,"name":"copyright-info","label":"Copyright"}]}}