Numerous epidemiologic studies have shown that a diet high
in salt is associated with an increased risk of gastric cancer. Now Timothy L.
Cover and colleagues of Vanderbilt University show that high dietary salt
combined with infection by the ulcer-causing bacterium Helicobacter pylori
greatly increases the risk of cancer.
The study was published ahead of print in the journal Infection and
Immunity.
In the study, the researchers infected Mongolian gerbils
with H. pylori. One set of gerbils received a regular diet; the other, a high
salt diet. At the end of the experiment the researchers analyzed the animals’
stomach tissues. Every animal on the high salt diet developed cancer, compared
with just 58 percent of those on the regular diet.