Consistent with increased severity of inflammation, the incidence of gastric injury was detected only among gerbils infected with wild-type strain 7.13, whereby infection with this parental strain induced dysplasia and adenocarcinoma in 23% of gerbils (Fig. 1C to I), again indicating that H. pylori-induced gastric injury occurs in a cagA-dependent manner. This evidence concerns the gene S100A8 and infection.