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. 2018 Mar 5;7(3):44.
doi: 10.3390/jcm7030044.

Helicobacter Pylori Serology in Relation to Hepatitis C Virus Infection and IL28B Single Nucleotide Polymorphism

Alexander Gutwerk  1 , Thomas Wex  2   3 , Kerstin Stein  4 , Cosima Langner  5 , Ali Canbay  6 , Peter Malfertheiner  7 , Alexander Link  8
Affiliations

Helicobacter Pylori Serology in Relation to Hepatitis C Virus Infection and IL28B Single Nucleotide Polymorphism

Alexander Gutwerk et al. J Clin Med. .

Abstract

The aim of the study was to evaluate the serological rate of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and determine any correlations with liver damage and IL28B single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP). One hundred eighty-nine patients with chronic HCV infection were included in the study, and H. pylori status was defined based on anti-H. pylori-IgG or anti-CagA-IgG antibodies using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Liver damage was assessed using histology or transient elastography. IL28B C/T polymorphism (rs12979860) was evaluated in circulating blood cells using a PCR-based restriction fragment length polymorphism assay. Overall H. pylori serology was positive in 38.1% of our HCV-infected subjects. Among those, the anti-CagA-IgG positivity rate was 43.1% and was within the range of previously described populations of the same region. Highest prevalence of H. pylori was found in patients between 31 and 40 years compared to other age subgroups. The seropositivity rate was higher in the non-cirrhotic group than the cirrhotic one (45.4% vs. 20.0%, p < 0.05). No difference was found in IL28B genotype between H. pylori-positive and -negative cohorts. However, we observed a trend for the lower anti-CagA-IgG expression level in relation to the IL28B T-allele. Our results do not support an association between HCV and H. pylori infection. Whether IL28B SNP has a functional role in modulation of serological response to H. pylori CagA needs further investigation.

Keywords: CagA; Helicobacter pylori; IL28B; antibody; cirrhosis; hepatitis C virus; prevalence; rs12979860; serological rate.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Distribution of H. pylori infection in our cohort in comparison to the general population (subjects in emergency department [12] and healthy blood donors [30]) estimated using two independent cohorts.
Figure 2
Figure 2
H. pylori and anti-CagA-seropositivity in relation to IL28B SNP. (A) Anti-H. pylori-IgG in IL28B C/C, C/T and T/T genotypes. (B) Anti-CagA-IgG in IL28B C/C, C/T, and T/T genotypes. (C) Anti-CagA-IgG in IL28B C- and T-alleles. Two groups were compared using a Mann–Whitney test and more than two groups using a Kruskal–Wallis multiple comparison test.
Figure 2
Figure 2
H. pylori and anti-CagA-seropositivity in relation to IL28B SNP. (A) Anti-H. pylori-IgG in IL28B C/C, C/T and T/T genotypes. (B) Anti-CagA-IgG in IL28B C/C, C/T, and T/T genotypes. (C) Anti-CagA-IgG in IL28B C- and T-alleles. Two groups were compared using a Mann–Whitney test and more than two groups using a Kruskal–Wallis multiple comparison test.
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