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. 2021 Nov 24:2021:6696473.
doi: 10.1155/2021/6696473. eCollection 2021.

Is the Occurrence or Reversal of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Associated with Long-Term Helicobacter pylori Infection among Chinese Adults? A Cohort Study

Xia-Xia Zhao  1 , Rui-Ling Wang  2 , Ming-Hao Liu  2 , Xiao-Jun Huang  1
Affiliations

Is the Occurrence or Reversal of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Associated with Long-Term Helicobacter pylori Infection among Chinese Adults? A Cohort Study

Xia-Xia Zhao et al. Gastroenterol Res Pract. .

Abstract

Background: Previous studies have suggested a link between Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), yet long-term follow-up studies to elucidate this association are lacking. We aimed to identify the relationship between NAFLD and H. pylori in these people.

Methods: A total of 2,934 adults between June 2013 and October 2017 were collected; among them, 675 people met the requirements. People were assessed for H. pylori infection diagnosis as detected by the carbon-13 urea breath test; they were also assessed for NAFLD diagnosis by ultrasound.

Results: H. pylori infection was present in 206 patients (30.5%), and 469 (69.5%) participants were classified as controls. Participants with H. pylori infection had a higher rate of incident NAFLD than those who were uninfected (37/206; 18% versus 73/469; 15.6%) (p < 0.001). Compared with the control group, the recovery rate of NAFLD in the H. pylori+ve group was low (6/206, 2.9% versus 33/469, 7.0%) (p < 0.001). Besides, the incidence of uric acid, postprandial blood glucose, TG, LDL-C, HDL-C, and fasting plasma glucose was significantly different between the two groups (p < 0.001), but no difference was found in alanine aminotransferase (ALT), liver-total protein, urea nitrogen, and cholesterol (p > 0.05).

Conclusion: H. pylori infection was a risk factor for NAFLD and affected the occurrence or reversal of NAFLD, indicating that H. pylori infection eradication might play a role in reducing the risk of NAFLD.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest related to the manuscript.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Diagram of patients included in the study. DOB: delta over baseline; NAFLD: nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The trend of H. pylori infection rate in five years.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Correlation between H. pylori and NAFLD every year; ∗ means p is less than 0.05.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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