Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Mar 19;22(1):267.
doi: 10.1186/s12879-022-07278-6.

The association between helicobacter pylori infection and erosive gastroesophageal reflux disease; a cross-sectional study

Ramin Niknam  1 , Kamran Bagheri Lankarani  2 , Mohsen Moghadami  3 , Seyed Alireza Taghavi  1 , Leila Zahiri  1 , Mohammad Javad Fallahi  4
Affiliations

The association between helicobacter pylori infection and erosive gastroesophageal reflux disease; a cross-sectional study

Ramin Niknam et al. BMC Infect Dis. .

Abstract

Background: The association between H. pylori (Helicobacter pylori) infection and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is a complex and confusing subject. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between helicobacter pylori infection and erosive gastroesophageal reflux disease.

Method: In a cross-sectional study, all patients referred for endoscopy due to dyspepsia were enrolled. The diagnosis of erosive GERD was made by endoscopy. Patients with normal esophagus were selected as comparison group. Random gastric biopsies were taken from all participants to diagnose H. pylori infection.

Result: In total, 1916 patients were included in this study, of whom 45.6% had GERD. The mean age (SD) was 42.95 (16.32). Overall, 1442 (75.3%) patients were positive for H. pylori infection. The frequency of H. pylori infection in mild GERD patients was higher than the severe GERD, but this difference was not significant (P = 0.214). Except for sociodemographic status (P < 0.001), other variables including gender, age, ethnicity, body mass index (BMI), smoking, and presence of hiatus hernia in patients had no significant association with the frequency of H. pylori infection. According to Robust Poisson regression models analysis, the association of H. pylori (PR 1.026; 95% CI 0.990-1.064; P = 0.158) and sociodemographic status were not significantly different between the two groups. But smoking, increased BMI, older age, presence of hiatus hernia, and peptic ulcer diseases were significantly associated with GERD compared with the non-GERD group.

Conclusion: In our results, there was no association between H. pylori infection and erosive GERD. Further studies are recommended.

Keywords: Endoscopic findings; Esophagus; Gastroesophageal reflux disease; Helicobacter pylori.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

All author declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Endoscopic pictures of lower esophagus with (left) and without (right) erosive esophagitis
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Section of gastric biopsies that showed Helicobacter pylori in hematoxylin and eosin staining (left) and Giemsa staining (right)
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Flow diagram for the patient’s’ selection process. 1All consecutive patients referred to the endoscopy unit for esophagogastroduodenoscopy because of dyspepsia. 2Patients with the following conditions were excluded: history of H. pylori eradication, recent treatment with H2 blocker or proton pump inhibitors or NSAIDs or medications induced GERD (e.g. anticholinergics, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, inhaled bronchodilators, and birth control pills), esophageal or gastric surgery, upper gastrointestinal malignancy, and participants with poor cooperation. 3The diagnosis of erosive gastroesophageal reflux disease was made by esophagogastroduodenoscopy. GERD, gastroesophageal reflux disease
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Chen J, Brady P. Gastroesophageal reflux disease: pathophysiology, diagnosis, and treatment. Gastroenterol Nurs. 2019;42(1):20–28. - PubMed
    1. Dunlap JJ, Patterson S. Gastroesophageal reflux disease. Gastroenterol Nurs. 2019;42(2):185–188. - PubMed
    1. Kellerman R, Kintanar T. Gastroesophageal reflux disease. Prim Care. 2017;44(4):561–573. - PubMed
    1. Jonaitis L, Pellicano R, Kupcinskas L. Helicobacter pylori and nonmalignant upper gastrointestinal diseases. Helicobacter. 2018;23(Suppl 1):e12522. - PubMed
    1. Yalaki S, Pulat H, Ilhan A. Localization of Helicobacter pylori gastritis and the relation of existing histopathological features with reflux esophagitis. Scand J Gastroenterol. 2020;55(1):27–33. - PubMed

MeSH terms