Ribaldone DG, Fagoonee S, Colombini J, Saracco G, Astegiano M, Pellicano R. Helicobacter pylori infection and asthma: Is there a direct or an inverse association? A meta-analysis.
World J Meta-Anal 2016;
4:63-68. [DOI:
10.13105/wjma.v4.i3.63]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/02/2016] [Revised: 05/18/2016] [Accepted: 06/03/2016] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
AIM: To analyze the consistency of a potential involvement of the bacterium infection in the asthma disease.
METHODS: A systematic literature search of the terms “Helicobacter pylori” (H. pylori) associated to “asthma” using PubMed, Scopus and the Cochrane Library Central was performed. Reference lists from published articles were also employed. Titles of these publications and their abstracts were scanned in order to eliminate duplicates and irrelevant articles. The criteria of inclusion of the studies were: Original studies; the H. pylori diagnostic method has been declared; all ranges of age have been included in our study; a definitive diagnosis of asthma has been reported.
RESULTS: We selected 14 articles in which the association between the two conditions was addressed. In 7 studies the prevalence of H. pylori infection in the asthma population and in the control population was made explicit. There was heterogeneity between the studies (Cohran’s Q = 0.02). The H. pylori infection in the asthma population resulted 33.6% (518 of 1542), while in the control population resulted 37.6% (2746 of 7310) (relative risk of H. pylori infection in the asthma population = 0.87, 95%CI: 0.72-1.05, P = 0.015, random effects model). Instead, considering the more virulent strains, the majority of studies showed an inverse relationship between the prevalence of H. pylori infection and asthma.
CONCLUSION: In our meta-analysis the prevalence of H. pylori infection in the asthma population resulted not statistically significant lower than in control population (P = 0.15). Instead, considering the more virulent strains, the majority of studies showed an inverse relationship between the prevalence of H. pylori infection and asthma.
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