Low prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection in Chinese Han patients with inflammatory bowel disease

AIM: To investigate the prevalence of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection in Chinese Han patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and analyze possible associations between H. pylori infection and drug therapy for IBD as well as between H. pylori infection and the phenotypes of Crohn's disease (CD).

METHODS: One hundred and six unselected patients with IBD, including 54 ulcerative colitis (UC) patients and 52 CD patients, and 106 age- and gender-matched healthy individuals who received a comprehensive medical examination for a regular checkup purpose were included in the study. The rates of H. pylori infection as detected by the gold immunochromatographic assay (GICA) for serum anti-H. pylori IgG antibody were compared between IBD patients and controls.

RESULTS: A statistically significant difference was noted in H. pylori infection rate between IBD patients (31.1%) and controls (61.3%), and between UC patients (37.0%) and CD patients (25.0%). IBD patients with a history of taking metronidazole (22.3%) or quinolones (19.1%) were found to have a meaningfully lower infection rate, but those who did not take antibiotics still had a significantly lower H. pylori infection rate than controls (P < 0.01). No significant correlation was noted between the phenotypic characteristics and H. pylori infection rate in CD patients.

CONCLUSION: Chinese Han patients with IBD, particularly CD, have a significantly lower

H. pylori infection rate than healthy controls, suggesting that H. pylori infection may predict a low risk of IBD in adults.