Helicobacter pylori and chronic bronchitis.
BACKGROUND
Chronic infections such as those caused by Helicobacter pylori, Chlamydia pneumoniae, and cytomegalovirus have been epidemiologically related to coronary heart disease (CHD). Other studies place H. pylori in relation to other extradigestive diseases. We carried out an epidemiologic pilot study to evaluate the prevalence of H. pylori in patients with chronic bronchitis, a respiratory disease characterized by persistent chronic inflammation, in comparison with a matched control group.


METHODS
An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay IgG test for H. pylori diagnosis was performed in 60 consecutive patients with chronic bronchitis (15 women and 45 men; age range, 50-89 years; mean age, 70.38 years) and in 69 control subjects, well matched for age and social status (19 women and 50 men: age range, 52-90 years; mean age, 71.3 years).


RESULTS
Foty-nine of 60 patients with chronic bronchitis (81.6%) and 40 of 69 subjects in the control group (57.9%) were H. pylori-positive (P = 0.0079). The odds ratio, calculated by simple analysis (3.2) and confirmed by logistic regression analysis (3.399), indicated that H. pylori infection greatly increases the risk of chronic bronchitis.


CONCLUSIONS
To date, CHD is the only convincing association between H. pylori infection and an extradigestive disease. The main conclusion of this pilot study is that H. pylori infection seems to increase the risk of developing of chronic bronchitis. An important step in this field will be to evaluate the possible change in the clinical conditions after successful eradication therapy in H. pylori-positive patients with chronic bronchitis.
Caselli
M
M
Postgraduate School of Gastroenterology and Research Centre on Asthma and COPD, University of Ferrara, Italy.
Zaffoni
E
E
Ruina
M
M
Sartori
S
S
Trevisani
L
L
Ciaccia
A
A
Alvisi
V
V
Fabbri
L
L
Papi
A
A
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood; D001991:Bronchitis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D002908:Chronic Disease; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D016481:Helicobacter Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016480:Helicobacter pylori / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010865:Pilot Projects; D015995:Prevalence; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors
D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D007074:Immunoglobulin G