Is autonomic dysfunction a necessary condition for chronic peptic ulcer formation?
BACKGROUND
The relationship between 1/f fluctuation of the heart rate variability and Helicobacter pylori infection was evaluated, in order to clarify whether autonomic nervous dysfunction is a necessary condition for chronic peptic ulcer formation.


METHODS
The subjects were 11 patients with recurrent chronic peptic ulcer and 20 age-matched normal subjects. Holter ECGs were recorded over 24 h, and the 1/f(-x) fluctuation of the heart rate was computed. The 1/f(-x) fluctuation of the heart rate is a novel index of autonomic function that has been shown to reflect a patient's pleasant mood. For 1/f(-x) fluctuation, the slope of the regression line (-x) was determined and cosine fitting of the absolute slope of the regression line over a 24-h period was performed.


RESULTS
For the normal group, the absolute slope of the regression line during daytime and night-time were 0.53 +/- 0.16 and 1.05 +/- 0.18, respectively. For the peptic ulcer group, the corresponding values during daytime and night-time were 0.94 +/- 0.15 and 1.84 +/- 0.18, respectively. The mean value of the cosine curve was 0.76 +/- 0.23 in the normal group and 1.12 +/- 0.25 in the peptic ulcer group. Thus, these values were significantly higher for the latter group than for the former group (P<0.05). No statistically significant difference in H. pylori infection between the two groups was observed.


CONCLUSIONS
Autonomic nervous dysfunction as well as H. pylori infection appears to be a necessary condition for chronic peptic ulcer formation.
Nomura
M
M
Second Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Tokushima, Japan. nomura@clin.med.tokushima-u.ac.jp
Yukinaka
M
M
Miyajima
H
H
Nada
T
T
Kondo
Y
Y
Okahisa
T
T
Shibata
H
H
Okamura
S
S
Honda
H
H
Shimizu
I
I
Saito
K
K
Oki
T
T
Nakaya
Y
Y
Ito
S
S
D000368:Aged; D001342:Autonomic Nervous System Diseases / Q000150:complications*; D002908:Chronic Disease; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate; D016481:Helicobacter Infections / Q000150:complications*; D016480:Helicobacter pylori; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010437:Peptic Ulcer / Q000209:etiology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000503:physiopathology*