title: Impact of  Helicobacter pylori on the clinical course of recurrent aphthous stomatitis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Recurrent aphthous stomatitis is one of the most common lesions of oral mucosa. Helicobacter pylori is suggested as one of the etiological agents of recurrent aphthous stomatitis. Here, we conduct a study for evaluating the impact of H. pylori eradication on clinical course of recurrent aphthous stomatitis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty-six patients with minor aphthous lesions were enrolled. The number of RAS lesions at last 6 months and vitamin B(12) levels were recorded. All patients were detected for H. pylori with endoscopic biopsy. H. pylori was positive in 30 patients and negative in 16 patients. H. pylori-positive 30 patients received eradication therapy. Three months after therapy, patients were re-evaluated with urea breath test; 18 patients were negative (eradicated), and the remainders (12 patients) were positive (non-eradicated) for H. pylori. 6 months after eradication, vitamin B(12) levels and number of aphthous lesions at 6 months were recorded.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Vitamin B(12) levels were significantly increased in H. pylori-eradicated group (P = 0.001), whereas no significant change was found in non-eradicated group (P = 0.638). Mean number of aphthous lesions (per 6 months) of H. pylori-eradicated group was significantly decreased after eradication (P = 0.0001); in the non-eradicated group, no significant change was found (P = 0.677). In Hp-positive group, number of RAS lesions and vitamin B(12) levels were negatively correlated when evaluated both before and after eradication.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study provides evidence to support the beneficial effect of H. pylori eradication in patients with recurrent aphthous stomatitis. The underlying mechanism might be the increase in vitamin B(12) levels after eradication.
authors: Department of Internal Medicine, Cukurova University, Adana, Türkiye. arslan_didem@yahoo.com
authors: Didem Arslan
authors: DA
authors: Taş
authors: Tolga
authors: T
authors: Yakar
authors: Hakan
authors: H
authors: Sakalli
authors: Ender
authors: E
authors: Serin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D005260:Female; D016480:Helicobacter pylori / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013281:Stomatitis, Aphthous / Q000382:microbiology*; D014805:Vitamin B 12 / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D014805:Vitamin B 12