Gastrointestinal tuberculosis is not associated with proton pump inhibitors: a retrospective cohort study.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the effect of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) on the development of gastrointestinal tuberculosis.


METHODS
All patients who were more than 20 years old and who had received a prescription for PPIs among those who visited Seoul National University Hospital from January 1, 2005 to December 31, 2009 were identified. Due to the low sensitivity of the microbiologic test and the nonspecific pathologic findings, the diagnosis of gastrointestinal tuberculosis was confirmed through the presence of active ulcerations and the responses to anti-tuberculosis medications. The patients were divided into two groups according to treatment duration (group 1: ≤ 3 mo; group 2: > 3 mo) and were followed up from the time they took the first prescription of PPIs until their last visit. Logistic regression analysis was used to calculate the relative risks (RR) and 95%CI, adjusting for covariates.


RESULTS
Among the 61, 834 patients exposed to PPIs (50,534 in group 1; 11,300 in group 2), 21 patients were diagnosed with PPI-associated gastrointestinal tuberculosis during 124,274 person-years of follow-up. Of 21 patients, the 12 who revealed only scar changes in the colonoscopy were excluded from the statistical analyses. Of those who remained, 2 were excluded because they underwent gastrointestinal endoscopy within 4 wk of the first prescription for PPIs. Longer exposure to PPI was associated with a higher mean age (55.0 ± 14.5 in group 1 vs 58.2 ± 13.3 in group 2, P < 0.001) and a higher Charlson co-morbidity index (0.50 ± 0.93 in group 1 vs 0.77 ± 1.14 in group 2, P < 0.001). The true incidence of active gastrointestinal tuberculosis was 0.65 per 1000 person-years in group 1 and 0.03 per 1 000 person-years in group 2. Like the less-than-three-month PPI treatment period in group 1, the over-three-month PPI therapy period in group 2 was not associated with increased risk of acquiring gastrointestinal tuberculosis, after adjusting for age and co-morbidities, whereas the Charlson co-morbidity index was associated with increased risk of acquiring gastrointestinal tuberculosis based on the score [RR: (reference 1) in group 1 vs 1.518 in group 2; 95% CI: 1.040-2.216, P = 0.03].


CONCLUSIONS
Long-term PPI therapy does not seem to be associated with increased risk of acquiring gastrointestinal tuberculosis, but a higher Charlson co-morbidity index is associated with such.
Department of Internal Medicine, Drug Safety Monitoring Center, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul 110799, South Korea.
Kyoung Sup
KS
Hong
Seung Joo
SJ
Kang
Jong Kyoung
JK
Choi
Ju Han
JH
Kim
Heewon
H
Seo
Suehyun
S
Lee
Jae-Woo
JW
Jung
Hye-Ryun
HR
Kang
Sang-Heon
SH
Cho
Joo Sung
JS
Kim
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001706:Biopsy; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005764:Gastroesophageal Reflux / Q000188:drug therapy; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007422:Intestines / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology; D016015:Logistic Models; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000302:isolation & purification; D010437:Peptic Ulcer / Q000188:drug therapy; D054328:Proton Pump Inhibitors / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014385:Tuberculosis, Gastrointestinal / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology
D054328:Proton Pump Inhibitors
Acid suppression; Gastrointestinal tuberculosis; Proton pump inhibitor; Tuberculosis; Tuberculous colitis