title: Association between Helicobacter pylori infection and overweight or obesity in a Chinese population.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Recent studies found that Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection plays a role in cardiometabolic disorders. The objective of this study was to assess the association between H. pylori infection and overweight or obesity in a Chinese population.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional analysis using data from the subjects who underwent a health examination between January 2010 and June 2012 in the department of comprehensive medicine was performed. Diagnosis of H. pylori infection was achieved using the carbon urea breath test (14C-UBT). The participants were divided into H. pylori infection-positive group and H. pylori infection-negative group by 14C-UBT.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 2,050 subjects were enrolled in the study. The H. pylori infection-positive group had significantly higher body mass index (BMI) levels than did the H. pylori infection-negative group (25.32 vs 24.95, p = 0.008). There was a positive association between H. pylori infection and BMI levels (β = 0.30 ± 0.12, p = 0.015). After additional adjustment for white blood cell count (WBCC), the statistical significance disappeared (β = 0.24 ± 0.12, p = 0.053). Furthermore, a positive association between H. pylori infection and overweight/obesity according to different BMI criteria (BMI ≤ 24, BMI ≤ 23) was found. However, the association between H. pylori infection and obesity was consistently significant only based on the Asian criteria (BMI ≤ 27.5), but not significant based on the Chinese criteria (BMI ≤ 28).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  H. pylori infection was significantly and positively associated with overweight/obesity in a Chinese population.
authors.affiliation: Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China. yzhangtjh@163.com.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Tingting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Du
authors.forename: Xi
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Xuefeng
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Ling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tu
authors.forename: Cuntai
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D044466:Asian People; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D016481:Helicobacter Infections / Q000150:complications*; D016480:Helicobacter pylori / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D050177:Overweight / Q000453:epidemiology*