Relationship betweenHelicobacter pyloriinfection and celiac disease: a cross-sectional study and a brief review of the literature.
BACKGROUND
WhetherHelicobacter pyloritriggers celiac disease (CD) or protects against CD is currently the subject of research. In the literature, there are epidemiologic studies that have reported conflicting results regarding the association betweenH. pyloriand CD.


OBJECTIVE
To compare the prevalence of CD autoantibody positivity and the levels of CD autoantibodies betweenH. pylori-positive andH. pylori-negative subjects.


METHODS
This study was prospectively designed and included 240 dyspeptic patients who underwent upper gastrointestinal endoscopy with gastric and duodenal biopsies. The patients were divided into two groups according to presence ofH. pyloriinfection. The serum levels of immunoglobulin (Ig) A, tissue transglutaminase antibodies (tTGA; IgA and IgG classes), and anti-endomysial antibodies (EMA; IgA and IgG classes) were measured for all participants by a blinded biochemistry expert.


RESULTS
There were no significant differences in the serum levels of CD autoantibodies or IgA between the two groups. There were also no significant differences in the percentages of subjects with positive CD serologies or subjects with IgA deficiencies between the groups.


CONCLUSIONS
Helicobacter pyloriremains one of the bacterial species that is most likely to trigger autoimmunity. However, studies have failed to reveal a relationship betweenH. pyloriand CD; thus, additional basic work on the immunological aspects of the microbial-host interactions and longitudinal studies enrolling patients at very early stages of the disease may help us to address this issue.
Department of Gastroenterology, Artvin State Hospital, Artvin, Turkey.
Sebahat
S
Basyigit
Department of Internal Medicine, Kecioren Research and Training Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
Oktay
O
Unsal
Department of Gastroenterology, Kecioren Research and Training Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
Metin
M
Uzman
Department of Gastroenterology, Kecioren Research and Training Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
Ferdane
F
Sapmaz
Department of Biochemistry, Kecioren Research and Training Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
Ozlem Ceylan
OC
Dogan
Department of Gastroenterology, Siirt State Hospital, Siirt, Turkey.
Ayse
A
Kefeli
Department of Internal Medicine, Kecioren Research and Training Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
Zeliha
Z
Asilturk
Department of Gastroenterology, Faculty of Medicine, Gaziosmanpasa University, Tokat, Turkey.
Abdullah Ozgur
AO
Yeniova
Department of Gastroenterology, Kecioren Research and Training Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
Yasar
Y
Nazligul
Helicobacter pylori; celiac disease; immunoglobulin A