Helicobacter pylori infection in patients with active pulmonary tuberculosis before the initiation of antituberculosis treatment

Abstract

SUMMARY
Objectives: A high Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) seroprevalence
has been found in many extragastrointestinal disorders.
Moreover, it has been reported that the tuberculosis
(TB) risk may be increased in patients with a history of
peptic ulcer disease. The aim of this study was to assess
the H. pylori seroprevalence in patients with newly diagnosed
pulmonary TB, before the initiation of antituberculosis
treatment.
Methods: We evaluated all patients with newly diagnosed
pulmonary TB presenting to our hospital during a 2-year
period. We evaluated 80 patients with pulmonary TB and
70, age and sexmatched, control subjects. All enrolled subjects
(tuberculosis patients and controls) underwent an
enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) IgG serologic
test for H. pylori diagnosis.
Results: A correlation between age and H. pylori IgG level
was detected for both TB patients (r=0.42, p=0.004) and
controls (r=0.44, p=0.004). The H. pylori seropositivity in
the TB group was significantly higher than that of controls
(87.5% vs 61.4%, p=0.02). The mean serum concentration
of IgG antibodies against H. pylori was also significantly
higher in TB patients than in control subjects (39.0± 25.2
U/ml vs 26.1±21.2 U/ml, p=0.001).
Conclusions: H. pylori infection may be associated with pulmonary TB. Further studies should be undertaken to confirm
our results and to clarify the potential underlying
pathogenetic mechanisms.
Key words: Helicobacter Pylori, Prevalence, Tuberculosis