Correlation Between the Prevalence of Gallstone and Helicobacter pylori infection

Abstract

Purpose: Several studies have been reported that the presence of Helicobacter DNA in human bile sample, although its pathological role is not clear. Moreover, little is known about the association between Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection and gallstone. The aim of this study was to determine whether H. pylori infection is associated with an increased risk of gallstone in asymptomatic population. Methods: We examined 2782 subjects (1635 men and 1147 women) who underwent both upper endoscopy with CLO test and abdominal ultrasound at the Health Examination Center at Chung-Ang University Yong-san Hospital in Korea from January 2007 to December 2009. We compared the prevalence of gallstone on ultrasound and endoscopic findings such as reflux esophagitis, gastric diseases in the H. pylori infected subjects with that of the H. pylori uninfected subjects. Results: The overall prevalence of H. pylori infection in our study was 45.6% (1271/2782). When the subjects were divided into two groups according to the H. pylori infection status, there was no significant differences of the baseline characteristics between the two groups. The prevalence of gallstone in the H. pylori infected subjects was higher than that of the H. pylori uninfected subjects (5.4% vs 3.2%, P = 0.032). The prevalence of peptic ulcer in the H. pylori infected subjects was higher than that of the <i.H. pylori,/i> uninfected subjects (8.2% vs 3.4%, P<0.001). The prevalence of reflux esophagitis in the H. pylori infected subjects was lower than that of the H. pylori uninfected subjects (6.2% vs 14.0%, P = 0.012). Conclusion: These findings suggest that H. pylori infection is associated with an increased risk of gallstone in asymptomatic population.