Eradication of Helicobacter pylori infection improves blood pressure values in patients affected by hypertension.

Abstract

Arterial hypertension is a risk factor for atherosclerosis of whose pathogenesis is unknown. Growing evidence underscores the causative role of endothelial dysfunction. A possible association between Helicobacter pylori infection and cardiovascular and autoimmune disorders has been found. The release of cytotoxic substances either of bacterial origin or produced by the host may represent mediators of these systemic sequelae. The aim of our study was to determine the prevalence of H. pylori infection in hypertensive patients and the effects of H. pylori eradication on blood pressure and on digestive symptoms. Seventy-two hypertensive patients (34 male and 38 female; mean age 53 +/- 12 years) and 70 normotensive controls (35 male and 35 female; mean age 52 +/- 10 years) were enrolled. All patients were subjected to a first ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) at enrollment, a 13C urea breath test and a test for IgG-CagA antibodies, and completed the validated dyspepsia questionnaire. H. pylori-positive patients were treated with triple therapy (amoxicillin, clarithromycin and ranitidine bismute citrate) for 7 days. Control of eradication was assessed by 13C urea breath test, and all patients underwent a second ABPM 6 months after enrollment. H. pylori infection was 55% in hypertensive patients, with 90% CagA positivity, and 50% in controls, with 60% CagA positivity. At the first ABPM, blood pressure values were similar in H. pylori-positive and -negative individuals; positive patients showed a significant increase in pyrosis and epigastric pain compared to negative patients. H. pylori was eradicated in 80% of patients and in 85% of controls. At the second ABPM, we found a statistically significant decrease in 24-hour mean blood pressure values when compared to the first ABPM only in the eradicated hypertensive group. Our study demonstrated a significant decrease in blood pressure values, in particular in diastolic blood pressure values, after H. pylori eradication in hypertensive patients. A high prevalence of CagA positivity was found. The association between cardiovascular disease and H. pylori infection seems pronounced only in CagA-positive patients. The possible links between hypertensive disease and H. pylori infection may involve the activation of the cytokine cascade with the release of vasoactive substances from the primary site of infection, or molecular mimicry between the CagA antigens of H. pylori and some peptides expressed by endothelial cells and smooth muscle cells.