Abstract
The aim of the study was to evaluate the serological rate of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and determine any correlations with liver damage and IL28B single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP). One hundred eighty-nine patients with chronic HCV infection were included in the study, and H. pylori status was defined based on anti-H. pylori-IgG or anti-CagA-IgG antibodies using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Liver damage was assessed using histology or transient elastography. IL28B C/T polymorphism (rs12979860) was evaluated in circulating blood cells using a PCR-based restriction fragment length polymorphism assay. Overall H. pylori serology was positive in 38.1% of our HCV-infected subjects. Among those, the anti-CagA-IgG positivity rate was 43.1% and was within the range of previously described populations of the same region. Highest prevalence of H. pylori was found in patients between 31 and 40 years compared to other age subgroups. The seropositivity rate was higher in the non-cirrhotic group than the cirrhotic one (45.4% vs. 20.0%, p < 0.05). No difference was found in IL28B genotype between H. pylori-positive and -negative cohorts. However, we observed a trend for the lower anti-CagA-IgG expression level in relation to the IL28B T-allele. Our results do not support an association between HCV and H. pylori infection. Whether IL28B SNP has a functional role in modulation of serological response to H. pylori CagA needs further investigation.
Highlights
Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) is a frequent infection, with up to 177 million people with present or past infections and an estimated global HCV prevalence around 2.5% [1]
H. pylori pylori positivity positivityas asthe the general population in the same region; the presence of liver cirrhosis was associated with general population in the same region; the presence of liver cirrhosis was associated witha alower lowerH.H.pylori pyloripositivity positivityrate
We demonstrate that the serological rate of H. pylori in patients with chronic HCV was within the range of seropositivity previously described for the same region
Summary
Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) is a frequent infection, with up to 177 million people with present or past infections and an estimated global HCV prevalence around 2.5% [1]. HCV infection has reached up to a 3.5% prevalence in the Middle East, in North Africa, and in Eastern and Central Asia [2]. The prevalence in Germany is reported between 0.3 and 0.6%, which makes Germany a country with low prevalence within Europe [3,4]. HCV infection is among the most important causes of chronic hepatitis, liver failure, and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) [5,6]. HCV has been considered a potential risk factor for intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma and cancers of the pancreas, rectum, lung, and kidney [7,8].
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