Iron deficiency and Helicobacter pylori infection

Abstract

Background: Iron deficiency is the most common cause of anemia worldwide. Recently there has been evidence suggest that there is an association between Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection and iron deficiency. Purpose: Based on high prevalence of iron deficiency and H. pylori infection in our region we aimed in this study to examine the relationship between H. pylori infection and iron deficiency. Subjects: From March 2012 to January 2013, this study was conducted in King Hussein Medical Center in Amman, Jordan. The study group consisted of 150 patients with H. pylori infection and 50 healthy subjects as a control group. Blood samples were collected for serum iron, total iron binding capacity (TIBC), serum ferritin and complete blood count. Results: Serum iron and total iron-binding capacity in H. pylori positive group were lower than in the healthy group (109.82± 34.6 vs. 117.78±32.64 µg/dl, p= 0.37) and (326.88±83.94 vs. 332.43±79.34 µg/dl, p=0.12 .) respectively. The mean of serum ferritin was significantly lower in H. pylori positive group (213.87±137.23 ng/ml) than the control group (268.34±165.45 ng/ml, p=0.027). Hemoglobin levels were lower in patients group (14.3 g/dl vs. 14.9 g/dl p=0.44). Conclusion: Our study reports that H. pylori infection might have a role in iron deficiency and subsequently iron deficiency anemia. Key words: anemia, Helicobacter pylori, serum iron, iron deficiency, total iron binding capacity.