Asthma is inversely associated with Helicobacter pylori status

Background: The increase in asthma rates has been linked epidemiologically to the rapid disappearance of Helicobacter pylori, a bacterial pathogen that persistently colonizes the human stomach. Recent evidence indicates that, H. pylori may have protective effects on allergic diseases. Objective: The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between asthma and H. pylori infection in a population with high prevalence of H. pylori infection. Patients and methods: One hundred and seventeen asthma cases were eligible for the study in addition to 86 non asthma cases as control. Pre and post bronchodilator spirometry, assay of Total serum immunoglobulin E (IgE) by enzyme immunoassay technique (ELISA) and C-14 Urea Breath Test (UBT) were done. Out of 41 asthmatic cases with positive H. pylori were 22 patients had mild asthma, 14 had moderate asthma, and 5 only had severe asthma with statistically significant difference between them. Results: The mean serum level of Total IgE was significantly higher (190.04 +/- 111.9) in patients group than control group (94.13 +/- 46.49) with p-value 0.000, while the mean UBT was significantly lower (325.85 +/- 261.35) in patients group than control group (1068.67 +/- 680.7) with p-value 0.000. AS regard pulmonary function tests (FEV1 and FVC), there was statistically significant difference between positive H. pylori asthmatic and negative H. pylori asthmatic. Conclusion: We demonstrate an inverse association between H. pylori and asthma in a population with a high prevalence of H. pylori. (C) 2012 The Egyptian Society of Chest Diseases and Tuberculosis. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. Open access under CC BY-NC-ND license.