Helicobacter pylori Infection and Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Since numerous studies have stated that there may be a relationship between Helicobacter pylon infection and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and because of the high prevalence of both conditions worldwide, this study investigated the risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver in patients liver disease in patients infected with H. pylon. Following a systematic review of PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science and Embase, and a search in Google Scholar using MeSH terms such as H. pylon and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, the relevant papers up to November 2020 were reviewed. All cohort, case-control, and cross-sectional studies that examined the risk of developing non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in patients infected with H. pylori entered this study. A meta-analysis was conducted in STATA 11. This systematic review examined 22 papers with 117 117 participants (33 711 patients infected with H pylori and 83 406 participants as control) and 20 studies were subjected to meta-analysis The results indicated a 22% to 27% increase in the risk of developing non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in patients infected with H. pylori (crude odds ratio: 1.27, 95% CI 1.17-1.33; and adjusted odds ratio: 1.22, 95% CI: 1.09-1.35). According to the subgroup analysis, the study region, sample size, and the method of diagnosing H. pylori were the factors contributing to the high heterogeneity. The meta-analysis revealed the increased risk of developing non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in patients infected with H. pylon TI is indicates that H. pylori is a serious risk factor in patients susceptible to NAFLD.