Evaluation of Eradication Therapy for Helicobacter pylori on Platelet Counts of Patients with Immune Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP)

Background: Immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) is an acquired disorder that causes platelet degeneration by mediating immune responses and possibly inhibiting platelet release from megakaryocytes. The role of Helicobacter pylori in the development of ITP is not well-known, and there are many hypotheses about the mechanism for creating ITP due to Helicobacter pylori infection. Regarding the contradictory results of various studies, we decided to investigate the effect of Helicobacter pylori root cytotoxic treatment in ITP infected patients. Methods: This study was a clinical trial on 115 approved ITP patients. Stool antigen tests (SATs) were used to screening for H. pylori infection. Infected patients were treated with standard Helicobacter Pylori regimens for 14 days and then followed for 6 months. During this period, the number of platelets was counted. Data were analyzed using SPSS, T.TEST software. Results: In this study from 115 patients, 20 patients with positive HP without eradication therapy (as first group), 45 patients with positive HP with eradication (group 2) and 45 HP negative patients (group 3) were studied and 5 patients were excluded. The mean age of patients in the first group (35.47 +/- 16.86) years, in the second group was 12.3 +/- 42.72 years and in the third group was 37.60 +/- 11.99 years. The average number of platelets in all of three groups was ascending. In the intergroup study with the value of p=0.001, the average platelet count in the second group was significantly higher than in the other two groups. In the second group, after the second month of treatment, platelet changes began to be stable at the normal level. On the other hand, the difference between the first and third groups was not significant (p=0.774). Conclusion: Helicobacter pylori eradication has a positive effect on the increase in the number of platelets and its persistence.