Korean J Gastroenterol.  2009 Jun;53(6):341-347. 10.4166/kjg.2009.53.6.341.

The Prevalence of Helicobacter pylori Infection in Korean Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease, a Multicenter Study

• Song MJ
• Park DI
• Hwang SJ
• Kim ER
• Kim YH
• Jang BI
• Lee SH
• Ji JS
• Shin SJ

• KMID: 1792750
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4166/kjg.2009.53.6.341

Abstract

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The prevalence of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection has been reported to be lower in individuals with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in some Western countries. We investigated H. pylori infection in Korean patients with IBD and any possible associations of H. pylori infection with drug therapy for IBD and the phenotype of Crohn's disease (CD).
METHODS
We studied 316 unselected patients with IBD, including 169 ulcerative colitis (UC) patients and 147 with CD, and the control group consisted of 316 age- and gender-matched healthy people who received a comprehensive medical examination for a regular checkup purpose. Infection rates of H. pylori as detected by the urea breath test were compared between the IBD patients and the controls.
RESULTS
A statistically significant difference in H. pylori infection rate was noticed between the IBD patients (25.3%) and the controls (52.5%; p<0.001), and between UC (32.0%) and CD patients (17.7%; p=0.04). Among the IBD patients, the age group of <60 and individuals with a history of taking metronidazole (13.0%; p=0.038) or ciprofloxacin (6.7%; p=0.001) were found to have a meaningfully lower infection rate, but those who did not take antibiotics still showed H. pylori infection rate significantly lower than the controls (CD 22.0% vs. UC 33.8% vs. Control 52.5%, p<0.001). With an exception of age, phenotypic characteristics showed no significant relations with H. pylori infection rate in CD patients.
CONCLUSIONS
Korean patients with IBD, particularly CD, were found to have a significantly lower H. pylori infection rate than the controls. This association was more evident in those <60 years old, which suggested that H. pylori infection might be deemed to lower possible risks of IBD in younger adults.

Keyword

Helicobacter pylori; Ulcerative colitis; Crohn's disease

MeSH Terms

Adolescent
Adult
Age Factors
Aged
Colitis, Ulcerative/complications/diagnosis/drug therapy
Crohn Disease/complications/diagnosis/drug therapy
Female
Helicobacter Infections/complications/diagnosis/*epidemiology
*Helicobacter pylori
Humans
Inflammatory Bowel Diseases/*complications/diagnosis/drug therapy
Korea
Male
Middle Aged
Phenotype
Prevalence

Figure

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  Fig. 1. The prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection in the IBD patients and controls. IBD, inflammatory bowel disease; UC, ulcerative colitis; CD, Crohn's disease.

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