THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HELICOBACTER-PYLORI INFECTION AND GASTRIC-EMPTYING IN PATIENTS WITH NON-INSULIN-DEPENDENT DIABETES-MELLITUS

Forty-four patients with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDD M) were included in this study. Radionuclide-labelled solid meals were used to calculate gastric emptying times (GETs). The carbon-14 urea b reath test (C-14-UBT) was used to diagnose Helicobacter pylori (HP) in fection. The patients were separated into groups according to the foll owing two criteria: (1) HP infection was diagnosed on the basis of a C -14-UBT value of greater than or equal to 1.5; (2) the GET was defined as abnormal when it was greater than or equal to 117.1 min. The resul ts showed that 61% (27/44) of the NIDDM patients had an HP infection, and 59% (26/44) had an abnormal GET. The incidence of abnormal GET in positive C-14-UBT patients (62%) was higher than that in negative C-14 -UBT patients (56%). Similarly, the incidence of positive C-14-UBT in abnormal GET cases (62%) was higher than that in normal GET cases (56% ). However, according to chi-square tests the differences were not sig nificant. In conclusion, no significant relationship between HP infect ion and GET was found in patients with NIDDM.