Helicobacter pylori and chronic bronchitis

Background: Chronic infections such as those caused by Helicobacter pylori, Chlamydia pneumoniae, and cytomegalovirus have been epidemiologically rela ted to coronary heart disease (CHD). Other studies place H. pylori in relat ion to other extradigestive diseases. We carried out an epidemiologic pilot study to evaluate the prevalence of H. pylori in patients with chronic bro nchitis, a respiratory disease characterized by persistent chronic inflamma tion, in comparison with a matched control group. Methods: An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay IgG test for H. pylori diagnosis was performed in 60 c onsecutive patients with chronic bronchitis(15 women and 45 men; age range, 50-89 years; mean age, 70.38 years) and in 69 control subjects, well match ed for age and social status (19 women and 50 men; age range, 52-90 years; mean age, 71.3 years). Results: Foty-nine of 60 patients with chronic bronc hitis (81.6%) and 40 of 69 subjects in the control group (57.9%) were H. py lori-positive (P = 0.0079). The odds ratio, calculated by simple analysis ( 3.2) and confirmed by logistic regression analysis (3.399), indicated that H. pylori infection greatly increases the risk of chronic bronchitis. Concl usions: To date, CHD is the only convincing association between H. pylori i nfection and an extradigestive disease. The main conclusion of this pilot s tudy is that H. pylori infection seems to increase the risk of developing o f chronic bronchitis. An important step in this held will be to evaluate th e possible change in the clinical conditions after successful eradication t herapy in H. pylori-positive patients with chronic bronchitis.