Quantitative assessment of IgG antibodies to Helicobacter pylori and outcome of ischaemic heart disease

Criticisms of serological studies on Helicobacter pylori and ischaemic hear t disease (IHD) include: undiagnosed heart disease in live controls; no ass essment of severity or outcome of IHD; and qualitative not quantitative mea surements of IgG to the bacteria. The aim was to assess quantitatively IgG levels specific for H. pylori (ng ml(-1)) among patients who survived a myo cardial infarction (MI) with those who died of IHD. Sera were from four gro ups: (1) men who survived one MI; (2) men matched for age and socioeconomic background to group 1; (3) individuals who died suddenly of IHD; (4) accid ental deaths matched for age and sex to group 3. Levels of IgG to H. pylori increased with age (P < 0.005) but were not associated with smoking or soc ioeconomic groups. There was a correlation between IgG to the bacteria and decreasing socioeconomic levels only among group 1 (P < 0.01). IgG levels w ere higher for subjects who died of heart disease (median = 151 ng ml(-1)) compared with survivors (median = 88 ng ml(-1)) (P = 0.034) and higher for survivors compared with their controls (median = 58 ng ml(-1)) (P = 0.039). Future serological studies of H. pylori in relation to IHD should be quant itative and severity of disease considered in analyses. (C) 2000 Federation of European Microbiological Societies. Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.