Review article: associations between Helicobacter pylori and obesity ‐ an ecological study. Issue 1 (15th May 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Lender, N.; Talley, N. J.; Enck, P.; Haag, S.; Zipfel, S.; Morrison, M.; Holtmann, G. J.
• Is Part Of: Alimentary pharmacology & therapeutics. Volume 40:Issue 1(2014)
• Page Start: 24
• Page End: 31
• Publication Date: 2014-05-15
• Subjects: Digestive organs -- Diseases -- Treatment -- Periodicals; Digestive organs -- Effect of drugs on -- Periodicals; Gastrointestinal system -- Diseases -- Treatment -- Periodicals; Gastrointestinal system -- Effect of drugs on -- Periodicals; 615.73
• DOI: 10.1111/apt.12790
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0269-2813

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" id="apt12790-abs-0001"> <title>Summary</title> <sec id="apt12790-sec-0001" sec-type="section"> <title>Background</title> <p>There is emerging debate over the effect of <italic>Helicobacter pylori</italic> infection on body mass index (BMI). A recent study demonstrated that individuals who underwent <italic>H. pylori</italic> eradication developed significant weight gain as compared to subjects with untreated <italic>H. pylori</italic> colonisation.</p> </sec> <sec id="apt12790-sec-0002" sec-type="section"> <title>Aim</title> <p>To elucidate the association between <italic>H. pylori</italic> colonisation and the prevalence of overweight and obesity in developed countries.</p> </sec> <sec id="apt12790-sec-0003" sec-type="section"> <title>Methods</title> <p>The literature was searched for publications reporting data on <italic>H. pylori</italic> prevalence rates and obesity prevalence rates. Studies selected reported <italic>H. pylori</italic> prevalence in random population samples with sample sizes of more than 100 subjects in developed countries (GDP >25 000 US$/person/year). Corresponding BMI distributions for corresponding countries and regions were identified. Nonparametric tests were used to compare the association between <italic>H. pylori</italic> and overweight and obesity rates.</p> </sec> <sec id="apt12790-sec-0004" sec-type="section"> <title>Results</title> <p>Forty‐nine studies with data from 10 European countries, Japan, the US and Australia were identified. The mean <italic>H. pylori</italic> rate was 44.1% (range 17–75%), the mean rates for obesity and overweight were 46.6 (±16)% and 14.2 (±8.9)%. The rate of obesity and overweight were inversely and significantly (<italic>r</italic> = 0.29, <italic>P</italic> < 0.001) correlated with the prevalence of <italic>H. pylori</italic> infection.</p> </sec> <sec id="apt12790-sec-0005" sec-type="section"> <title>Conclusions</title> <p>There is an inverse correlation between <italic>H. pylori</italic> prevalence and rate of overweight/obesity in countries of the developed world. Thus, the gradual decrease of the <italic>H. pylori</italic> colonisation that has been observed in recent decades (or factors associated with decrease of) could be causally related to the obesity endemic observed in the Western world.</p> </sec> </abstract>