Association of Helicobacter pylori infection with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Abstract

Introduction: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a disease that is systematically characterized by an abnormal inflammatory response affecting the airways, interstitium and vascular bed through reactions to gas and particles, especially cigarette smoking. Recent studies have shown an association between Helicobacter pylori infection and various inflammatory diseases. H. pylori is a gram-negative, microbial bacterium that can be resistant to acidic stomach conditions and can interfere with gastric urease production. In this study, we examined the relationship between H. pylori infection in patients with COPD and the prevalence of H. pylori infection. Objectives: Determining the association between H. pylori infection and COPD. Patients and Methods: This case-control study is based on the Persian cohort study of patients who were referred to the digestive disease research center after being identified in the pulmonary clinic for H. pylori fecal antigen. Information on demographic variables and other related variables were obtained. Finally, the collected information was entered into SPSS software version 24 and the results were displayed descriptively using distribution and frequency tables and graphs and analytical statistics were analyzed using t test and logistic regression. Results: Out of 250 patients, 134 (53.6%) tested positive for H. pylori and 116 (46.4%) tested negative. Out of a total of 250 non-infected people; 106 patients (42.4%) were positive and 144 patients (57.6%) were negative. The two groups were statistically significantly different based on the chi-square test (P = 0.012). Conclusion: Our study showed a direct and significant relationship between H. pylori and COPD, which can be due to the effect of bacteria on lung growth in early life and also the development of systemic inflammation throughout life.