Serum Evaluation of Helicobacter pylori in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis

Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune inflammatory disorder of the central nervous system of unknown etiology, which is believed to be caused by immune dysregulation triggered by genetic and environmental factors, leading to demyelination and axonal loss. Researchers consider infectious agents, like Helicobacter pylori, as these environmental factors. H. pylori can permanently infect someone’s stomach and cause an acute or chronic inflammatory response, in which inflammatory mediators affect the brain and cause a pathologic disease. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 38 patients with multiple sclerosis who were referred to the Neurology Clinic of Ghaem Hospital were included, and their serum samples were analyzed for IgM, IgA, and IgG antibodies against H. pylori by using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results were compared with the samples of 41 sex- and age-matched controls admitted to other wards of Ghaem Hospital & had no symptoms of MS. In the end, we analyzed the data with SPSS v.20. Results: In this study, 79 patients, including 38 patients with MS disease in the case group and 41 healthy individuals in the control group, were studied. These two groups had no significant differences in demographic characteristics, including age, gender, and occupation. H. pylori seropositivity was significantly higher in patients with MS than in controls (68.4% vs 39%) (P = 0.009). In addition, comparing H. pylori seropositivity in 20 of 30 patients with relapsing-remitting MS versus 6 of 8 patients with progressive MS suggested a significant difference between these two groups (P = 0.030). Also, H. pylori seropositivity had no significant difference between males and females (39.1% vs 58.9%). Conclusions: The prevalence of H. pylori seropositivity was significantly higher in patients with MS than in control, besides this seems more frequent in a progressive type of MS than in a relapsing-remitting one, suggesting that H. pylori might be a causal factor for developing & progressing MS and this may have an adverse impact on the prognosis and course of the disease.