Preconception H pylori Infection might worsen Pregnancy-induced Anemia

Aim: Determination of the impact of pregnancy in women infected or uninfected with H pylori (HP) of hemoglobin concentration (Hb. conc.) Materials and Methods: 223 women were categorized according to detection of anti-HP antibodies into HP-positive (Group A) and HP-negative (Group B). All women gave blood samples at the 6th gestational week, booking visit [T1] and at start of the 2 nd and 3 rd trimesters [T2 and T3] for estimation of Hb. conc. Anemia of pregnancy was diagnosed if Hb. conc. <11 g/dl in early or late pregnancy or <10.5 g/dl in mid pregnancy and HP infection was diagnosed by ELISA estimation of human anti-HP IgG. Study outcome was the effect of pregnancy on Hb. conc. in pregnant women infected or uninfected by HP. Results: Women of group A had significantly lower Hb. conc. at booking time with significantly higher frequency of anemic women. In T2 and T3 samples, Hb. conc. was significantly lower in women of group A and the differences in the frequency of anemic women between both groups was significant ( p =0.007) at T2, but was non-significant ( p=0.35 ) in T3 sample. Estimated Hb. conc. at booking time showed negative significant correlation with serum positivity for HP. Estimated Hb. conc. throughout the pregnancy showed negative significant correlation with progress of pregnancy and serum positivity for HP infection. Moreover, ROC curve analysis defined these both factors as specific predictors for progressive deterioration of Hb. conc., but AUC for pregnancy was the significant. Conclusion: Pregnancy is a definite risk factor for development of anemia and worsening hemoglobin concentration if it is low. Pre-pregnancy HP infection is a leading cause for preconception anemia that deteriorated as regards frequency of anemic women and hemoglobin concentration.