Helicobacterpyloriinfection: an added stressor on iron status of women in the community

Abstract

Objective: To explore a possible association between Helicobacter pylori infection and iron status. Design: Cross‐sectional study. Setting: Ballarat (a major regional city in Victoria), population 78000, October­ November 1997. Participants: 160 women and 152 men, a subsample of participants in a cardiovascular disease risk factor prevalence survey for whom frozen plasma was available. Main outcome measures: H. pylori lgG antibody status by enzyme immunoassay; iron intake; plasma iron, transferrin and ferritin concentrations. Results: 28% of women and 33% of men were infected with H. pylori. The mean (SEM) plasma ferritin concentration of infected women (59.3 (7.6) µg/L) was significantly lower than for non‐infected women (88.8 (7.9) µg/L; P=0.002), after adjusting for age. Mean daily dietary iron intakes were similar in infected and non­ infected women. Conclusions: H. pylori infection appears to be an additional stressor on women's iron status, but the mechanism remains to be determined.

Effect of Helicobacter pylori infection and low‐dose aspirin use on iron stores in the elderly

“…Similar results were found in a study conducted in Germany, where a 17% decease in serum ferritin concentrations was described after regression analysis 2 . A smaller Australian study also showed a significant reduction of serum ferritin concentrations in infected females but not males 3 . These studies did not comment on any additive effect of infection with low‐dose aspirin use.…”

“…Helicobacter pylori has been reported to be a stressor of iron stores in asymptomatic adults 1–3 . These studies have included various population surveys involving heterogeneous groups of mostly middle‐aged and young adults.…”

“…These studies have included various population surveys involving heterogeneous groups of mostly middle‐aged and young adults. Findings have varied, with most effects reported in women 1,3 . There are also clinical reports of overt iron deficiency in adults and children which may respond to H. pylori eradication, implicating H. pylori infection causally and suggesting a role for eradication therapy in correcting iron deficiency anemia in some patients 4–12 …”

Concomitant alterations in intragastric pH and ascorbic acid concentration in patients with Helicobacter pylori gastritis and associated iron deficiency anaemia

“…R ecently, several seroepidemiological studies have suggested an association between iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) and Helicobacter pylori infection, [1][2][3][4] and improvement in IDA after H pylori eradication has been demonstrated in case series and in clinical trials in both children and adults with otherwise unexplained IDA. [5][6][7][8] It has also been reported that up to 18% of patients with refractory IDA and no gastrointestinal symptoms have H pylori gastritis as the only associated cause of their anaemia.…”

Helicobacter pylori infection and fasting plasma glucose concentration

“…Alternatively, in some populations H pylori may be a greater stressor on iron stores in women than in men. 7 Although the numbers were small, the proportion of subjects with known and undiagnosed diabetes was also lower among the infected women. Studies conducted to date have given conflicting results over the association between diabetes and H pylori infection.…”