Helicobacter pylori has no effect on plasma ghrelin levels

Abstract

Objective: Helicobacter pylori is the major etiologic agent for chronic active gastritis, and it also plays a crucial role in gastric and duodenal ulcer disease, as well as in gastric carcinoma. H. pylori infection has been shown to decrease plasma somatostatin (SST) and increase plasma gastrin concentrations. Ghrelin is a recently discovered peptide produced mostly in the stomach of rodents and humans and is secreted into the bloodstream. There is no data in the literature about the relationship between H. pylori and ghrelin. Design: Thirty-nine age-and BMI-matched H. pylori infection positive and negative women, from whom biopsy specimens were taken during gastric endoscopy, were included in the study. Methods: Total ghrelin was measured by enzyme immunoassay (EIA) in Medistek. All samples were measured in duplicate and averaged; results differing by more than 20% were re-assayed. Two biopsy specimens from antrum, corpus and fundus were obtained. Results: Fifteen of the subjects were H. pylori negative and 24 were H. pylori positive. Age, BMI, lipid profile and insulin sensitivity indices of the groups were similar. Plasma ghrelin levels ð375:92^7:10 vs 370:00^4:14 pmol=l; P . 0:05Þ of H. pylori negative and positive groups did not differ significantly. Conclusion: H. pylori has no effect on plasma ghrelin concentration.

Randomised clinical trial: Helicobacter pylori eradication is associated with a significantly increased body mass index in a placebo-controlled study

“…7,25 However, gastric leptin values were elevated in H. pyloriinfected individuals and decreased following eradication. 26 Plasma ghrelin levels were lower in H. pylori positive individuals in some studies 19,27,28 although two small studies differed as to whether levels altered following eradication. 25,27 Recently, H. pylori eradication increased weight and decreased plasma ghrelin levels (but increased gastric levels) in men participating in a Japanese gastric cancer surveillance programme.…”

“…Participants who tested positive for H. pylori with the UBT (using a standard test meal of citric acid and orange juice with a cutoff of Cd 13 3.5 per cm 3 ) 13 were randomised either to H. pylori eradication therapy (ranitidine bismuth citrate 400 mg and clarithromycin 500 mg twice daily for 2 weeks) or to placebo. Randomisation was stratified by gender and age (20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)30-39, 40-49 and 50-59 years). Staff independent of the study prepared the randomisation sequence, which was generated by computer with a block size of 10.…”

Long-term effects of Helicobacter pylori eradication on circulating ghrelin and leptin concentrations and body composition in prepubertal children

“…Overall, this is of interest because most studies on the effects of H. pylori infection on gastric or circulating ghrelin dynamics in adults have included in Table 4 Changes in body mass index (BMI), SDS-BMI, fat and lean mass, ghrelin, and leptin at 6 and 12 months in Helicobacter pylori-positive children with early and late eradication of the organism, and H. pylori-negative children. the H. pylori-negative group subjects with no gastric inflammation or an unspecified histological status of the gastric mucosa (26,27,30,44,45). Therefore, further investigation is clearly required to understand the role of gastric and circulating ghrelin in children as well as in adults with gastritis due to any cause, including H. pylori.…”

“…There are data in adults to suggest that H. pylori may modify plasma concentrations and/or gastric mucosal expression of ghrelin (25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31) as well as gastric mucosal leptin levels (32). However, to our knowledge, only one cross-sectional study has examined, by means of 13C-urea breath test, the influence of H. pylori infection on serum ghrelin and leptin concentrations in children (33), but there are no longitudinal data on the effect of H. pylori eradication on serum ghrelin and leptin in children.…”

The Ghrelin System; Beyond the Role in Energy Homeostasis

“…Weight gain following Helicobacter pylori eradication may be attributable to changes in plasma and gastric ghrelin; however, this hypothesis needs to be further investigated [12].…”