Possible association between Helicobacter pylori infection and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

Abstract

Possible association between Helicobacter pylori infection (HPI) and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has been proposed by several studies with inconsistent conclusions. Here, we studied the association between HPI and NAFLD at three levels: 1.) Genetic level; 2.) Small molecular level; and 3.) Clinical level. Relation data between diseases, genes, and small molecules were acquired from Pathway Studio ResNet showed that HPI rate in NAFLD group was significantly higher than that in the non-NAFLD group (51.9% vs. 43.6%; p-value= 4.9E-4). Multivariate logistic regression results supported the observations and suggested that HPI served as a risk factor for NAFLD in the experiment data studied (odds ratio: 1.387, p-value = 0.018). Results from this study support the hypothesis that complex biological association may exist between HPI and NAFLD, which partially explain the significant clinical co-incidence in the elderly population of south China.

Association between Helicobacter pylori infection and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: A systematic review and meta‐analysis of observational studies

“…Of these potential eligible articles, we excluded 13 articles (characteristics of excluded articles see Table ) by examining the abstracts or full‐texts carefully for more detailed assessment. Finally, fifteen studies met the inclusion criteria and were included in our meta‐analysis. The detailed flowchart of selection process of eligible studies is shown in Figure .…”

“…These studies were published between 2013 and 2018, three of which were conference abstracts . Our meta‐analysis contained eleven cross‐sectional studies, two case‐control studies, one retrospective cohort study, and one prospective multicenter cohort . Eleven of these studies were from Asia, two studies from the United States, one from Greece, and one from Egypt .…”

“…The results of quality assessment according to NOS for observational studies are presented in Table . The scores of included studies ranged from four to nine (mean 7.5), only two studies scored six or less, and thirteen of which were high‐quality studies …”

Helicobacter pylori infection and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: Time for large clinical trials evaluating eradication therapy

“…In some studies, H pylori ‐I was independently associated with NAFLD, though in other studies their relationship did not remain robust after adjustment for potential cofounders (Table ). It should be underlined that 95 genes were associated with both H pylori ‐I and NAFLD in one study, possibly implying common genetic predisposition. In line, a recent meta‐analysis of six observational studies (one case‐control and five cross‐sectional) also showed higher risk of NAFLD in patients with H pylori ‐I (odds ratios 1.21; 95% confidence interval 1.07‐1.37) …”

“…Following the aforementioned initial reports, there have been amounting data from observational studies (mostly cross‐sectional) having evaluated the potential association between H pylori ‐I and NAFLD . The main characteristics and results of these studies are summarized in Table .…”