Prevalence of virulent Helicobacter pylori strains in patients affected by idiopathic dysrhythmias

Abstract

Helicobacter pylori virulent strains have been shown to affect cardiovascular diseases through molecular mimicry mechanisms. Silent autoimmune myocarditis has been hypothesized to be the cause of idiopathic dysrhythmias (IA). The aim of this study is to assess the prevalence of virulent H. pylori strains in patients affected by IA. In this study,54 patients (40 men, mean age 44 ± 17 years) affected by IA and 50 healthy subjects (34 men, mean age 45 ± 9) were evaluated. IA, defined as dysrhythmias with no evidence of other cardiac pathology, were either supraventricular (SVA, 23 patients; mean age 45 ± 15 years) or ventricular (VA, 31 patients; mean age 42 ± 18 years). H. pylori infection and gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms were evaluated. H. pylori strains expressing the cytotoxin-associated gene A (cagA) and the vacuolating-cytotoxin A (vacA) were also assessed through western blot. The prevalence of H. pylori is similar in IA patients and in controls (42 vs. 44%; p > 0.05); H. pylori infection is observed in 48 and 39% of the patients are affected by SVA and VA, respectively. The prevalence of CagA-positive strains is increased in IA patients compared to controls (65 vs. 42%; p < 0.01); similarly, the prevalence of VacA-positive strains is also increased in IA patients (74 vs. 46%; p < 0.006). Excluding belching, infected patients did not show any difference in GI symptoms, when compared to non-infected subjects. From this study it is concluded that there is an epidemiological link between CagA and VacA-positive H. pylori strains in IA patients.

Extragastric Manifestations of Helicobacter pylori Infection

“…In contrast, one study of our group on a possible role of virulent strains of H. pylori on patients with idiopathic dysrhythmia showed positive findings [10]. In particular, we found a higher prevalence of both CagA and VacA-positive H. pylori strains in patients with idiopathic dysrhythmia compared to controls [10].…”

Helicobacter pyloriand autoimmune disease: Cause or bystander

“…This indicated the potential of the pathogen to be linked with conditions now considered "idiopathic". Also, parasitic diseases such as the Trypanosma cruzi-induced Chagas disease need to be revisited, especially under recent developments showing not only that a proportion of these patients present with autoimmune features but also because such patients are also co-infected with H. pylori strains [153] . In addition, other conditions that are now considered to H. pylori is one of the very few infectious agents (along, for example, with Epstein-Barr virus) that have been considered a common denominator in more than 30 autoimmune disorders (Figure 1).…”

The Association between Arrhythmia and Helicobacter pylori Infection: A Meta-Analysis of Case-Control Studies

“…One was about the association of Helicobacter cinaedi with atrial arrhythmias, and in the other paper we failed to extract sufficient data [8,15]. Thus, a total of seven studies met the review criteria and were analyzed in our meta-analysis [9,10,16,17,18,19,20]. …”

“…In 2005, Montenero et al revealed for the first time a highly significant correlation between H. pylori infection and atrial fibrillation [8]. Other groups also showed that Cag-A positive H. pylori strains were related to idiopathic dysrhythmias [9]. However, Platonov et al have reported no significant association between atrial fibrillation and H. pylori infection [10].…”