Impact of clinical and immunological parameters on the frequency and prevalence of Helicobacter pylori in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

The article presents the results of an investigation conducted to study the prevalence of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in relation to the clinical and immunological features of the disease. Objective: to investigate an association between the gastric mucosal (GM) colonization with H. pylori and the clinical and immunological features of RA. Material and methods. The investigation enrolled 75 patients (8 men and 67 women) aged 20 to 75 years (mean age, 45.5+10.1 years) who were diagnosed with RA. The disease duration was 6 months to 30 years (mean 8.3+6.9 years). H. pylori were detected by a histological method. For this purpose, all the patients underwent esophagogastroduodenoscopy using a PENTAXEKP 1000 endoscope (Japan). During endoscopic examination, targeted biopsy was performed, by taking multiple GM biopsy specimens. The degree of H. pylori contamination was compared in patients with seropositive and seronegative RA, as well as depending on the presence or absence of anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (anti-CCP) antibodies. Results and discussion. The results of the investigation may lead to the conclusion that there is a relationship between the contamination with H. pylori and the immunological manifestations of RA. A direct correlation was found between the prevalence of H. pylori infection and the presence of anti-CCP antibodies. There was also a trend toward the increased spread of H. pylori in patients with seropositive RA as compared to those with seronegative RA.