LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Reply of Prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection in patients with inflammatory bowel disease: pilot study

Replica a Prevalencia de la infección por Helicobacter pylori en pacientes con enfermedad inflamatoria intestinal: un estudio piloto

Dear Editor,

In the first place, we wish to thank Dr. Pellicano et al. (1) for their kind comments and remarks. Indeed, a very recent meta-analysis (2) concludes that patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) have a lower prevalence of H. pylori infection (27.1%) as compared with control subjects (40.9%), which suggests a protective effect of H. pylori (Hp) in the development of IBD. Former research attributed such lower prevalence to prior therapy with sulfasalazine and/or antibiotics (3,4). Among these papers, Triantafillidis et al, (3) agree with these findings but their patients receiving no antibiotics had a prevalence of 55% versus 55.1% for controls. This evidence and that provided by Pellicano et al. (1) attempt to demonstrate that the true prevalence of Hp infection in patients with IBD is similar to or higher than that in control subjects, with no statistically significant differences. Our research is consistent with this (43% in IBD versus 40% in controls). Furthermore we get the impression that Hp eradication improves the course of IBD.

F. Muñoz-Agel and M. J. Varas-Lorenzo
Unidad de Ecoendoscopia Digestiva. Centro Médico Teknon. Barcelona. Spain

References

1. Pellicano R, Bresso F, Demarchi B, Bertolusso L, Sapone A, Rizzetto M, Astegiano M. Prevalence of Helicobacter pylori in patients with inflammatory bowel disease: pilot study. Rev Esp Enferm Dig 2010; 102(11): 675-6.        [ Links ]

2. Luther J, Dave M, Higgins PD, Kao JY. Association between Helicobacter pylori infection and inflammatory bowel disease: a meta-analysis and systematic review of the literature. Inflama Bowel Dis 2010; 16: 1077-84.        [ Links ]

3. Triantafillidis JK, Gikas A, Apostolidiss N, Merikas E, Mallas E, Peros G. The low prevalence of helicobacter infection in patients with inflammatory bowel disease could be attributed to previous antibiotic treatment. Am J Gastroenterol 2003; 98: 1213-4.         [ Links ]

4. Song MJ, Park DI, Hwang SJ, Kim ER, Kim YH, Jang BI, et al. The prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection in Korean patients with inflammatory bowel disease, a multicenter study. Korean J Gastroenterol 2009; 53: 341-7.        [ Links ]