Eradication of Helicobacter pylori may reduce disease severity in rheumatoid arthritis.
Aliment Pharmacol Ther
; 16(7): 1291-9, 2002 Jul.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-12144579
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
A triggering infectious agent has long been postulated in rheumatoid arthritis. Data on the possible role of Helicobacter pylori infection are lacking.AIM:
To assess the effect of H. pylori eradication in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.METHODS:
Fifty-eight adult patients with established rheumatoid arthritis and dyspeptic symptoms were recruited - 28 were H. pylori-positive and 30 were H. pylori-negative on the basis of invasive tests. All infected patients were treated successfully. We evaluated the disease activity using clinical and laboratory parameters at baseline and every 4 months during 2 years, and compared the variations in the two subgroups.RESULTS:
H. pylori-eradicated rheumatoid arthritis patients showed progressive improvement over time (P < 0.0001) of all clinical indices compared with baseline, whereas H. pylori-negative rheumatoid arthritis patients remained substantially unchanged. After 2 years, H. pylori-eradicated rheumatoid arthritis patients differed significantly (P < 0.04-0.0001) from patients without H. pylori infection in terms of improvement of all clinical parameters. At the same time point, several laboratory indices (erythrocyte sedimentation rate, fibrinogen, alpha2-globulins and antinuclear antibody) showed significantly lower values (P < 0.02-0.0003) in the H. pylori-eradicated subgroup compared to the H. pylori-negative subgroup.CONCLUSIONS:
Our data suggest that H. pylori infection is implicated in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis, in that its eradication may induce a significant improvement of disease activity over 24 months. H. pylori eradication seems to be advantageous in infected rheumatoid arthritis patients, but controlled studies are needed.
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Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Tipo de estudo:
Observational_studies
/
Prognostic_studies
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Risk_factors_studies
Limite:
Adult
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Aged
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Female
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Humans
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Male
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Middle aged
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2002
Tipo de documento:
Article