Helicobacter pylori infection and gastroesophageal reflux in asthmatic children.

ABSTRACT

The aim of this article is to investigate the prevalence of Helicobacter pylori (HP) infection, frequency of gastroesophageal reflux (GER), existence of atopy and levels of serum immunoglobulin E (IgE) in children with bronchial asthma. One hundred and thirty seven children who were diagnosed as bronchial asthma and/or wheezy child aged between 1 and 17 years were enrolled into the study. Peripheral venous blood samples were obtained to determine the total IgE and HP IgG antibody levels. GER was evaluated by the scintigraphic method and the presence of atopy was investigated by skin prick test. The study was conducted in 86 (62.8%) boys and 51 (37.2%) girls. HP IgG antibody levels were found negative in 125 (91.2%) and positive in 12 (8.8%) cases. GER was detected in 73 (53.7%) of the children. Forty-one (37.3%) children were accepted as atopic according to skin prick test results. The average total IgE levels of the participants was 168.89 +/- 270.76 IU/ml. A significant difference could not be determined related to GER, atopy frequency and serum IgE levels between the cases who had HP antibody positivity or not. The present findings suggest that the rate of HP antibody positivity is low in patients with bronchial asthma and a significant difference could not be determined in GER, and atopy between patients with positive and negative HP antibodies. High atopy frequency found in our patient group raises the question of whether allergic diseases can be protective against fecal-oral infectious diseases.