+44-7360-538437- Biomedical Research (2012) Volume 23, Issue 4
Helicobacter pylori infection and hypertension: Is there an association?
There are conflicting reports in the literature regarding the association of Helicobacter pylori with cardiovascular diseases like hypertension. However there is a paucity of literature from the Indian subcontinent on the relationship between Helicobacter pylori and the heart, coronary artery disease and hypertension. This study aims to evaluate the association between Helicobacter pylori seropositivity and hypertension. 40 hypertensives and 40 normotensive controls were included in the study. The presence of Helicobacter pylori was confirmed by serological evidence of Helicobacter pylori IgG antibodies as estimated by ELISA (> 40 EU/ml considered as positive). 18 subjects with hypertension and 9 controls were positive for Helicobacter pylori as per serological evidence. Chi square test revealed that the difference in the number of seropositive cases was statistically significant (p<0.05). Thus in the present study Helicobacter pylori infection had significant association with hypertension as compared to controls.
Author(s): Vinutha Shankar MS, AVM Kutty, Nachal Annamalai