Observational Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2017. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Dec 16, 2017; 5(12): 412-418
Published online Dec 16, 2017. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v5.i12.412
Effect of Helicobacter pylori eradication on elder cases: Observational study in community-based medicine
Masaki Maruyama, Kenya Kamimura, Ayako Hoshiyama, Koki Hoshiyama, Mari Hoshiyama, Yoshihiro Hoshiyama, Shuji Terai
Masaki Maruyama, Department of Gastroenterology, Kashiwazaki General Hospital and Medical Center, Kashiwazaki, Niigata 945-8535, Japan
Masaki Maruyama, Ayako Hoshiyama, Koki Hoshiyama, Mari Hoshiyama, Department of Internal Medicine, Kashiwazaki Chuo Hospital, Kashiwazaki, Niigata 945-0055, Japan
Kenya Kamimura, Shuji Terai, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Niigata University, Chuo-Ku, Niigata 951-8510, Japan
Yoshihiro Hoshiyama, Department of Surgery, Kashiwazaki Chuo Hospital, Kashiwazaki, Niigata 945-0055, Japan
Author contributions: All authors contributed to this manuscript.
Institutional review board statement: This study was reviewed and approved by the institutional review board of Kashiwazaki Central Hospital.
Informed consent statement: Written informed consents were obtained from the patients to present their information.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no current financial arrangement or affiliation with any organization that may have a direct influence on their work.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Kenya Kamimura, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Niigata University, 1-757 Asahimachido-ri, Chuo-ku, Niigata 951-8510, Japan. kenya-k@med.niigata-u.ac.jp
Telephone: +81-25-2272207 Fax: +81-25-2270776
Received: August 4, 2017
Peer-review started: August 8, 2017
First decision: September 20, 2017
Revised: September 27, 2017
Accepted: October 29, 2017
Article in press: October 29, 2017
Published online: December 16, 2017
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background

The relationship between Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection and various extra-gastrointestinal symptoms, including obesity, diabetes mellitus and hyperlipidemia have been reported.

Research motivation

Although major population surveys and meta-analysis have suggested an increased risk for iron deficiency anaemia (IDA), however the relationship between H. pylori infection/its eradication on IDA and other extra-gastrointestinal tract diseases has not been clarified, especially in elderly patients.

Research objectives

This study was aimed to examine the effect of H. pylori eradication therapy on the extra-gastrointestinal factors in elderly patients by a before-after observational study in community medicine.

Research methods

Medical records (1 May 2013-31 January 2014) of 130 patients who underwent H. pylori eradication therapy with 2-year after-eradication observation in our institute were reviewed. Data on sex; age; body weight; body mass index (BMI); mean corpuscular volume (MCV); total protein; low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglyceride, haemoglobin A1c and haemoglobin levels and gastric hyperplastic polyps (GHPs) at eradication was extracted. Two-year after-eradication change in data was analysed by paired-sample t-test; relationship between GHPs and subclinical IDA improvement was evaluated.

Research results

The mean patient age (median, interquartile range) at eradication was 69.6 (71.5, 64-77) years. Paired-sample t-tests showed that body weight, BMI and MCV increased by 0.52 kg (P = 0.018), 0.25 kg/m2 (P = 0.006) and 0.83 fL (P < 0.001), respectively. The nonparametric Mann-Whitney test showed no significant difference in the change rate of MCV after eradication between the groups with and without GHPs (P = 0.892).

Research conclusions

H. pylori eradication therapy prevented weight loss and subclinical IDA in elderly individuals, therefore, the eradication should be considered even for those elder patients.

Research perspectives

For the future perspective, as the development of an aging society may be upcoming event in the near future, H. pylori eradication therapy may be a useful approach for preventing weight loss and frailty in elderly individuals to keep their quality of life and health.