Helicobacter pylori infection and severity of coronary atherosclerosis in patients with chronic coronary artery disease

Abstract

Anita Jukic,1,2 Dorotea Bozic,3,4 Dusko Kardum,5,6 Tina Becic,1,2 Bruno Luksic,7,8 Mislav Vrsalovic,9,10 Marko Ljubkovic,11 Damir Fabijanic1,2 1Department of Cardiology, University Hospital of Split, 2Department of Cardiology, University of Split School of Medicine, 3Department of Gastroenterology, University Hospital of Split, 4Department of Gastroenterology, University of Split School of Medicine, Split, 5Department of Gastroenterology, University Hospital Dubrava, Zagreb, 6Department of Gastroenterology, University of Osijek School of Medicine, Osijek, 7Department of Surgery, University Hospital of Split, 8Department of Surgery, University of Split School of Medicine, Split, 9Department of Vascular Medicine, Cardiovascular Center, Sestre Milosrdnice University Hospital, 10Department of Vascular Medicine, University of Zagreb School of Medicine, Zagreb, 11Department of Integrative Physiology, University of Split School of Medicine, Split, Croatia Aim: Controversy exists concerning the relation between Helicobacter pylori (HP) infection and coronary artery disease (CAD). We aimed to examine the relationship between HP infection and severity of coronary atherosclerosis in patients with chronic CAD.Patients and methods: A total of 150 patients (109 [73%] men; mean age 62.61±10.23 years) scheduled for coronary artery bypass grafting surgery were consecutively enrolled in the cross-sectional study. According to rapid urease test and/or gastric biopsy samples stained with hematoxylin and eosin and according to Giemsa, patients were classified as HP positive (n=87; 58%) or HP negative (n=63; 42%). Coronary angiograms were scored by quantitative assessment, using multiple angiographic scoring system: 1) vessel score (number of coronary arteries stenosed ≥50%), 2) Gensini score (assigning a severity score to each coronary stenosis according to the degree of luminal narrowing and its topographic importance) and 3) angiographic severity score (number of coronary artery segments stenosed ≥50%).Results: In comparison to HP-negative patients, HP-positive patients were more frequently hypertensive (P=0.014), had higher values of systolic (P=0.043) and diastolic (P=0.005) blood pressure and total cholesterol (P=0.013) and had lower values of high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C; P=0.010). There were no significant differences between the groups in the severity of coronary atherosclerosis: vessel score (P=0.152), Gensini score (P=0.870) and angiographic severity score (P=0.734).Conclusion: It is likely that HP infection is not a risk factor for the severity of coronary atherosclerosis in chronic CAD patients. Keywords: atherosclerosis, coronary artery disease, Helicobacter pylori

Keywords

• Atherosclerosis
• Coronary artery disease
• Helicobacter pylori;