Seroprevalence ofHelicobacter pyloriand association with atrophic gastritis in patients with Sjögren’s syndrome

To investigate the association between Helicobacter pylori (HP) infection and atrophic gastritis in Sjögren’s syndrome (SS), we conducted an age-matched case-control study examining serum HP-IgG antibodies and pepsinogen (PG) I and II levels using ELISA. The sera of 82 primary SS (1-SS), and 57 secondary SS (2-SS) were studied, as well as 198 controls having a diagnosis of connective tissue disease (CTD), except for SS which were obtained according to age. The titers of HP-IgG in 1-SS were significantly much higher than those in either 2-SS or control. The HP-IgG level revealed an exclusively positive correlation with the serum PG II level and a negative correlation with the PG I/II ratio. Serum PG II levels and PG I/II ratios were associated with the positivity of HP-IgG antibodies. The age-specific seroprevalence rates of HP infection in SS patients compared with controls showed a high positivity in patients less than 49 years old, but no difference among the higher age groups because of increasing positive rates with advancing age in the control. The matched odds ratio with HP infection in all SS (1-SS and 2-SS) and in 1-SS were 2.33 (95% CI: 1.43–3.81) and 2.75 (95% CI: 1.50–5.05), respectively. However, the positive PG I/II ratio did not show a statistically significant odds ratio for SS. We conclude that SS patients have a highly positive association with HP infection and that atrophic gastritis with SS may occur as a result of HP infection.