Helicobacter pylori – HIV co-infection and dyspepsia

Helicobacter pylori infection is one of the most frequent causes of dyspepsia in the general population. As gastrointestinal symptoms are a common complaint among HIV-positive persons, the purpose of the present study is to assess the role of Helicobacter pylori infection in this category of patients. We performed a retrospective, case-control study on two groups of HIV-infected patients admitted to the Infectious Diseases Clinic I, Tîrgu-Mureş and tested for Helicobacter pylori infection by stool antigen detection: group A – 36 dyspeptic subjects and group B – 5 patients without dyspeptic complaints. We compared the two groups from the point of view of the frequency of Helicobacter pylori infection. Statistical analysis of data was performed with the help of GraphPad programme. 4 (11.11%) HIV-positive patients with dyspeptic symptoms tested positive for Helicobacter pylori infection, while none of the patients in group B was diagnosed with Helicobacter pylori infection (p=1.0000, OR=1.523). Although none of the asymptomatic patients in our study was diagnosed with Helicobacter pylori, the absence of a statistically significant association between Helicobacter pylori infection and dyspepsia among HIV-positive patients may suggest that other etiologies should be searched in HIV-infected patients with gastro-intestinal complaints.