association between helicobacter pylori infection and serum iron profile

background: it is clear that helicobacter pylori (h. pylori) is a spiral bacterium that infects human and causes gastritis and peptic ulcer. the aim of this study was to determine the relationship between h .pylori infection and the iron status of the body. methods: this study was conducted in shahid beheshti hospital of babol university of medical sciences, babol, iran from august 2007 to july 2008. the study group consisted of 35 patients with h. pylori and 35 matched healthy subjects as the control group. the members of both groups were enrolled in the study voluntarily. serum iron and total iron- binding capacity were measured by darman-kav standard kit. ferritin was measured by padtan-e-elm standard kit. the collected data were analyzed by spss version 16. p-value of <0.05 was considered significant. results: the serum iron and total iron-binding capacity in h. pylori positive group were lower than in the control group (108.67±31.26 vs. 110.92±28.45 µg/dl, p=0.578) and (327.88±81.39 vs. 342.51±79.45 µg/dl, p=0.153) respectively. the mean of ferritin was significantly lower in h.pylori positive group (210.51±132.01 ng/ml, p=0.047) than h.pylori negative group (265.03±170.79 ng/ml, p=0.047).conclusion: the results of the present study show that serum iron and total iron binding capacity in h.pylori infected group was lower than the control group. h.pylori may impair iron metabolism. it is possible that h.pylori may both directly compete with the host for available iron by impairing its uptake.