Helicobacter pylori and allergy: Update of research

Table 1 Association between Helicobacter pylori and allergy in cross-sectional studies

Ref.	Country	Studied population	n	Age (yr)	H. pylori detection	Allergy diagnosis	Main finding: OR (95%CI) in relation to H. pylori
Lee et al[35]	South Korea	Routine check-up	3376	Adults	IgG	Physician diagnosed allergy; use of anti-allergic medication; IgE	No association with allergic disease: 1.05 (0.86-1.28);
							Inverse association with IgE hypersensitivity: 1.32 (0.98-1.31)
Zevit et al[46]	Israel	National referral laboratory	6959	5-18	UBT	Physician diagnosed asthma; use of anti-allergic medication	Inverse association with asthma: 0.82 (0.69-0.08)
Imamura et al[47]	Japan	Healthy volunteers	211	Adults	IgG	Specific IgE, polinosis symptoms	Inverse association with polinosis: 0.15 (0.05-0.48)
Fullerton et al[21]	United Kingdom	General population	2437	Adults	IgG	Symptoms of wheeze, hay fever; lung function tests; bronchial reactivity; SPT; IgE	No association with asthma: 1.09 (0.77-1.54), atopy: 0.92 (0.74-1.15); hay fever: 1.00 (0.79-1.26), wheeze: 0.94 (0.74-1.19)
Pfefferle et al[48]	Germany	Employees of two companies	500	Adults	SAT	Self-reported physician diagnosed allergy, use of anti-allergic medication specific skin sensitization	Inverse association with allergy diagnosis: 0.26 (0.08-0.84)
							Chen et al[13]	United States	Data from health and nutrition examination survey	7412	3-19	IgG; CagA	Self-reported asthma	Inverse association with asthma: 0.69 (0.45-1.06) Subgroup < 5 yr: 0.58 (0.38-0.88); 3-13 yr: 0.14 (0.24-0.69)
Shiotani et al[49]	Japan	University students	1953	Adults	IgG	Self-reported atopic dermatitis, asthma, allergic rhinitis, urticaria	Inverse association with allergic diseases: 0.49 (0.27-0.89)
Baccioglu et al[50]	Turkey	Patients with upper gastrointestinal endoscopy	90	Adults	Gastric tissue microscopy	SPT, total IgE, questionnaire	No association with allergic disease: 1.0 (0.1-18.9)
							Inverse association with asthma/CagA+ cases: 0.79 (0.63-0.99);
Chen et al[12]	United States	Data from health and nutrition examination survey	7663	Adults	CagA	Self-reported asthma, allergen-specific skin sensitization	Inverse association with allergic rhinitis/CagA+: 0.77 (0.62-0.96)
Herbarth et al[51]	Germany	School starters	3347	5-7	UBT	Eczema	Inverse association with eczema: OR 0.31
Kolho et al[52]	Finland	Patients with upper gastrointestinal endoscopy	97	5-15	Histology data	Specific IgE	No association with IgE, asthma, hay fever;
Jarvis et al[20]	United Kingdom	Health service registry	1121	Adults	IgG	Specific IgE, symptoms	Inverse association with sensitization to grass: 0.65 (0.43-0.99)
Uter et al[53]	Germany	University students	1368	18-20	IgG	Physician diagnosed asthma	No association with asthma: 0.99 (0.57-1.64)
McCune et al[54]	United Kingdom	Community-based population	3244	Adults	UBT	Use of asthma medication	Inverse association with asthma: 0.78 (0.59-1.05)

H. pylori: Helicobacter pylori; UBT: 13C-urea breath test; SAT: Stool antigen test; SPT: Skin prick test.

Table 2 Association between Helicobacter pylori and allergy in case-control studies

Ref.	Country	Cases (n)	Controls (n)	Age (yr)	H. pylori detection	Allergy diagnosis	Main finding: OR (95%CI) in relation to H. pylori+
Pedullà et al[55]	Italy	Food allergy + atopic dermatitis (88)	Atopic dermatitis (202)	2-11.8	IgG, SAT	Physician diagnosed food allergy, IgE	Inverse association with food allergy: 0.32 (0.11-0.95)
Elitsur et al[56]	United States	Eosinophil esophagitis (62)	Esophagitis (268); idiopathic gastritis (480)	Children	Histology data	Upper endoscopy, histology data	Inverse association with eosinophil esophagitis: 0.096 (013-0.72)
Karimi et al[57]	Iran	Asthma (98)	Healthy children (98)	6-12	UBT	Physician diagnosed asthma	No association with asthma: H. pylori positivity 18% (cases) vs 23% (controls)
Reibman et al[58]	United States	Asthma (318)	Non-asthma controls (208)	Adults	IgG, CagA	Physician diagnosed asthma; IgE; spirometry	Inverse association with asthma for CagA+ cases: 0.57 (0.36-0.89)
Konturek et al[59]	Germany	Food allergy (42)	Healthy controls (20)	Adults	UBT, IgG	Physician diagnosed food allergy; SPT, IgE, N-tele-methylhistamine urinary excretion	Inverse association with food allergy: H. pylori positivity 33% (cases) vs 40%(controls)
Annagür et al[60]	Turkey	Asthma (79)	Healthy children (36)	5-15	IgM and IgG	Pulmonary function tests, SPT, total IgE	No association with asthma: 1.69 (0.62-4.67)
Jaber et al[61]	Sauda Arabia	Asthma (220)	Asymptomatic children (543)	1-10	IgG	Physician diagnosed asthma	Inverse association with asthma: 0.84 (0.56-1.25)
Jun et al[62]	Japan	Asthma (46)	Peptic ulcer patients (48) + healthy controls (48)	Adults	IgG, CagA	Physician diagnosed asthma	No association with asthma: 1.20 (0.53-2.72)
Pessi et al[63]	Finland	Asthma (245)	Matched controls (405)	Adults	IgG	Physician diagnosed asthma	Inverse association with asthma: 0.86 (0.63-1.19)
Bartuzi et al[64]	Poland	Food allergy with GI symptoms (110)	Chronic gastritis (40)	Adults	Biopsy, histology	Physician diagnosed food allergy, IgE	In atopic patients H. pylori increases intensity of gastric inflammation
Tsang et al[65]	China	Asthma (90)	Healthy controls (97)	Adults	IgG	Physician diagnosed asthma	No association with asthma: 1.55 (0.87-2.78)
Corrado et al[66]	Italy	Atopic dermatitis (30) + atopic dermatitis with GI symptoms (30)	Asthma (30)	4-12	IgG; CagA	Physician diagnosed allergy	Positive association with atopic dermatitis compared to asthma: 56% and 37% (cases) vs 10% (controls)
Matricardi et al[67]	Italy	Atopic cases (240)	Non-atopic controls (240)	17-24	IgG	Physician diagnosed allergic rhinitis and asthma; IgE	Inverse association with atopy: 0.76 (0.47-1.24)
Figura et al[9]	Italy	Food allergy (38)	Matched controls (53)	4-12	IgG, CagA	Physician diagnosed food allergy; IgE	Positive association with food allergy in CagA+ cases: 4.29
Corrado et al[8]	Norway	Food allergy (30) + asthma (30)	Inflammatory bowel disease (30)	5-14	IgG, CagA	Physician diagnosed food allergy and asthma	Positive association: 37% (cases) vs 10% controls

H. pylori: Helicobacter pylori; UBT: ¹³C-urea breath test; SAT: Stool antigen test; SPT: Skin prick test; GI: Gastrointestinal.