Abstract
Background and objectives: Previous studies have reported inconsistent findings regarding the association between H. pylori infection and overweight/obesity. This study aims to evaluate the clinical and anthropometric characteristics of children and adolescents with chronic abdominal pain, grouped as follows: (1) non-ulcer dyspepsia with confirmed H. pylori gastritis, and (2) dyspepsia with confirmed chronic esophagitis and without H. pylori infection.
Methods: This single-center, observational, retrospective case-control study used a convenience sample of children and adolescents referred for chronic abdominal pain and non-ulcer dyspepsia. All underwent endoscopy. Diagnosis of Gastritis was based on histopathological findings of inflammation in gastric biopsies from the antrum and gastric body, using the Sydney system classification. Antral-predominant gastritis was defined as moderate to severe antral inflammation and normal to mild corpus inflammation. Pangastritis was defined as inflammation spread throughout the stomach, with little or no difference between the antrum and corpus. The histopathological diagnosis of esophagitis was established using two methods recommended by ESPGHAN.
Results: Among 223 participants, 120 (54%) were classified as having H. pylori gastritis, defined as histologically confirmed gastritis associated with Helicobacter pylori infection, and 103 (46%) were classified as having esophagitis, defined as endoscopically or histologically confirmed inflammation of the esophagus. The groups were well matched. There were no statistically significant differences in baseline characteristics or clinical features, except for nausea (OR=1.79 (1.04–3.03, p=0.03)) and vomiting (OR=1.74 (1.01 – 2.94, p=0.04). Both symptoms were more prevalent in Hp gastritis. There were no significant differences in the proportions of overweight/obesity between the groups: H. pylori gastritis (23.3%) and esophagitis (28.1%). No significant differences were observed between Helicobacter pylori antral and pangastritis for any of the variables analyzed.
Conclusions: Non-ulcer dyspepsia due to H. pylori gastritis or esophagitis is not associated with increased prevalence of overweight or obesity in children from similar environments. Overweight and obesity in this population appear unrelated to H. pylori gastritis.
Keywords
Helicobacter pylori, Esophagitis, Non-ulcer dyspepsia, Overweight, Obesity, Case–control, Children, Adolescents