بررسي ارتباط بين عفونت هليكوباكترپيلوري و ذخاير آهن

The association between helicobacter pylori and iron stores

Background and purpose : Infection with Helicobacter pylori (H.p) has been recognised as a major cause of gastric and duodenal ulcer and gastric cancer. Some case reports revealed the involvement of H.p in unexplained iron deficiency anemia. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between serum iron, ferritin and total iron binding capacity (TIBC) and H.p infection in children. Materials and methods : 7-18 years old children were randomly selected and their sera were assayed for the presence of H.p infection using ELISA test. Of these, 74 had H.p infection and were considered as the case group. Then 74 children without H.p infection were matched for age, sex and socio-economical status and considered as the control group. Serum iron, ferritin and TIBC levels were compared between the two groups. Results : The mean age was 14.3±2.5 years in both groups. Regardless of sex, serum iron ferritin and TIBC were 120±33 mg/dl, 45±26 ng/ml and 298±48% in non-infected group and 102±37 pg/dl, 34±19ng/ml and 320±51% in the infected group respectively. There were statistically significant differences between the two groups. Taking the gender into account, serum ferritin level was the only factor showing statistically significant difference between males in the case and control groups, whereas all other factors showed significant differences between females of the two groups. Conclusion : Deficits of iron stores in those children infected with H.p may be due to ferritin uptake in stomach by the microorganism. Possible health implications of H.p induced low ferritin levels justifies further investigation.