What is the Relationship between Helicobacter pylori Infection and Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD)? A Comprehensive Analysis on Iranian Population

Helicobacter pylori is a gram-negative, microaerophilic,and rod-shaped bacterium, which is colonized in humangastric-submucosa of approximately ۴-۴.۵ billion peoplethroughout the worldwide (۱-۲). The bacterium can causechronic gastritis and increase the risk of developing gastricadenocarcinoma by ۱۰ times, as well as peptic ulcer disease(۳). According to the literature, H. pylori infection hasclinical benefits in prevention of several diseases such asautoimmune diseases, asthma, celiac, and irritable bowelsyndrome (۴-۷). There are several conflicting reports onthe probable association between H. pylori infection andgastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) (۸-۹).GERD is a digestive complication in which acidicstomach juices revert up from the stomach into theesophagus and acidic pH causes tissue damages (۱۰). Theprevalence of GERD was lower in countries with highburden of H. pylori infection. H. pylori infection has aprotective role in regression of GERD, though the mainmechanism is still unclear (۱۱,۱۲). For the first time, weevaluated the impact of H. pylori infection in risk of GERDin an Iranian population with comprehensive statisticalanalysis.