Lack of Association Found between Helicobacter pylori Infection and Diarrhea-Predominant Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A Multicenter Retrospective Study

Abstract EN

Aims.

The association between Helicobacter pylori (H.

pylori) infection and diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-D) is still controversial.

Here we performed a retrospective study to explore this issue.

Methods.

A total of 502 inpatients with Rome III confirmed IBS-D and known H.

pylori status from 8 hospitals were enrolled.

H.

pylori-positive patients, hospitalized in the recent year, were followed up to evaluate the effects of H.

pylori eradication on IBS-D clinical course.

Results.

Of the 502 IBS-D patients, 206 were H.

pylori-positive, with an infection rate that has no significant difference with that of the general population in Guangdong province ( p = 0.348 ).

For patients followed up, no significant differences were noted as to overall symptoms ( p = 0.562 ), abdominal pain/discomfort ( p = 0.777 ), bloating ( p = 0.736 ), stool frequency ( p = 0.835 ), or stool characteristics ( p = 0.928 ) between the H.

pylori-eradicated group and the control group.

The results were the same in long-term follow-up patients except the improvement of bloating, which showed that the bloating score in the H.

pylori-eradicated group was significantly lower ( p = 0.047 ).

Conclusions.

No significant correlation between H.

pylori infection and IBS-D was noted.

Overall, IBS-D patients may not benefit from H.

pylori eradication.