Helicobacter pylori in gall bladder disease

Abstract

Abstract In recent years, H. pylori has been detected in bile, liver and biliary epithelium obtained from patients with hepatobiliary diseases and is thought to be associated with these diseases. We, therefore, planned the present case control study to find the role of H. pylori in gall bladder disease through culture and serological studies. Serum and gall bladder tissue were obtained from 75 patients and only serum from 40 controls. Tissue was processed for smear and culture and sera were tested for presence of antibodies quantitatively by ELISA. H. pylori was not detected by smear or culture from any sample, but statistically significant difference was observed between patients and controls in positivity (80 % vs. 47.5%, p value < .05) as well as titres for antibodies against H. pylori (p value < .001). Statistically significant difference was observed between antibody levels in patients and controls. Further studies are required, to elucidate the role of Helicobacter in hepatobiliary diseases, especially with regard to the effective culture of the organisms from the biliary tree