Seroprevalence of Helicobacter pylori in Central-European uraemic patients and its possible association with presence of HLA-DR12 allele

OBJECTIVESRenal disease at any stage is often accompanied by significant gastrointestinal symptoms, and Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is closely related to these disorders. A debate is still ongoing on the clinical significance of coexisting uraemia and H. pylori. HLA-class II genes have been repeatedly investigated for predisposition to H. pylori infection. The aim of our work was to evaluate the infection rate among uraemic patients, and study the relationship between HLA antigens and H. pylori serologic status in the same cohort. MATERIALS AND METHODSData of 709 uraemic patients were collected and analyzed from 2001–2006. 58.7% of patients were male, 41.3% were female, mean age was 45.1 years (SD±14.65). Microlymphocytotoxicity assay was used for typing of HLA class I, PCR-SSP for typing HLA class II alleles and enzyme immunofluorescency for specific H. pylori IgG. RESULTSOf 709 patients, 49.37% were seropositive for H. pylori. Age of H. pylori positive patients was 48.9 versus 41 years of negatives (P