Helicobacter pylori infection and inflammatory bowel disease in Asians: a meta-analysis

To investigate the relationship between Helicobacter pylori infection and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in an Asian population. The PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library databases were searched for observational studies published up until June 2014, without language restrictions. Additional references were obtained from reviewed articles. Ten studies involving 1299 IBD patients and 1817 controls were included in the meta-analysis (24.9% of IBD patients had H. pylori infection vs 48.3% of the controls). The pooled risk ratio for H. pylori infection in IBD patients compared with controls was 0.48 (95%CI: 0.43-0.54; P < 0.001). There was no significant heterogeneity in the included studies (I (2) = 21%). Egger's linear regression indicated that there was no significant publication bias (P = 0.203). The H. pylori infection rate in Asian IBD patients is significantly lower than in non-IBD patients, indicating that infection protects against the development of IBD.