THE EFFECT OF HELICOBACTER PYLORI INFECTION ON THE SUSTAINED VIROLOGICAL RESPONSE IN PATIENT WITH CHRONIC HCV INFECTION

Objective: To determine the influence of Helicobacter pylori positivity on the clinical, virological and histological characteristics of chronic Hepatitis C virus infection, and the effect of Helicobacter pylori infection on response to pegylated interferon and ribavirin combination treatment retrospectively Material and Method: Patients with chronic HCV infection who have had upper gastrointestinal endoscopy and gastric mucosal biopsy previously were included in this study retrospectively The presence of Helicobacter pylori was determined by gastric mucosa biopsy and histology. We assesed the effect of baseline predictive factors and Helicobacter pylori status on the sustained virologic response (SVR) rate to pegylated interferon and ribavirin combination therapy in patients with chronic hepatitis C patients. Results: Thirty eight patients (18 males and 20 females, median age 59, range 33-72) with chronic HCV infection were included in this retrospective study. Sustained virological response was achieved in 12 (31%) patients. Sustained virological response rate in patients with HCV genotype 1 and 4 was lower than in those with genotypes 2 or 3 [The rate of HCV genotype 1 and 4 were 8 (66.7%) and HCV genotype 2 and 3 were 4 (33.3%) in the patients with SVR; the rate of genotype 1 and 4 were 24 (100%) and HCV genotype 2 and 3 were 0 (0%) in the patients without SVR, p=0.008]. The sustained virological response rate to combination therapy did not differ between patients with and without Helicobacter pylori infection [7 (23.3%) and 5 (62.5%) respectively, p=0.081]. Conclusion: The findings of this study indicate that Helicobacter pylori positivity may have negative impact on sustained virologic response rates in chronic HCV infections, and while the difference was statistically insignificant, it was close to the significance limit.