Study of Association Between Atrophic Gastritis and Body Mass Index: A Cross-Sectional Study in 10,197 Japanese Subjects

Objectives The aim of this study was to elucidate the association between body mass index (BMI) and both Helicobacter pylori and atrophic gastritis. Methods The study involved 10,197 subjects participating in a Japanese mass endoscopic gastric cancer screening program. Atrophic gastritis was assessed by pepsinogen I to II ratio. Results In logistic regression models, BMI had an inverse association with atrophic gastritis, with the odds ratios (OR) decreasing progressively to 0.67 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.57–0.79, P < 0.0001) in the highest BMI quintiles (BMI ≥25.66) group compared with the lowest BMI quintiles (BMI <20.97) group. In linear regression models, atrophic gastritis predicted BMI (regression coefficient −0.326, 95% CI −0.469, −0.184, P < 0.0001), whereas H. pylori antibody was not a predictor (regression coefficient 0.072, 95% CI −0.053, 0.198, P = 0.3). Conclusions A small, inverse association between BMI and atrophic gastritis was found in the general population. In contrast, no association was observed between H. pylori seropositivity and BMI.