IDDF2021-ABS-0127 Association of helicobacter pylori with obesity in the western population of kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Background The prevalence of Helicobacter pylori (HP) in obese patients is conflicting with studies showing a very wide range from 8.7% to 86%. Hence, the aim of this study was to confirm the prevalence of histologically proven HP in obese patients. Methods Obese (body mass index (BMI) ≥30, cases) patients who had endoscopy and biopsy for HP in King Abdullah Medical Center (KAMC), Makkah were identified from the hospital information system and their demographics, comorbidities and HP status were recorded retrospective. Results 468 obese patients (male: female, 1:1.7) with mean age of 48.3 (SD ± 15) years and mean BMI of 44.43 kg/m² were analyzed. The prevalence of HP was 35% (166/469). There was no significant association of HP infection and gender (P = 0.557). There was no difference between the mean ages of patients infected with HP (40.2 ± 12 years) compared to those who were not (42.46 ± 13.7 years) (P = 0.076). Similarly was the case with glycated haemoglobin (6.79 ± 1.9 in HP positive compared with 6.85 ± 1.7 in HP negative, P = 0.708). However, the mean BMI was significantly higher in HP positive patients (46.75 ± 10.3 kg/m²) compared to HP negative (43.1 ± 8.2 kg/m²) (P = 0.0001). There was a positive linear correlation with BMI and HP prevalence (P = 0.0007) (IDDF2021-ABS-0127 Table 1). Conclusions The prevalence of HP in our study was positively associated with BMI, rising with increasing BMI. This may have implications for obesity management. Further population-based studies are needed to confirm.