Helicobacter pylori in Health and Disease: Its Contribution to Gastrointestinal Disorders and Systemic Metabolic Effects

Helicobacter pylori is one of the most common human infections worldwide and it is estimated that more than half of global population is affected. This microorganism induces oxidative stress in gastric mucosa and causes chronic gastritis, duodenal peptic ulcer, gastric cancer, and as reasonably suspected a number of extragastric diseases [1,2]. Our research was focused on both local (on the level of gastric mucosa) and systemic effects of H. pylori positivity in patients with duodenal peptic ulcer and healthy volunteers. It was shown that increased accumulation of 4-hydroxynonenal (HNE) persists even despite H. pylori eradication [3,4]. We performed an interventional study to evaluate effects of Amaranth oil on accumulation of HNE-histidine adducts in gastric mucosa of patients undergoing routine anti-H. pylori treatment. It was demonstrated that Amaranth oil supplementation provided significant improvement of gastric mucosa morphological pattern and also had a positive effect on heart rate variability [5]. In a separate study we demonstrated that H. pylori in apparently healthy sedentary young male subjects is associated with higher heart rate, sympathetic activity and insulin resistance, however, we detected no changes in parameters reflecting inflammatory profile, metabolic parameters or oxidative stress [6–8]. In summary, there is a growing evidence of systemic metabolic effects of H. pylori infection not only in patients with overt gastrointestinal disorders, but also in apparently asymptomatic healthy subjects. Thus H. pylori status should be seriously considered in human studies focusing on both pharmacological and non-pharmacological approaches.