Relationship between Helicobacter pylori infection (HP) and bone mineral density (BMD) in elderly people

Low bone mass is a frequent complication of chronic inflammatory disease. The pathogenesis of osteoporosis in chronic inflammatory disease may be secondary to releases of cytokines such as TNF-a and IL6. Chronic gastritis due to helicobacter pylori (HP) infection may lead to decreased bone mineral density (BMD) and predispose patients to osteoporosis. The objective of this study was to determine the BMD status in HP positive patients with gastritis versus HP negative cases. In this cross-sectional study, we enrolled 967 participants aged 60 years old and more from Amirkola Health Study Ageing Project. Seven-hundred and fifty eight HP positive and 209 HP negative patients were analyzed. BMD was measured by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) method in the spine and femoral neck in all participants. The mean age in HP+ and HP- negative patients was 68.3±6.8 and 69.3±7.4 years, respectively. BMD g/cm2 in the spine and femoral neck did not differ between the two groups (P=0.19 and 0.22 respectively). The prevalence of osteoporosis did not also differ across the two groups as well. There was no relationship between the level of antibodies against HP and BMD. According to the findings of this study, H. pylori infection is not associated with BMD changes in the elderly population.