The Association Between Helicobacter pylori Infection and Rosacea

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is one the most infectious microorganism of human disease found in half of the world’s population. Despite intense investigations into the spread of rosacea, the precise etiology remains unclear. There are theories, which suggest H. pylori as a predisposing factor for the occurrence. This study aimed at determining the prevalence of H. pylori in patients with rosacea.
This analytical-descriptive study was conducted on patients with rosacea disease attending Tabriz University of Medical Sciences Dermatology Clinics from October 2011 to January 2011. Patients, who were 18- to 65-year-olds with confirmed rosacea diagnosis, were included in the study. All patients were referred to a dermatologist and the severity of rosacea was categorized in 3 grades of mild, moderate and severe. Then H. pylori infection was investigated using H. pylori stool antigen. P values of less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant.
Out of 63 patients with rosacea, 35 patients (55.55%) were male and 28 patients (44.44%) were female. Based on the rosacea categorization, 11 (17.46%), 32 (50.79%), and 20 (31.74%) patients had respectively severe, moderate, and mild rosacea. There was no statistical significant difference regarding age and gender between different severities (P = 0.39). Forty patients (63.4%) out of all 63 were positive for H. pylori on stool antigen examination. There was no statistically significant association between H. pylori infection and gender (P = 0.87) or age (P = 0.62). There was a statistically significant difference between patients with H. pylori negative and positive test results considering severity (P = 0.013).
In conclusion, although no association between rosacea and H. pylori infection was seen, there was a significant association between H. pylori infection and cases of severe rosacea.