Detection of Helicobacter pylori in Infective Nasal Polyp and Sinus Mucosal Specimens of Patients with Nasal Polyp and Comparison with Sinus Biopsy Specimens of Healthy Control Group by Immunologic and PCR Methods

There are several studies evaluating Helicobacter pylori (H.pylori) in nasal and sinus mucosa in chronic rhinosinusitis; however studies dealing with the direct evaluation of H.pylori in nasal polyps are limited. So the objective of this research was to evaluate the frequency of H.pylori nasal polyp and sinus mucosa of patients with nasal polyp in comparison to sinus biopsy specimens of healthy control group. In this case-control study 62 patients with nasal polyp and 25 healthy individuals with nasal bone fracture, older than 12 years and without any chronic systemic disease were enrolled by nonrandom consecutive sampling method. Serum anti-H.pylori IgA and IgG were evaluated by ELISA and the antigen was evaluated by PCR in nasal polyp and sinus mucosa specimens of patients and controls, respectively. To compare the study variables between the two groups Chi-square analysis was performed. Median age of patients and controls was 38 years (range: 12-65 yrs) and 26 years (range: 18-54 yrs), respectively. Male percentage was 63% in patients and 40% in controls. IgA positives were similar in both patients and controls (14.5% vs. 4%, p-value=0.27), but significant difference was observed in case of IgG (71% vs. 32%, p-value=0.001). Also the PCR results were different between groups (32.3% vs. 4%, p-value=0.005). There were more cases of both IgG/PCR positive results in patients group (29% vs. 4%, p-value=0.01). Based on the molecular study and variation in IgG concentration for H.pylori, there is a correlation between H.pylori, as a potential etiologic agent, and nasal polyp in our study.