Association between Helicobacter pylori infection and gallbladder diseases: A retrospective study

BACKGROUND AND AIM: The association between Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) and gallbladder diseases is still unclear and is controversial. We conducted a retrospective study to clarify the prevalence of gallbladder diseases and factors related to gallbladder diseases and relationships between H. pylori infection, gallstones, cholecystitis, and cholecystic polypus. METHODS: The retrospective study was performed at the Aerospace Center Hospital in Beijing. The subjects in this study were a healthy population who underwent health examinations at the hospital between 2012 and 2015. The logistic regression models were used to explore the relationships between H. pylori infection and gallbladder diseases. RESULTS: There were 7803 (43.4%) subjects with H. pylori infection, 995 (5.5%) with gallstones, 219 (1.2%) with cholecystitis, and 1003 (5.6%) with cholecystic polypus amongst 17 971 subjects, respectively. In subjects aged 45 years or less, the prevalence of gallstones in the H. pylori (+) group was lower than that in the H. pylori (-) group (odds ratio = 0.653; 95% confidence interval: 0.468-0.911; P = 0.012). The prevalence of cholecystic polypus in the H. pylori (+) group was significantly higher than that in the H. pylori (-) group (odds ratio = 1.160; 95% confidence interval: 1.012-1.328; P = 0.033). CONCLUSIONS: Helicobacter pylori infection was related with cholecystic polypus and gallstones in a Chinese population.