Association between Severity of Liver Disease, Frequency of <i>Helicobacter pylori</i> Infection, and Degree of Gastric Lesion in Egyptian Patients with Hepatitis B Virus Infection.

The relationship between hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, severity of liver disease, frequency of Helicobacter pylori infection, and degree of gastric lesions was not yet fully investigated in Egyptian patients. The present work was performed on 100 Egyptian patients with HBV from the National Hepatology and Tropical Medicine Institute and 70 healthy volunteers as control group. The participants were subjected to full medical history taking, clinical examination, and laboratory investigations. All patients were positive for HBV surface antigen (HBV sAg), HBV DNA, and negative for hepatitis C virus antibodies. The severity of the liver disease was assessed using Child-Pugh scoring system. Screening of all participants for H. pylori Ag in stool was performed. Biopsy specimens were taken from the gastric lesions of H. pylori-infected patients for histopathological examination. The mean age of the patients and control group were 34.9 and 33.4 years, respectively. The levels of the liver enzymes were statistically higher in HBV patients than the control group. Helicobacter pylori Ag in stool was detected in 45.7% of the control group, and a higher percentage (60%) was detected in the patients group. Chronic gastritis with glandular atrophy and metaplasia was found in 15.6% of patients of Child-Pugh A, 70% of Child-Pugh B, and 100% of Child-Pugh C. It could be concluded that the prognosis of the liver disease significantly influences the severity of the gastric pathology in H. pylori infection.