Helicobacter pylori causes several gastrointestinal diseases and may also contribute to the development of type 2 diabetes (T2D). Several studies suggest that there might be a potential link between H. pylori infection and T2D, but it still remains the subject of debate. Here, we first report the cumulative effect of H. pylori infection and T2D by exploiting the excretion kinetics of 13C/12C and 18O/16O isotope ratios of exhaled breath CO2 in response to an oral dose of 13C-enriched glucose in individuals with T2D and non-diabetic controls (NDC) harbouring the H. pylori infection. Using a high-resolution integrated cavity output spectroscopy (ICOS) technique in the infrared region, we observed that the isotopic fractionations of 13C and 18O in breath CO2 are distinctly altered in H. pylori infected T2D patients as well as in H. pylori infected NDC. Several optimal diagnostic cut-off points of 13C and 18O isotopes of breath CO2 were also determined which exhibited the diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of ∼97 % and thus suggesting that breath 13C and 18O isotopes might be considered as potential biomarkers for the non-invasive assessment of the gastric pathogen prior to the onset of T2D. This may open a new diagnostic strategy for treating these common diseases in an alternative way.
Keywords: Biomarker; Helicobacter pylori; breath analysis; carbon-13; glucose breath test; isotope application in diagnostic medicine; type 2 diabetes.