The association between Helicobacter pylori and obesity: a systematic review and meta-analysis of case-control studies

Ali Baradaran; Hojat Dehghanbanadaki; Sara Naderpour; Leila Mohammadi Pirkashani; Abdolhalim Rajabi; Roya Rashti; Sevda Riahifar; Yousef Moradi

doi:10.1186/s40842-021-00131-w

The association between Helicobacter pylori and obesity: a systematic review and meta-analysis of case-control studies

Clin Diabetes Endocrinol. 2021 Jul 10;7(1):15. doi: 10.1186/s40842-021-00131-w.

Authors

Ali Baradaran¹, Hojat Dehghanbanadaki², Sara Naderpour³, Leila Mohammadi Pirkashani⁴, Abdolhalim Rajabi⁵, Roya Rashti⁶, Sevda Riahifar⁷, Yousef Moradi⁸

Affiliations

¹ Endocrine Research Center, Institute of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
² Students Scientific Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
³ Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
⁴ Clinical Research Development Center, Imam Reza Hospital, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran.
⁵ Department of Health Management and Social Development Research Center, Faculty of Health, Golestan University of Medical Sciences, Gorgan, Iran.
⁶ Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Research Institute for Health Development, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, 66179-13446, Iran.
⁷ Department of Biostatistics, Faculty of Public Health, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
⁸ Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Research Institute for Health Development, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, 66179-13446, Iran. Yousefmoradi211@yahoo.com.

Abstract

Introduction: The relationship between H. pylori infection and obesity development has remained controversial among various studies. The aim of this study was to clarify the pooled effect of H. pylori infection on the development of obesity and vice versa.

Methods: We searched international databases including Medline (PubMed), Web of sciences, Scopus, EMBASE, Cochrane, Ovid, and CINHAL to retrieve all case-control studies reporting the effect of H. pylori on obesity and vice versa, which had been published in English between January 1990 and June 2019. The quality of included studies was assessed by the Modified Newcastle-Ottawa Scale for Case-Control studies. The logarithm of the odds ratio (OR) and its standard error was used for the meta-analysis.

Results: Eight case-control studies with 25,519 participants were included for qualitative and quantitative analyses. The pooled analysis showed that obese participants had a higher risk of H. pylori infection than lean participants with an odds ratio of 1.46 (95%CI: 1.26, 1.68). Also, the pooled analysis revealed that participants infected by H. pylori had a higher risk of obesity than non-infected participants with an odds ratio of 1.01 (95%CI: 1.01, 1.02).

Conclusion: The results of this meta-analysis showed that there was a positive correlation between the risk of H. pylori infection and the prevalence of obesity development. Thus, H. pylori positive patients were more likely to be obese, and obese individuals had higher risks of H. pylori infection.

Keywords: Case–control; Helicobacter pylori; Meta-analysis; Obesity; Systematic review.