Inverse relations between Helicobacter pylori infection and risk of esophageal precancerous lesions in drinkers and peanut consumption

Da Pan; Gui-Ju Sun; Ming Su; Xin Wang; Qing-Yang Yan; Guang Song; Yuan-Yuan Wang; Deng-Feng Xu; Nian-Nian Wang; Shao-Kang Wang

doi:10.4251/wjgo.v14.i9.1689

Inverse relations between Helicobacter pylori infection and risk of esophageal precancerous lesions in drinkers and peanut consumption

World J Gastrointest Oncol. 2022 Sep 15;14(9):1689-1698. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.v14.i9.1689.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Environmental Medicine and Engineering of Ministry of Education, Department of Nutrition and Food Hygiene,School of Public Health, Southeast University, Nanjing 210009, Jiangsu Province, China.
² Department of Chronic Disease, Huai'an District Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Huai'an 223200, Jiangsu Province, China.
³ Key Laboratory of Environmental Medicine and Engineering of Ministry of Education, Department of Nutrition and Food Hygiene,School of Public Health, Southeast University, Nanjing 210009, Jiangsu Province, China. shaokangwang@seu.edu.cn.

Abstract

Background: Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is a Gram-negative bacterium found in the upper digestive tract. Although H. pylori infection is an identified risk factor for gastric cancer, its role in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) remains a topic of much debate.

Aim: To evaluate the association between H. pylori infection and the risk of precancerous lesions of ESCC, and further explore the association between dietary factors and the risk of H. pylori infection.

Methods: Two hundred patients with esophageal precancerous lesions (EPL) aged 63.01 ± 6.08 years and 200 healthy controls aged 62.85 ± 6.03 years were included in this case-control study. Epidemiological data and qualitative food frequency data were investigated. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay measuring serum immunoglobulin G antibodies was used to determine H. pylori seropositivity. An unconditional logistic regression model was used to assess the association between H. pylori infection and EPL risk dichotomized by gender, age, and the use of tobacco and alcohol, as well as the association between dietary factors and the risk of H. pylori infection.

Results: A total of 47 (23.5%) EPL cases and 58 (29.0%) healthy controls had positive H. pylori infection. An inverse relation between H. pylori infection and the risk of EPL was found in the group of drinkers after adjustment for covariates [odds ratio (OR) = 0.32, 95% confidence interval (95%CI): 0.11-0.95]. Additionally, peanut intake was significantly associated with a decreased risk of H. pylori infection (OR = 0.39, 95%CI: 0.20-0.74).

Conclusion: Our study suggested that H. pylori infection may decrease the risk of EPL for drinkers in a rural adult Chinese population, and the consumption of peanut may reduce the risk of H. pylori infection. These findings should be framed as preliminary evidence, and further studies are required to address whether the mechanisms are related to the localization of lesions and alcohol consumption.

Keywords: Esophageal precancerous lesions; Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma; Helicobacter pylori; Peanut consumption.