Effect of Helicobacter pylori Eradication on Disease Symptoms, Inflammation, and Quality of Life in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Non-blinded Prospective Quasi-experimental Study.
Source: PubMed, NCBI / U.S. National Library of Medicine
We investigated the effects of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) eradication on quality of life (QoL), pain, inflammation, and other symptoms in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. In this study, patients with RA were divided into H.pylori-positive and H. pylorinegative groups. The positive group received a 5-day eradication treatment plus standard RA treatment. The negative group received only standard RA treatment. Arthritis severity, Disease Activity Score 28 (DAS28), VAS, the European Quality of Life Questionnaire (EQ-5D), Creactive protein (CRP), and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) were evaluated before treatment, at 4 and 8 weeks post-treatment. The H. pylori-positive group had significantly lower arthritis severity, painful joints, morning stiffness, disease activity, CRP, and ESR (p <0.05). The Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) score at week 8 and pain at weeks 4 and 8 were significantly less than those of the H. pylori-positive (p <0.05). Only the HAQ score differed significantly between the groups, with greater improvement in the H. pylori-positive group. Moreover, the last component of the QoL improved significantly (all p <0.05). H. pylori eradication may confer additional benefits in RA, as greater improvements in inflammation, pain, functional status, and QoL were observed in the H. pylori-positive group. These results support a potential role of chronic infection in RA disease activity. More clinical trials with larger samples and longer follow-up are ne
Abstract
We investigated the effects of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) eradication on quality of life (QoL), pain, inflammation, and other symptoms in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. In this study, patients with RA were divided into H.pylori-positive and H. pylorinegative groups. The positive group received a 5-day eradication treatment plus standard RA treatment. The negative group received only standard RA treatment. Arthritis severity, Disease Activity Score 28 (DAS28), VAS, the European Quality of Life Questionnaire (EQ-5D), Creactive protein (CRP), and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) were evaluated before treatment, at 4 and 8 weeks post-treatment. The H. pylori-positive group had significantly lower arthritis severity, painful joints, morning stiffness, disease activity, CRP, and ESR (p <0.05). The Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) score at week 8 and pain at weeks 4 and 8 were significantly less than those of the H. pylori-positive (p <0.05). Only the HAQ score differed significantly between the groups, with greater improvement in the H. pylori-positive group. Moreover, the last component of the QoL improved significantly (all p <0.05). H. pylori eradication may confer additional benefits in RA, as greater improvements in inflammation, pain, functional status, and QoL were observed in the H. pylori-positive group. These results support a potential role of chronic infection in RA disease activity. More clinical trials with larger samples and longer follow-up are needed. Disease activity, pain, HAQ scores, and QoL improved for all patients, indicating the regimen's effectiveness. More pronounced improvements in the H. pylori-positive patients suggest a possible association between eradication therapy and symptom improvement.