IM - ORIGINAL Influence of Helicobacter pylori infection on metabolic parameters and body composition of dyslipidemic patients Elena Moretti • Stefano Gonnelli • Mariastella Campagna • Ranuccio Nuti • Giulia Collodel • Natale Figura Received: 11 November 2013 / Accepted: 26 December 2013 Ó SIMI 2014 Abstract Helicobacter pylori infection may contribute to the development of extra-gastroduodenal diseases. The aim of this study was to explore whether this infection could influence metabolic parameters and body composition of dyslipidemic patients. In an 8-month period, 155 patients attended our clinic; 110 patients (48 men and 62 women, age 35–55 years) fulfilled inclusion criteria. Metabolic parameters were determined by routine tests and body composition by anthropometry and bioelectrical impedance analysis. The H. pylori and CagA infectious status were examined serologically. Sixty-one patients (55.4 %) had serum antibodies to H. pylori and 30 infected patients (49.1 %) had anti-CagA antibodies. The mean percentage of fat mass and level of high-density protein cholesterol in seropositive patients were significantly lower than those measured in seronegative ones (P = 0.008 and P \ 0.001, respectively). The mean glucose concentration in patients with anti-H. pylori serum IgG was significantly higher than in uninfected patients (P = 0.021). No significant differ- ence was observed regarding the other parameters. The CagA status did not influence any of the considered parameters. Our results are in agreement with those of other studies; however, the level of concordance of results reported in the various publications on this topic is very low, presumably from differences concerning the age, ali- mentary habits and possible presence of different pathologies in the groups studied. The most plausible hypothesis for the observed alterations may exist in the low-grade systemic inflammatory status of infected indi- viduals, which may influence the fat turnover and support the insulin resistance with consequent alteration of glucose metabolism. Keywords BMI Á CagA Á Dyslipidemia Á Fat mass Á Glucose Á H. pylori infection Á HDL-cholesterol Introduction Helicobacter pylori is a Gram-negative microorganism that infects 20–40 % of the western world population, and more than 50 % of individuals who live in the developing countries. This species colonizes the gastroduodenal tract, causes chronic gastritis and peptic ulcer disease, and has a strong impact on the development of gastric cancer [1–3]. Over the past several decades, different studies dem- onstrate that the outcome of H. pylori infection may not be confined to the digestive tract, and that the infection can be associated with extra-digestive pathologies including ath- erosclerotic vascular diseases [4–6]. Atherosclerosis is a multifactorial disease, in which inflammation and lipid disorders play an important role [7]. H. pylori infection may influence atherogenesis through a persistent low-grade inflammatory stimulation, and an alteration of the serum lipid concentrations [8]. Moreover, this infection may disturb lipid metabolism in a way that may increase the risk of atherosclerosis [9]. The observation that H. pylori infection may affect lipid profile was first made by Murray et al. [10], who report reduced high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels in serum samples of H. pylori-infected women E. Moretti Á G. Collodel Department of Molecular and Developmental Medicine, University of Siena, Siena, Italy S. Gonnelli Á M. Campagna Á R. Nuti Á N. Figura (&) Department of Medical, Surgical and Neurological Sciences, University of Siena and Policlinico S. Maria alle Scotte, Viale Bracci, Siena, Italy e-mail: figuranatale@gmail.com; natale.figura@unisi.it 123 Intern Emerg Med DOI 10.1007/s11739-013-1043-6