International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, Volume 6, Issue 5, May 2016 234 ISSN 2250-3153 www.ijsrp.org Seroprevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection in patients with non-ulcer dyspepsia in Zaria metropolis Taiwo T. Ajiboye, Edward D. Jatau and, Helen I. Inabo Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria Abstract- Background of the study: Since Helicobacter pylori was first cultured by Warren and Marshall in 1983, much has been learned about its clinical aspects and its epidemiology. Knowledge of the epidemiology of this infection comes mainly from prevalence studies. In this research work, the prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection was studied among patients with non-ulcer dyspepsia in the Out-Patients Department of four selected hospitals in Zaria, Kaduna State, to assess the risk factors associated with the infection. A total of two-hundred and fifty (250) blood samples were collected from consenting patients. Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to test for the IgM and IgG antibodies to Helicobacter pylori in the patients’ serum samples. Statistical package for social science (SPSS) version 21 was used to test for the associated risk factors for the infection. The result obtained showed an overall prevalence of 73.6% (184/250), and 39.2% (98/250) for H. pylori IgG and IgM antibodies respectively. There was a significant association between H. pylori-IgM seropositivity and Household crowding (χ 2 =8.185, p=0.017), washing of hands with soap (χ 2 =13.705, p=0.000), Educational status (χ 2 =10.919, p=0.012) and Socioeconomic Status (χ 2 =7.568, p=0.006). Only hand washing with soap showed a significant association with H. pylori-IgG seropositivity (χ 2 =44.206, p=0.000). We concluded that the overall prevalence H. pylori infection among dyspeptic patients in this study strongly correlates with congested household crowding, poor hand hygiene, low level of education and socioeconomic status. Index Terms- Helicobacter pylori, Non-ulcer dyspepsia, Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay, Seroprevalence. I. INTRODUCTION yspepsia is generally defined by most clinicians as the presence of chronic or frequently recurring epigastric pain or discomfort which is believed to originate in the gastro- duodenal region. This may be associated with other upper gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms such as nausea, belching, vomiting, postprandial fullness, and early satiety (Al-Humayed et al., 2010). Chronic dyspeptic symptoms can be continuous, intermittent (episodic), or recurrent (Ramin et al., 2014). Dyspepsia is a common problem in the general population that frequently induces visits to the primary care physician and many possible causes have been suggested for dyspepsia, such as; lifestyle factors, stress, altered visceral sensation, alterations in gastric acid secretion, peptic ulcer disease (PUD), drugs; especially non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), as well as Helicobacter pylori infection (Aziz et al., 2009). Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is a Gram negative, micro- aerophilic, spiral-shaped, flagellated bacterium that inhabits the gastric mucosa of the human stomach with a strong affinity for gastric-type epithelium. The discovery of H. pylori by Warren and Marshall, in 1983 was a major breakthrough in the management of dyspepsia (Talley and Vakil, 2005). The association between H. pylori infection and dyspeptic symptoms has long been established with H. pylori infection having high population attributable risk for dyspepsia (Ugwuja and Ugwu, 2007). H. Pylori infection is a worldwide problem and human beings have been the preferred host, colonized for at least 50,000 years and probably throughout their evolution. The organism colonizes from childhood and persists throughout life if left untreated (Atherton and Blaser, 2009). More than half of the world’s population in both developed and developing countries are infected with this organism (Czinn, 2005). An epidemiological survey by Cover and Blaser, (1995), reveals that H. pylor infection is significantly higher in developing countries where the prevalence rate ranges between 70% and 90%, as compared to 20-50% in developed countries making H. pylori probably one of the most common bacterial infections of humans. In Nigeria, various studies on H. pylori show prevalence rates between 73.0% and 94.5% among patients with dyspepsia (Holcombe et al., 1994; Ndububa et al., 2001; Otegbayo et al., 2004). Studies have demonstrated that H. pylori infection plays a key role in the aetiology of various gastrointestinal diseases that were not previously believed to have a microbial cause (Rosenstock, 1997; Patric et al., 1999). H. pylori infection may lead to acute gastritis (abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting) within two weeks of infection. Duodenal inflammation (duodenitis) also often occurs as well as duodenal ulcer. Long lasting H. pylori infection results in persistent inflammation which can lead to an inflammatory response of the stomach known as atrophic gastritis (type B), a recognized precursor of gastric ulcer disease and gastric cancer, which is the second most common cancer world-wide. Chronic infection also causes gastric mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphomas (Oluwasola, et al., 2002). However, in some individuals, infection may not show any clinical symptoms, suggesting that the disease outcome may be influenced by the strain of H. pylori and its interaction with the host as well as genetic and environmental factors (Hunt et al., 2010). The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence of H. pylori infection in patients presenting with non-ulcer dyspepsia in selected hospital in Zaria, Kaduna State Nigeria. D