COBALAMIN DEFICIENCY

HELICOBACTER PYLORI INFECTED PATIENTS: A MYTH OR REALITY

Abstract

Objectives: The present study aims to evaluate the serum cobalamin in
Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infected patients. Study Design: Case control study. Place and
Duration: Department of Medicine, Isra University Hospital Hyderabad from March 2013- April
2014. Methodology: A sample of 109 subjects including Helicobacter pylori positive subjects
and controls were selected according to study criteria. Centrifugation of blood was performed
at 4000 rpm for 10 minutes and sera were stored at -20oC. Blood sera were used for H. pylori
serological testing. Blood counting was performed on hematoanalyzer. Cobas e411 analyzer
was used for detection of cobalamin. 64 kD H. pylori antigens was detected by ELISA. The
data was entered into SPSS version 21.0. (IBM, Incorporation, USA) A 2-tailed p-value of ≤0.05
was considered significant for statistical analysis. Results: Of total 109, 54.1% (n=59) were
H. pylori seropositive cases and others were controls i.e. 45.9% (n=50). Cases and controls
showed cobalamin levels of 290±49.3 vs. 351±32.9 pg/ml respectively (p=0.0001). Red blood
cell indices were found to show statistically significant difference between cases and controls
(p=0.001). Conclusion: Serum cobalamin deficiency was noted in both Helicobacter pylori
positive and controls, however deficiency was more pronounced in Helicobacter pylori positive
subjects.