Study of the Helicobacter pylori infection in Iranian patients with multiple sclerosis

Introduction

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory demyelinating disease of the central nervous system (CNS), the etiology of which is believed to have both genetic and environmental components. During recent years, attention was paid to the role of bacterial infections in the process of MS development. Helicobacter pylori infections have been linked to peripheral neuropathies as they may trigger cellular and humoral immunity due to the sharing of similar epitopes present in the nervous tissue. We have investigated one of the candidate bacterials for the environmental component of MS, H. pylori.

Objective

To evaluate the roles of H. pylori in tendency toward MS in Iranian patients.

Methods

In a prospective case-control study, we studied 78 patients with MS and 123 healthy controls for viral DNA detection and antibody assay. DNA extracted from serum and real-time PCR was employed to detection of H. pylori genome. The levels of anti-H. pylori IgG were measured in samples by ELISA in Dr Ahmadi's medical laboratory.

Results

We found H. pylori DNA in 84% and 71% of patients and healthy controls, respectively. Furthermore, higher levels of anti-H. pylori IgG were detected in patients in contrast with healthy controls. Moreover, the genome copy number of H. pylori was significantly increased in patients. Results are expressed as the mean ± standard deviation and analyzed using Student's t test for comparison between two groups. Results were considered significant when P < 0.05.

Conclusions

We did not observe significant correlation between prevalence of H. pylori DNA and development of MS in selected patients, but active H. pylori infection was found in patients more than in controls. These results support the hypothesis that H. pylori may contribute to the MS disease thought to establish active infection process and induce immune response. The role of H. pylori in the modulation of MS requires further study.