Is there a correlation between helicobacter pylori and enterohepatic helicobacter species and gallstone cholecystitis?

Background: Cholecystitis is a common surgical condition. Recently, several authors have reported that DNA of bile tolerant Helicobacter spp. has been found in the human bile colonizing the biliary tract. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between the presence of Helicobacter spp. and gallstone cholecystitis

Methods: In this case-control study, gallstones, bile, and gallbladder mucosa were collected from 25 patients without gallstone disease, 24 with acute cholecystitis, and 28 with chronic cholecystitis. The presence of Helicobacter pylori [H. pylori], Helicobacter bilis [H. bilis], Helicobacter hepaticus [H. hepaticus], and Helicobacter pullorum [H. pullorum] were investigated by polymerase chain reaction [PCR] using species-specific primers

Results: In this study, 77 subjects with acute and chronic cholecystitis and control groups with a mean age of 46.85 +/- 14.53 years, including 58 [67.25%] women and 19 [32.75%] men were included. DNA of 10 Helicobacter spp. was detected in the bile of the patients with cholecystitis including eight H. pylori and two H. bilis. However, we could not detect H. hepaticus and H. pullorum DNA in the samples. Moreover, there was an association between H. pylori and acute cholecystitis [p = 0.048], which was found to be stronger in 31-40-year-olds group [p = 0.003]

Conclusion: We found an association between the presence of H. pylori DNA and acute gallstone cholecystitis. There is not statistically significant correlation between three enterohepatic Helicobacter spp. [H. bilis, H. hepaticus, and H. pullorum] and cholelithiasis. Given the low sample size of the patients, more studies are required to clear the clinical role of Helicobacter spp. in the gallstone disease and cholecystitis

Prevalence and clinical significance of antinuclear antibodies in Iranian women with unexplained recurrent miscarriage

Antinuclear antibodies [ANAs] in women with recurrent miscarriage have been reported. The presence of moderate to high titers of these antibodies represents an autoimmune condition that can endanger the health of the fetus in pregnant women. In this study, we evaluated the prevalence of ANAs in Iranian women with a history of two or more unexplained abortion. 560 women with unexplained recurrent miscarriage and 560 healthy controls accounted for this study over a period of 13 months. ANAs were detected by indirect immunofluorescence technique. ANAs were detected in 74 of 560 [13.21%] patient with recurrent miscarriage, and in only 5 of 560 [0.9%] controls [p<0.001]. ANA positivity was generally found with low-positive results [1.40-1.80] in about 38% of positive cases, whereas moderate titres [1.160-1.320] and high titres [>1.640] were seen in about 46% and 16% of cases respectively. Finally evaluating of microscopic ANA patterns revealed that about half of positive cases had antibodies against DNA- histone complex, associated with systemic lupus erythematosus disease. Antinuclear antibodies are not uncommon in women with unexplained recurrent miscarriage, suggesting the possible role of an autoimmune disorder on abortion, at least in a subgroup of patients