[Prevalence of Helicobacter pylori antibodies in patients with kidney transplantation]. / Prevalenza della sieropositività anti Helicobacter pylori in soggetti con trapianto di rene.

INTRODUCTION: Our target was to verify if belonging to a selected group of patients, who have undergone a kidney transplantation and before that suffered from high level of uremia sometimes with border line levels , could be a risk factor for acquiring HP antibodies. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We evaluated in 23 patients, with an average age of 16.3, attending our Day-Hospital Unit to be followed up after a kidney transplant, the prevalence of anti-HP antibodies, measured in serum by the ELISA method. The prevalence in this group has been compared with that observed in a healthy cohort of 36 people. RESULTS: Antibodies were present in 31.8% of our patients without any correlation with age, age of transplant, serum urea level, cyclosporinemia, total lgG and IgA antibodies. DISCUSSION: In the end, kidney transplantation doesn't seem to be a risk factor for acquiring HP infection. Detecting HP antibodies can be a method to select patients that must undergo other strumental examinations.