Helicobacter pylori colonization of tongue mucosa – increased incidence in atrophic glossitis and burning mouth syndrome (BMS)

Nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed to detect the presence of Helicobacter pylori in tongue mucosa in 268 patients divided into four groups according to their diagnosis: 87 with atrophic glossitis, 37 with benign migratory glossitis and 144 with burning mouth syndrome (BMS). The latter group was subdivided according to anatomic site of burning sensation: subgroup A (54 patients) with complaints limited to tongue and subgroup B (90 patients) with burning sensations in other parts of oral mucosa. H. pylori was found in 43 samples (16%). Bacteria were significantly less present in tongue mucosa affected with benign migratory glossitis compared with atrophic glossitis and BMS (P=0.025). This difference was more obvious when compared with atrophic glossitis only (P=0.006). Mucosal changes in these conditions might make the oral environment more acceptable for H. pylori colonization compared with normal mucosa, and this mechanism may play a role in its oro-oral transmission.