Relationship between helicobacter pylori and gastric metaplasia in duodenal ulcer

Objective To study the association of Helicobacter pylori(Hp) and gastric metaplasia in duodenal ulcer.Methods Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy was performed in 70 patients with duodenal ulcer and 55 controls.Rapid urease test and antral gastric biopsies semiquantitative assessment were used for detection of Hp infection.In order to diagnose duodenal gastric metaplasia in biopsy specimens,hematoxylin eosin and periodic acid Schiff staining method were used.Results Duodenal gastric metaplasia was more frequent in duodenal ulcer patients than in controls (55.9% vs 25%, P 0.05 for Hp positive and 72.7% vs 33.3%, P 0.05 for Hp negative patients).There was no relationship between prevalence and extent of duodenal bulb gastric metaplasia with Hp antral colonization rate and its degree.Conclusion Hp is neither an obligatory factor in the etiology of duodenal gastric metaplasia nor the factor of the extension of already present gastric metaplasia.Duodenal ulcer itself is a key denominator of duodenal gastric metaplasia.