Peculiarities of laboratory parameters dynamics during helicobacter pylori eradication in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is able to participate in the pathogenesis of a number of autoimmune diseases, actively maintains chronic inflammation and stimulates the systemic immune response. The virulence factor of H. pylori is cytotoxin-associated gene A (CagA) is associated with more severe inflammatory reactions, increased risk of poor clinical outcomes and is able to influence the efficacy of infection eradication in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Purpose of the study. To evaluate laboratory parameters of H. pylori eradication efficacy in RA patients with chronic infection with the strain encoding cytotoxin-associated gene A.

Materials and methods. Forty women with RA and confirmed chronic H. pylori infection were included in the study (mean age 55.5±8.7 years; mean disease duration 13.9±9.1 years; DAS-28–3.96±0.56). CagA-IgG associated H. pylori infection was diagnosed in 22 (group I, CagA+) and not diagnosed in 18 (group II, CagA-) patients. All RA patients underwent a course of H. pylori eradication therapy.

Results. The process of H. pylori eradication had the most significant effect on laboratory parameters of CagA-negative RA patients (group II). In this group the levels of rheumatoid factor (p=0,028), C-reactive protein (CRP, p=0.001), interleukin-6 (IL-6, p=0.002), tumor necrosis factor alpha (p=0,023), angiopoietinlike protein type 3 (p=0.026) and antibodies to cyclic citrullinated peptide (ACCP, p=0,016) decreased significantly. In patients from group I (CagA+) most parameters remained practically unchanged (p>0.05), except for CRP (p=0.01) and IL-6 (p=0.011). In the short term, the success of eradication in CagA+ patients was significantly lower than in CagA- patients (p=0.033). Moreover, confirmation of successful eradication of H. pylori within the established period of time was extremely rare (p=0.009) in the combination of CagA+ and high titers of ACCP and antibodies to modified citrullinated vimentin.

Conclusions. The effectiveness of H. pylori eradication in RA patients depends on the presence of chronic infection with the strain encoding the cytotoxin-associated gene A and the level of antibodies to citrullinated proteins, which should be taken into account when choosing the therapeutic effect on H. pylori in this group.

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