Ask A Scientist© Molecular Biology Archive

name       Kay
status     other
age        20s

Question -  I am curious to know if there has been research on a
connection with H. pylori and multiple sclerosis?.
I read something about H. pylori can have an effect on the immune system.

Dear Kay,
H. pylori is a bacterium that colonizes the stomach.
Up to 80% of people are infected (depending on age and
country) and infection is life-long, unless treated
with a severe course of antibiotics. Most infections
occur without symptoms. In some cases, gastric ulcers
occur. In even fewer cases, gastric cancer can be the
result.

There are different type of H. pylori bacteria, and
some are recognized to never give rise to ulcers. The
bacteria have evolved to fit the ecological niche of
the human stomach very well, and in doing so they seem
to have adapted so as to minimalize damage to their
host, so that they can survive and multiply
'undisturbed'. Outside the human body they can not
survive long, and cannot multiply.

The human immune system recognizes the bacteria and
tries to remove them, without success. It is therefore
no big surprise that many immunological disorders are
thought to connect somehow to H. pylori infection: the
immune system is constantly at the alert because of
the presence of the bug. However, any study has the
difficulty that so many people are infected: you have
to design your control group carefully to draw the
right conclusions.

I checked the literature for you. There are some case
reports of a relation between H. pylori infection and
systemic sclerosis (but not multiple sclerosis),
however there is a need for a large, double-blind
study with proper control groups before we can draw
any conclusions.

At present I would say there is no reason for an MS
patient to have his/her H. pylori status checked.

I attach the abstract of a review article on this
subject, with apologies for the jargon.

Best, Trudy Wassenaar

J Physiol Pharmacol 1999 Dec;50(5):753-76

Helicobacter pylori infection and skin diseases,

Wedi B, Kapp A

Department of Dermatology and Allergology, Hannover
Medical University, Germany.

There is increasing evidence for systemic effects of
gastric H. pylori infection which may result in
extragastrointestinal disorders. This review
summarizes the available medical literature up to
September 1999, identified through a MEDLINE research
including own studies, regarding H. pylori and skin
diseases. Due to current knowledge best evidence for a
potential link of H. pylori infection exists for
chronic urticaria although the data are still
conflicting. Thus, the search for H. pylori should be
included  in the diagnostic management of chronic
urticaria. With regard to other skin diseases such as
rosacea,
hereditary or acquired angioedema due to C1-esterase
inhibitor deficiency, systemic sclerosis,
Schonlein-Henoch purpura, Sjogren's syndrome, sweet's
syndrome, and atopic dermatitis only single of few
cases have been reported so far. Thus, we clearly need
further randomized, double-blind and
placebo-controlled studies including adequate
diagnostic schedules, sufficient eradication treatment
  protocols, confirmation of eradication, and adequate
control groups to establish a role of H. pylori in
skin diseases. Caution must be taken not to accuse H.
pylori as the infectious agent responsible for every
disease, particularly since H. pylori infection is
very common. Although from an epidemiological and
morphological view the skin diseases to which H.
pylori has been linked seem to be completely different
it is striking that in most of them an autoimmune
pathogenesis is suspected or considerable vascular
impairment can be found.

=========================================================