Does Helicobacter pylori eradication effect body composition, dietary intake, serum leptin and ghrelin levels of infected patients?

Objective: Take in to account the relationship between obesity and many diseases and con- tradictory published results considering the effects of H. pylori infection on leptin and ghre- lin levels, we decided to determine the effect of H. pylori eradication on body composition, dietary intake, leptin and ghrelin levels of infected patients. Methods: This study included 100 patients. After endoscopy, active infection with H. pylori was determined by rapid urease test and histopathology evaluation. Eradication was con- firmed by the urea breath test at 3 months. The body weight, body composition and dietary intake of patients were assessed by Seca scale, Maltron Bioscan 916 and 24-hour recall food questionnaire respectively before and after eradication. Serum leptin and ghrelin were deter- mined by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits. Results: The mean body weight, fat mass and body cell mass of patients increased after eradication but only the changes of body weight was statistically significant (P=0.01). The mean free fat mass and percentage of free fat mass decreased significantly at the end of study (P<0.05). Eradication has no significant effect on dietary intake, serum leptin and ghrelin levels. Conclusion: According to our findings, eradication of H. pylori lead to a statistically signifi- cant increase of body weight and fat mass in patients while dietary intake, serum leptin and ghrelin levels of subjects did not change after treatment. It seems that enhanced incidence of gastro-esophageal reflux disease after H. pylori eradication may be due to increased body weight of these patients. Therefore dietary consulting can be helpful in H. pylori infected patients for preventing of weight gain after eradication.