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Association of Helicobacter species with hepatitis C cirrhosis with or without hepatocellular carcinoma

¹ Laboratoire de Bactériologie EA3667 IFR 66, Université Victor Segalen Bordeaux 2, Bordeaux, France
² Groupe de Recherche pour l’Étude du Foie, INSERM E0362, IFR 66, Université Victor Segalen Bordeaux 2, Bordeaux, France, and Service d’Anatomie Pathologique, Hôpital Pellegrin, Bordeaux, France
³ Groupe de Recherche pour l’Étude du Foie, INSERM E0362, IFR 66, Université Victor Segalen Bordeaux 2, Bordeaux, France
⁴ Laboratório de Pesquisa em Bacteriologia, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Professor F Mégraud
Université Victor Segalen Bordeaux 2, Laboratoire de Bactériologie, Bat 2B RDC Zone Nord, 33076 Bordeaux cedex, France; francis.megraud{at}chu-bordeaux.fr

Background and aims: Recent studies have suggested that bacterial coinfection with Helicobacter species in patients already infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) could be involved in the development of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). A retrospective cross sectional study was performed in order to explore the association between Helicobacter species and HCV associated liver diseases.

Methods: The presence of Helicobacter species was tested by polymerase chain reaction on liver samples from four groups of patients.

Results: Helicobacter 16S rDNA was found in only 4.2% of liver samples from control patients (n = 24) and in 3.5% of liver samples from patients with non-cirrhotic chronic hepatitis C (n = 29) while it was found in 68.0% of liver samples from patients with HCV positive cirrhosis without HCC (n = 25) as well as in 61.3% of cirrhotic liver samples from patients with HCV positive cirrhosis and HCC (n = 31). In addition, when the HCC tumour tissue was tested (n = 21), 90.5% of samples were positive. DNA from Helicobacter pylori- and Helicobacter pullorum-like organisms was found.

Conclusions: There is an association between the presence of Helicobacter species DNA in the liver and hepatitis C cirrhosis, with or without HCC. Indeed, the presence of these bacteria could be the result of structural changes in the liver. Alternatively, Helicobacter species could be a co-risk factor in HCV chronic liver diseases. This result warrants prospective studies to determine the possible causal role of these bacteria in the progression of chronic hepatitis C.

Abbreviations: HCC, hepatocellular carcinoma; HCV, hepatitis C virus; HBV, hepatitis B virus; PCR, polymerase chain reaction

Keywords: Helicobacter; hepatitis C; cirrhosis; hepatocellular carcinoma

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