Helicobacter pylori seroprevalance in patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome

Hypoxemia related conditions are associated with an increased risk of gastric damage. Helicobacter pylori (H.pylori) infection also causes gastric damage and affects approximately 40 million individuals in Turkey. Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is a sleep disorder and is characterized by episodic upper airway obstruction during sleep. It is associated with oxyhemoglobin desaturations, hypoxemia and discontinuation of sleep. However, there are a few data in the field of H.pylori prevalence among the patients with OSAS which is linked to tissue hypoxemia. The aim of the current study was to investigate the link between H.pylori infection and OSAS. Between February 2011 and February 2012, faeces was collected from OSAS patients ( n=24; 12 female) and healthy individuals (n=100, 50 female) and analysed using the H. pylori Stool Antigen Test. OSAS was detected with polysomnography in connection with disease symptoms and findings. All data was recorded on SPSS and analyzed with chi-square test. Among 24 patients with OSAS, 12 (50%) of them had a positive result for H.pylori fecal test. In control group (100 subjects), H.pylori fecoprevalance was only 15%. H.pylori antibody seropositivity was significantly higher in patients with OSAS compared to control patients (p<0.001). Consistent with recent epidemiologic studies to date, seroprevalence of H.pylori was found higher than normal subjects. Seroprevalance of H.pylori detected with fecal test were significantly higher in patients with OSAS. OSAS is related to presence of H.pylori. A positive correlation between the H.pylori infection and OSAS might be hypothesized. This may be due to gastric damage due to OSAS-related hypoxemia.