Association between H. pylori infection & hypertension in the residents of the Northern Persian Gulf

Due to presence of confounding factors in contemporary studies, there are controversial data on correlation between hypertension and chronic H. pylori infection. In our study which was conducted for the first time in the Western Asia, we tried to find any correlation between hypertension and positive H. pylori seropositivity after correction for the confounding factors. To evaluate any correlation between H. pylori infection and hypertension, the randomized multistage stratified cluster sampling method was used to select 1752 subjects from Northern Persian Gulf (Bushehr, Genaveh and Dailam). Hypertension was defined according to WHO criteria. ELISA method was used for seropositivity of H. pylori infection. The prevalence of hypertension and positive H. pylori seropositivity were 26.3% and 61.6%, respectively. According to multivariate logistic regression analysis, we observed correlation between hypertension and positive H. pylori seropositivity, independent of type II diabetes, high LDL cholesterol, smoking, and high BMI [OR=1.49; CI (1.18-1.89); P= 0.001]. There is an association between H. pylori infection and hypertension in the residents of the Northern Persian Gulf after adjustment of demographic and metabolic factors.