The association between Helicobacter pylori infection and food intolerance in western China

Introduction: Helicobacter pylori ( H. pylori ) has been found to be associated with extragastrointestinal diseases while the studies on its association with food intolerance are rare. In our study, we tried to explore the relationship between H. pylori infection and food intolerance.MethodsWe retrospectively analyzed the physical examination data of 21,822 subjects from February 2014 to December 2018 in this study. H. pylori infection was determined by 13 C urea breath test. The food specific IgG in serum were detected to assess the food tolerance status of egg, milk and wheat.ResultsThe total infection rate of H. pylori was 39.3% and the total food intolerance rates of egg, milk and wheat were 25.2%, 9.0% and 4.7%, respectively. The infection rate of H. pylori was higher in males than that in females, while the intolerance rates were lower in males than that in females. The infection rates of H. pylori increased with age except for people over sixty, while the intolerance rates decreased. In H. pylori positive group, the intolerance rates were lower than that in the H. pylori negative group. At the same level of food intolerance, the intolerance rates in H. pylori positive group were lower than that in H. pylori negative group. Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that H. pylori infection was negatively correlated with intolerance of egg, milk and wheat ( OR value of egg 0.844–0.873, milk 0.741–0.751, wheat 0.762–0.801).Conclusions H. pylori infection was negatively correlated with intolerance of egg, milk and wheat in Sichuan, western China.