An investigation into the relationship between anti-Helicobacter pylori and anti-Saccharomyces cerevisiae antibodies in patients with axial spondyloarthritis and Crohn disease

Rheumatol Int. 2015 Feb;35(2):359-66. doi: 10.1007/s00296-014-3088-x. Epub 2014 Aug 14.

Abstract

Spondyloarthritis (SpA) is a musculoskeletal inflammatory disease linked with immune responses to intestinal microbiota, and subclinical intestinal ulcerations that are closely related to inflammatory bowel diseases. Helicobacter pylori is a common cause of gastroduodenal ulceration, and anti-Saccharomyces cerevisiae antibodies (ASCA) are associated with intestinal inflammation in both Crohn disease (CD) and SpA. We investigated the relationship between H. pylori and ASCA. Ninety-one patients with axial SpA and forty with CD were included. ASCA IgG/IgA and anti-H. pylori IgG titers were assessed by ELISA. The proportion of ASCA+ patients in the positive and negative anti-H. pylori IgG groups with SpA and CD were compared using Chi-square tests, and correlations were evaluated using the Spearman's coefficient. Anti-H. pylori IgG titers were significantly negatively correlated with the ASCA IgG (r = -0.563, p < 0.001) and IgA (r = -0.342, p = 0.019) titers in the axial SpA patients. The same pattern of negative correlation was also observed in the CD patients. Anti-H. pylori+ serology was significantly more frequent in axial SpA patients than in those with CD (52.4 vs. 18.4 %, p < 0.001), while ASCA+ serology was significantly more frequent in CD patients than in SpA patients. A negative correlation between the anti-H. pylori titers and ASCA was found for axial SpA and CD. Anti-H. pylori+ serology was more frequent in SpA than in CD, while ASCA positivity was more frequent in CD patients than in those with SpA. A possible influence of H. pylori on the development of ASCA needs further investigation.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Antibodies, Bacterial / immunology*
  • Antibodies, Fungal / immunology*
  • Crohn Disease / immunology*
  • Cross-Sectional Studies
  • Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay
  • Female
  • Helicobacter pylori / immunology*
  • Humans
  • Immunoglobulin A / immunology
  • Immunoglobulin G / immunology
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae / immunology*
  • Spondylarthropathies / immunology
  • Spondylitis, Ankylosing / immunology*
  • Young Adult

Substances

  • Antibodies, Bacterial
  • Antibodies, Fungal
  • Immunoglobulin A
  • Immunoglobulin G