• Lin Wei and Hui-Guo Ding.
• Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Beijing You'an Hospital Affiliated with Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
• Medicine (Baltimore). 2021 Aug 6; 100 (31): e26706e26706.

BackgroundThe relationship between Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a matter of debate. Although it has been studied in many observational studies, the results remain controversial. Therefore, we performed a meta-analysis to assess the association between H pylori infection and risk of NAFLD.MethodsWe searched Pubmed, EMBASE, and Web of Science databases, from inception to September 10, 2020. Odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were pooled by random-effects model. The statistical heterogeneity among studies (I2-index), subgroup analyses, regression analyses, sensitivity analysis and the possibility of publication bias were assessed.ResultsA total of seventeen studies involving 91,958 individuals were included in our meta-analysis. Meta-analysis of data from cross-sectional and case-control studies showed that H pylori infection was associated with increased risk of prevalent NAFLD (n = 15; involving 74,561 middle-aged individuals; OR1.38, 95% CI 1.23-1.55, I2 = 86.8%, P < .001). The results of meta-regression implicated that the study type and the case-control ratio impacted the total effect size. Funnel plot did not show significant publication bias. Meta-analysis of data from longitudinal studies showed that H pylori infection was also associated with increased NAFLD incidence (n = 2; involving 17397 individuals; OR 1.21, 95% CI 1.01-1.44, I2 = 6.5%, P = .301).ConclusionsThe results indicated that a positive association between H pylori infection and the risk of NAFLD. Further studies are required to strengthen the association and clarify the mechanism.Copyright © 2021 the Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.

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