The role of Helicobacter pylori in cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.

Classical risk factors for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases do not fully coincide with the prevalence of these conditions. Emerging evidences show that new factors may be predisposing for the development of ischemic events. It has been demonstrated that atherosclerosis has a strong inflammatory background; such state of chronic inflammation may be related to the presence of persistent infectious agent. Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), among other microorganisms, has been extensively investigated for its possible role. Many molecular mechanisms have been hypothesized to explain its eventual action. Epidemiological studies do not exclude a correlation between the infection and cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. Many confounding factors, however, make difficult a definitive evaluation of the huge number of data present in the literature. Moreover, various therapeutic studies have been attempted to show if antibiotic treatment improves prognosis in patients affected by ischemic heart disease. Still, none of these trials focused specifically on the effects of H. pylori eradication on the clinical progression of vascular lesions.