Is Helicobacter pylori infection a risk or protective factor for mucosal lesions development in patients chronically treated with acetylsalicylic acid?

The interaction between ASA and H.p. as the strongest irritants to gastric mucosa has not been sufficiently documented to date. The aim of our study was to evaluate the frequency of mucosal lesions in stomach and duodenum and the frequency of H.p. infection in patients suffering from IHD and chronically taking ASA. We evaluated the number of mucosal lesions and the incidence rate in relation to the daily dose of ASA. We examined 96 with IHD treated with ASA in doses: 75, 150 or 300 mg per day. We assessed the number of mucosal lesions and H.p. status. The control groups included 80 patients treated for IHD who did not take ASA and 50 patients who did not suffer from IHD. The highest rate of mucosal lesions we found in the group of patients with IHD treated with ASA: 62% vs 41% in patients not using ASA and 8% in the control group. We did not find any essential difference in mucosal lesions occurrence between patients treated with 75 or 150 and 300 mg per day. In patients with IHD using ASA the frequency of H.p. infection was higher in comparison to patients not receiving ASA (68% vs 47%) and to control group (68% vs 26%). ASA users infected with H.p. had more mucosal lesions (75%) in comparison to those not using ASA (47%). Our results confirm the synergistic harmful influence of ASA and H.p. infection on gastric and duodenal mucosa. It seems to us that the frequency of mucosal lesions development does not depend on the daily dose of ASA.