Alcohol intake and Helicobacter pylori infection: a dose-response meta-analysis of observational studies

Background Alcohol intake has been suggested to have an impact on the development of many chronic diseases. How alcohol intake may modulate risk of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection, however, remains a subject open for investigation. A dose-response meta-analysis was performed of epidemiological studies to better quantify this relationship. Materials and methods Twelve observational articles were identified. The summary odds ratio (OR) and confidence intervals (CI) were calculated for alcohol drinkers vs non-drinkers. The summary OR estimates were obtained using the random-effects model and dose-response meta-analysis. Sub-group and sensitivity analysis were also conducted. Results The summary OR was 0.78 (95% CI = 0.69-0.89). The dose-response analysis demonstrated that for drinkers of 10, 15, 30, 60 and 96 g/day alcohol intake, the estimated ORs were 0.80 (95% CI = 0.76-0.85), 0.79 (95% CI = 0.75-0.84), 0.83 (95% CI = 0.78-0.87), 0.85 (95% CI = 0.78-0.93) and 0.87 (95% CI = 0.70-1.06), respectively, compared to non-drinkers. The inverse relationship between alcohol intake and H. pylori infection was consistent, regardless of sex, age, geographic areas, detection methods or beverage types.

Evidence from these observational studies suggests that moderate alcohol intake is associated with a reduction in H. pylori infection of ∼ 22% and may facilitate elimination of H. pylori.