Associations Between Pepsinogen Levels and Various Health Indicators in a Healthy Guangzhou Population

Area of Science:

• Biochemistry
• Clinical Chemistry
• Epidemiology

Background:

• Pepsinogen (PG) levels are crucial biomarkers for assessing gastric health.
• Establishing accurate reference intervals for PG is essential for effective clinical diagnosis.
• Previous studies have not fully elucidated the multifactorial determinants of PG levels in diverse populations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the key determinants of pepsinogen (PG) levels in a healthy Chinese population.
• To identify factors influencing PG I and PG II levels for refining clinical reference intervals.
• To explore the relationship between PG levels and demographic, lifestyle, and infection-related variables.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of data from 1341 healthy participants in Guangzhou, China.
• Correlation analysis and multivariate linear regression models were employed.
• Investigated factors included age, gender, Helicobacter pylori (HP) status, body weight (BW), body mass index (BMI), body fat rate (BFR), lipid profiles (TC, TG, HDL-C, LDL-C), and glucose (GLU).

Main Results:

• Age positively correlated with PG I levels, except in postmenopausal women.
• Obesity-related indices (BW, BMI, BFR) showed negative correlations with PG in males.
• Helicobacter pylori (HP) infection was associated with higher cholesterol levels and independently predicted PG levels, alongside age, sex, and obesity.

Conclusions:

• Pepsinogen (PG) reference intervals in Guangzhou require adjustment for age, sex, obesity, and HP infection.
• Understanding these determinants can improve the clinical utility of PG testing.
• The study highlights the complex interplay of factors affecting PG levels, necessitating personalized reference ranges.