Atrophic gastritis is associated with coronary artery disease

Atrophic gastritis is characterized by chronic inflammation of gastric mucosa by Helicobacter pylori infection and other factors. Helicobacter pylori infection has been linked to coronary artery disease. To our knowledge, however, no reports are available on the relationship between atrophic gastritis and coronary artery disease. In this study, we investigated the relationship between atrophic gastritis, which is diagnosed based on serum pepsinogen levels (pepsinogen I ≤ 70 ng/mL and pepsinogen I/II ratio ≤ 3.0), and the prevalence of coronary artery disease in general Japanese population. Among 2,633 study subjects, 531 subjects (20.2%) were diagnosed as atrophic gastritis. The prevalence of coronary artery disease was higher in the atrophic gastritis-positive group than that in the atrophic gastritis-negative group (5.8% vs 2.8%, p = 0.0005). Multiple logistic regression analysis demonstrated that atrophic gastritis was independently associated with coronary artery disease (odds ratio, 1.67; 95% confidence interval, 1.03–2.72), after adjustment for age, sex, obesity, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, hyperuricemia, and habits of smoking and drinking. These results suggest that atrophic gastritis is an independent risk factor for coronary artery disease. Chronic inflammation of gastric mucosa may be associated with the prevalence of coronary artery disease.