The role of Helicobacter pylori in the development of recurrent aphthous stomatitis: SEPAHAN systematic review no. 9

Microbial factors may play a role in the pathogenesis of recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS). Because of similarities in the characteristics of peptic ulcers and oral aphthous ulcers, it seems reasonable to hypothesize that Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) could play a role in the development of RAS. The aim of the present study was to determine the relationship between H. pylori and RAS using the results obtained in other related studies. In the present systematic review, all of the relevant papers up to December 2011 were screened. The search was done using PubMed and the Cochrane library and out of 33, 9 articles were selected via the keywords of stomatitis, aphthous and H. pylori. Nine of the studies met the inclusion criteria. Among the selected articles, 6 were inconsistent with the association of H. pylori infection and RAS and 3 agreed to this assumption. The results of the literature indicate that there is no association between H. pylori infection and recurrent aphthous stomatitis.