Helicobacter pylori infection associated with an increased risk of colorectal adenomatous polyps in the Chinese population

BACKGROUND: Gastric Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is linked with chronic gastritis, peptic ulcer disease, and gastric malignancy. This study aims to investigate the association of gastric H. pylori with colorectal adenomatous polyps (CAP) in the Chinese population. METHODS: One thousand three hundred seventy five workers of China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation Sinopec Zhenhai Refining & Chemical Branch were recruited. Carbon-13 urea breathes test, and colorectal biopsies were utilized to detect H. pylori and CAP. The correlation between the number and distribution of CAP with H. pylori infection (HPI) was determined. Logistic regression models were applied to calculate the effect of H. pylori on the risk of CAP and pathway studio was used to attribute the cellular processes linking HPI and adenomatous polyps. RESULTS: One hundred Eighty participants were diagnosed as CAP, and 1195 participants were classified as healthy control. The prevalence of HPI in the CAP group was significantly higher than that in the healthy control group (57.8% verse 40.1%) (p<0.001). It was the number not the distribution of CAP corrected with H. pylori status. An increased risk of CAP was found to be associated with H. pylori (OR = 3.237; 95.0% CI 2.184–4.798, p = 0.00) even after multiple parameters adjustment. Pathway studio analysis demonstrated that HPI connected with CAP at multi-level. CONCLUSIONS: HPI is associated with an increased risk of CAP in the Chinese population. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s12876-018-0918-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.