Helicobacter pylori infection as a risk factor for diabetes: a meta-analysis of case-control studies

BACKGROUND: There are several studies with varied and mixed results about the possible relationship between H. pylori and diabetes. Therefore, this current meta-analysis performed to determine the association between H. pylori infection and the risk of diabetes mellitus. METHODS: A systematic literature searches of international databases, including Medline (PubMed), Web of Sciences, Scopus, EMBASE, and CINHAL (January 1990–March 2019) was conducted to identify studies investigating the relationship between H. pylori infection and diabetes mellitus. Only case–control studies were analyzed using odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Stratified and subgroup analyses were performed to explore heterogeneity between studies and assess effects of study quality. Logarithm and standard error logarithm odds ratio (OR) were also used for meta-analysis. RESULTS: A total of 41 studies involving 9559 individuals (case; 4327 and control; 5232) were analyzed. The pooled estimate of the association between H. pylori infection with diabetes was OR = 1.27 (95% CI 1.11 to 1.45, P = 0.0001, I(2) = 86.6%). The effect of H. pylori infection on diabetes mellitus (both types), type 1 and type 2 diabetes was 1.17 (95% CI 0.94 to 1.45), 1.19 (95% CI 0.98 to 1.45), and 1.43 (95% CI 1.11 to 1.85) respectively. Subgroup analysis by the geographical regions showed in Asian population risk of the effect of H. pylori infection on diabetes was slightly higher than other population, CONCLUSION: In overall a positive association between H. pylori infection and diabetes mellitus was found.