As per the findings of a recent study, the presence of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection was linked to the progression of nonalcoholic fatty liver diseases (NAFLD), with potential implications for prognosis upon its eradication. The researchers sought to examine the connection between NAFLD and H. pylori.

A group of 100 patients underwent urea breath test for detecting H. pylori illness and vibration-controlled transient elastography for diagnosing NAFLD. Among them, 50 had H. pylori infection, while the remaining 50 did not. Fatty liver presence was investigated in individuals who refrained from alcohol consumption.

Utilizing the chi-square test, the connections were assessed among categorical variables. Continuous data underwent normality testing using the Shapiro-Wilk test, and quantitative data were presented through measures like range, mean, standard deviation, and median. To assess normally distributed quantitative variables between the study groups, the Student t-test was utilized.

Conversely, the Mann-Whitney test was employed to assess differences between two groups concerning quantitative variables that didn't follow a normal distribution. Additionally, the receiver operating curve curve was utilized to evaluate the markers' diagnostic capability. An area above 50% indicated acceptable performance, while an area approaching 100% represented optimal test performance.

The study explored the link between NAFLD and H. pylori, unveiling an occurrence of 68% of H. pylori infection among subjects with NAFLD, compared to 32% in those without NAFLD. Furthermore, the mean elastography value was 250.4±33.59 dB/m in H. pylori-positive patients, contrasting with 229.3±33.83 dB/m in H. pylori-negative patients.

Moreover, a noteworthy prognostic significance was observed for H. pylori infection with elastography values ≥248 dB/m. The univariate analysis, considering diverse biochemical markers, demographic data, and H. pylori disease in people with and without NAFLD, indicated that age, BMI, and H. pylori remained linked to elastography values ≥248 dB/m even after accounting for the other variables. Hence, H. pylori infection contributes to NAFLD and its elimination might affect prognosis.