SIMILARLY HIGH SEROPREVALENCE OF ANTI-HELICOBACTER PYLORI ANTIBODIES IN MEN AND WOMEN WITH AND WITHOUT IDIOPATHIC INFERTILITY

Abstract

Our study aimed to compare the seroprevalence of anti-Helicobacter pylori antibodies in patients with and without unexplained infertility. Three groups were compared, i.e., patients with idiopathic infertility (Group A, n=105); fertile patients with Helicobacter pylori-associated diseases (Group B, n=105) and fertile subjects lacking H. pylori-related disease (Group C, n=105). Anti-sperm antibodies (ASA) and anti- H. pylori antibodies (AHPA) were evaluated. Similarly high seroprevalence of AHPA in all studied patients was found (p>0.05). Odds ratio calculated against infertility for AHPA-positive patients was 0.97 (95% confidential interval from 0.57 to 1.68, p=0.113). The AHPA-seroprevalence of samples from men was 1.3 - 1.8 times higher than those from women. Also, for ASA-seroprevalence, the men-to-women ratio was up to 2 times higher. We calculated the odds ratio for male and female groups separately and again did not obtain statistical significance in the odds ratios neither for men nor for women. Our findings failed to reveal H. pylori seropositivity as a possible risk factor for idiopathic infertility neither in men nor in women.