HELICOBACTER-PYLORI-ASSOCIATED GASTRITIS AND DYSPEPSIA - THE INFLUENCE ON MIGRATING MOTOR COMPLEXES

Twenty-five patients with dyspepsia were included. In 19 patients with a median age of 48 (range, 20-72) years endoscopy and histologic examination of biopsy specimens from the antrum and corpus of the stomach showed Helicobacter pylori-positive gastritis as the only pathologic finding. In six patients with a median age of 42 (range, 32-56) years H. pylori-negative gastritis was found. After an overnight fast the patients underwent an ambulatory duodenal motility study for 6-8 h. Twenty-five young healthy men served as the control group. In patients with H. pylori-positive gastritis the duration of phase I of the migrating motor complex (MMC) was significantly shorter than in the control group. The median value was 33 min (quartiles, 24-49), and in controls 56 min (40-136 min). Phase II was of significantly longer duration, with a median value of 88 min (51-121 min) in the patient group and 39 min (22-89 min) in the control group. The duration of phase III and the whole MMC cycle was similar in the two groups. However, in the patients with H. pylori-negative gastritis the values of the duration of the different phases of the MMC were similar to those of the patients with H. pylori-positive gastritis. Nine patients were reexamined after eradication of the H. pylori infection, and the motility pattern had changed to the characteristics found in normals. In conclusion, the patients with dyspepsia and gastritis showed a disturbed motility pattern. The disturbance was similar whether there was colonization of H. pylori or not. Although it is more likely that the multifunctional disease gastritis has a common disturbance in intestinal motility, there may be a subgroup of patients with H. pylori infection who may benefit from an H. pylori-specific treatment.