The correlation between tissue Helicobacter pylori severity and the increase in serum neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio in patients with active chronic gastritis

Introduction: Helicobacter pylori are a microaerophile gram-negative bacteria and the most frequent factor of chronic gastritis. Recently, there has been an inclination to various non-invasive tests to determine the severity of H. pylori infection in the gastric tissue. The serum neutrophils/lymphocytes rate (NLR) is a simple, safe, non-invasive and active inflammation reagent. The purpose of this study is examining the correlation between the increase in the positivity/severity of H. pylori infection and the increase in the NLR. Material and method: 149 patients were included into the study by considering the Sydney criteria in accordance with H. pylori severity degrees in 3 groups; Mild (n=49), Moderate-Severe (n=67) and Severe (n=33). A Control Group was also formed (n=22) with negative H. pylori by three experienced pathologists. Result: It has been determined that the severity has increased among the groups with H. pylori positive as regard to the increase in serum NLR (r: 0.295, p: 0.017), there has been a significant correlation has been determined between the Control Group and the Moderate-Severe patients (p:0.014), the Severe patients (p:0.002). Conclusion: It is suggested that the serum NLR, which can be used in order to predict the severity of the H. pylori Infection in patients with chronic gastritis, can be a practical, inexpensive and non-invasive test.