Helicobacter pylori and skin diseases

In the last few years several papers have suggested a possible relationship between Helicobacter pylori infection of the gastric mucosa and dermatological diseases. Dermatological conditions that have been linked to Helicobacter pylori infection include rosacea, urticaria, Sjogren's syndrome and Schonlein Henoch purpura. We have recently studied the prevalence of Helicobacter pylori seropositivity on a group of 68 consecutive patients with alopecia areata. Patients with alopecia areata, expecially females, showed a higher prevalence of Helicobacter pylori seropositivity than controls. When we restricted the analysis to those subjects under 29 years of age, patients with alopecia areata were significantly more seropositive than controls. Among the infected subjects, patients with alopecia areata showed a lower prevalence of anti-CagA antibodies than controls. These data suggest that further clinical studies on alopecia areata patients are needed to define if the association with Helicobacter pylori infection is only casual or whether it could have any role in the pathogenesis of the disease.