Prevalence of Helicobacter Pylori Among Patients with Chronic Gastritis in Nigeria

<i>Introduction</i>: The stomach wall is made up of smooth muscles which are arranged in three layers: outer longitudinal, inner circular and innermost oblique layers. The mucosa is made up of simple columnar epithelium and is made up of several cell types which include: mucous cells which secrete alkaline mucous that protects the epithelium against acid and shear stress. Gastritis can involve the whole of the stomach, or a specific part of the stomach such as the fundus, body or the antrum and the distribution of gastritis may be related to an aetiologic factor. <i>H. pylori</i> causes passive inflammation inside the gastric epithelium and alters signal transduction pathways that serve as a platform for the pathogenesis, but it also develops antimicrobial resistance via genetic changes and biofilm development. The bacterium floats in the direction of the epithelial membrane when it enters the stomach, taking advantage of areas of the stomach wall that are injured. <i>Method</i>: The study was conducted in Kano, Nigeria from April 2021 to October 2021 and it is a Hospital-based Cross-sectional Descriptive study. Patients with dyspepsia referred for oesophagogastroduodenoscopy (OGD) at the endoscopy suite of the hospital constitute the study population, 197 patients that met the inclusion criteria were recruited and underwent OGD. Each patient were biopsied in accordance with the updated Sydney protocol. Data were collected and the report of both endoscopy and histological assessment for the presence of gastritis and <i>H. pylori</i> were documented and analyzed using the SPSS 20. <i>Result</i>: H. pylori was detected in 137 patients out of the 197 gastric biopsies sample of gastritis, the prevalence was 69.5%. Also, There was a statistically significant relationship between <i>H. pylori</i> and those aged 31-40years (p = 0.025), however, the relationship was not significant for the other age groups and no significant relationship was found between sex (p = 0.512). The most common site affected by histologic gastritis in this study was the antrum (99.4%) and the high predominance of antral involvement is probably due to the high rate of <i>H. pylori</i> infection in the study subjects which is known to be associated with antral affectation. <i>Conclusion</i>: The most predominant pattern of histologic gastritis was chronic <i>H. pylori</i> gastritis located in the antrum. The prevalence of <i>H. pylori</i> infection was 69.5%, and it had significant association with both endoscopic and histologic gastritis. Therefore, prevention and eradication program for the <i>H. pylori</i> infection are necessary in our environment.