Association of helicobacter pylori carriage and risk of preeclampsia: a case-control study from Bukavu, Democratic Republic Of Congo

Systemic inflammation has been recognized as a key factor in the development of preeclampsia, as evidenced by the elevated levels of circulating cytokines in affected patients. This observation has prompted investigations into the role of chronic pro-inflammatory infections, with Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) being of particular interest due to its widespread global prevalence. However, existing data on the association between H. pylori infection and the onset of preeclampsia are inconclusive. To assess the association between H. pylori carriage and the occurrence of preeclampsia. In this case-control study, pregnant women with preeclampsia and without preeclampsia admitted to the HPGRB’s maternity ward were enrolled between December 2019 and January 2022. The main matching criterions were order order of presentation and gestational age. H. pylori carriage was determined using a H. pylori stool antigen test. We constructed a regression model to search for an association between H. pylori carriage and pre-eclampsia. Carriage of H. pylori in the stool increased the risk of developing preeclampsia by a factor of 3 [ORa = 2.99(1.78–5.03), p < 0.001] in this study which involved 559 pregnant women (140 pregnant women with preeclampsia and 419 pregnant women without preeclampsia). The means (median) of age (31.43 ± 5,19 vs. 31.03 ± 6.24, p = 0.48), parity (4.09 ± 2.46 vs. 3.94 ± 2.87, p = 0.176) and gestational age [(37 (8–42) w vs. 37 (24–42) w] were similar in both groups. Pregnant women with preeclampsia had a higher body mass index (29.88 ± 5.3 vs. 27.62 ± 4.4, p < 0.001). Inflammation was significantly associated with preeclampsia, with elevated CRP [22 (3- 151) vs. 3.43 (3–49), p < 0.001]. H. pylori is independently associated with increased odds of preeclampsia.