Camilo Diaz, Chris J. O'Callaghan, Azra Khan, Andrew Ilchyshyn
DOI: 10.1080/00015550310016544

Given the long purported anecdotal association between
rosacea and gastrointestinal disease, the discovery that
Helicobacter pylori causes gastritis and duodenal ulcer
disease has led to a hypothesized role for this organism in
the aetiology of rosacea. We conducted a case-series
study of 49 patients to assess the potential association
between severity of rosacea and direct and serological
evidence of H. pylori infection. Patients were classified
by severity into non-inflammatory erythematotelangiectatic
or inflammatory/papulopustular rosacea and were
tested for current H. pylori infection and evidence of
previous exposure. Positive 13C-urea breath test and
ELISA tests were more likely to be observed in patients
with inflammatory rosacea, although not statistically
significantly so (OR~3.0, p~0.15 and OR~2.9, p~0.16,
respectively). However, the proportion of patients who
tested positive in both assays (versus negative in at least
one) was even higher in the inflammatory rosacea group
and neared statistical significance (OR~4.5, p~0.06).
This pilot study provides sufficient evidence suggestive of
a positive association between the severity of rosacea and
the presence of H. pylori to warrant further research.