Hyperemesis gravidarum and helicobacter pylori: Review

Abstract

70-85% of pregnant women complain of nausea and vomiting. More severe presentation of these symptoms accompanied by weight loss, malnutrition and fluid electrolyte imbalance forms the clinical picture, classically named Hyperemesis gravidarum. The pathophysiology of this clinical picture has been hypothesized to be connected with endocrinological factors (human chorionic gonadotropin, progesterone, estrogen, thyroid hormones), immunological, metabolic, anatomical, psychological factors and more recently with an infectious agent, Helicobacter Pylori (H. pylori).H. Pylori is a spiral shaped, whip-like tailed gram negative bacteria, which is capable of surviving in the gastric antrum. Degradation of urea with the urease enzyme produced by this microorganism raises the local pH which makes the conditions more favorable for survival. H. pylori has already been shown to be etiologically related to chronic antral gastritis, peptic ulcer and gastric cancer.Finally, with this study we reviewed all the published evidence for the causal role of H. pylori in hyperemesis gravidarum.