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Background and Aim Negative association has been reported between presence of Helicobacter pylori and developing gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and its complications. The aim of this study was to determine whether H. pylori (HP) can be protective against GERD in an African American (AA) population. Methods From 2004 to 2007, we studied 2,020 cases; esophagitis (58), gastritis (1,558), both esophagitis and gastritis (363) and a normal control group (41). We collected their pathology and endoscopy unit reports. HP status was determined based on staining of gastric biopsy. Results HP data was available for 79 % (1,611) of the cases. The frequency of HP positivity in gastritis patients was 40 % (506), in esophagitis patients 4 % and in normal controls 34 % (11), while HP was positive in 34 % of the patients with both esophagitis and gastritis. After adjusting for effects of age and sex, odds ratio of HP was 0.06 (95 % CI 0.01–0.59; P value = 0.01) for the esophagitis group versus the normal group. Conclusions Our results show H. pylori has a significant negative association with esophagitis in AAs which may point to a protective role of H. pylori in the pathogenesis of esophagitis. In addition, H. pylori may be the reason for the low GERD complications in AAs.

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