Helicobacter pylori infection, serum pepsinogens as markers of atrophic gastritis, and leukocyte telomere length: a population-based study

Table 3 Mean leukocyte telomere length (kb) according to H. pylori sero-status and serological evidence of atrophic gastritis

	Total	Mean (SD)	Mean difference (95% CI)	p value
H. pylori IgG sero-status				0.016^*
H. pylori negative	154	6.65 (0.66)	Reference
H. pylori positive	780	6.78 (0.60)	0.13 (0.02, 0.24)
H. pylori/CagA IgG sero-status	df = 2			0.023^**
H. pylori negative	154	6.65 (0.66)	Reference
H. pylori positive CagA negative	452	6.76 (0.60)	0.1 (− 0.01, 0.22)	0.19^***
H. pylori positive CagA positive	328	6.82 (0.59)	0.16 (0.05, 0.28)	0.018^***
Atrophic gastritis (PGI < 30 μg/L or PGI:PGII < 3.0)^§				0.011^*
No	846	6.78 (0.60)	− 0.18 (− 0.32, − 0.04)
Yes	81	6.60 (0.65)	Reference
H. pylori sero-status/atrophic gastritis^{**** §}	df = 3			0.002^**
H. pylori negative no atrophic gastritis	115	6.72 (0.63)	Reference
H. pylori positive no atrophic gastritis	731	6.79 (0.60)	0.07 (− 0.05, 0.18)	1.0^****
H. pylori positive plus atrophic gastritis	44	6.77 (0.58)	0.05 (− 0.16, 0.26)	1.0^****
Past H. pylori infection (IgG sero-negatives) plus atrophic gastritis	37	6.40 (0.67)	− 0.32 (− 0.55, − 0.10)	0.028^****

CagA cytotoxin-associated gene A; CI confidence intervals; df degrees of freedom; IgG immunoglobulin G; PG pepsinogen; SD standard deviation
^*p value by Student’s t test
^**ANOVA for the difference between the groups
^***Bonferroni for multiple comparisons correction compared to H. pylori-negative participants
^****Bonferroni for multiple comparisons correction compared to participants who were H. pylori negative and no atrophic gastritis. H. pylori positive no atrophic gastritis vs. past H. pylori infection plus atrophic gastritis (p = 0.001). H. pylori positive plus atrophic gastritis vs. past H. pylori infection (IgG sero-negatives) plus atrophic gastritis (p = 0.037)
^§Information on atrophic gastritis was missing for 7 participants

ISSN: 1479-7364