Impact of smoking on the eradication of Helicobacter pylori

BACKGROUND AND AIM Although the association between the eradication of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) and smoking has been confirmed through a meta-analysis, many new studies have reported inconsistent conclusions. An up-to-date meta-analysis based on published relevant studies was conducted in this study to address this issue. METHODS Eligible studies up to January 2021 were screened and retrieved using PubMed and Web of Science as well as by performing a manual review of references. We calculated the pooled odd ratios (OR) with the 95% confidence interval (CI). Subgroup and sensitivity analyses were also performed. Begg's test was used to determine the publication bias. RESULTS In total, 39 studies were included in the meta-analysis. The results showed that smoking increases the failure rate of H. pylori eradication treatment (OR = 1.70, 95%CI, 1.49-1.93). The risk of failure also increases with an increase in the smoking dose (>5 cigarettes per day) (OR = 2.59, 95%CI, 1.28-5.24) and the current smoking status (continued to smoke during treatment) (OR = 2.49, 95%CI, 1.52-4.06). Studies with a large proportion of patients with peptic ulcer (OR = 2.14, 95%CI, 1.51-3.02) revealed a higher failure rate among smokers than those with a low proportion of patients with peptic ulcer (OR = 1.57, 95%CI, 1.36-1.81). When vonoprazan (VPZ) was used to treat H. pylori infection, smoking did not affect the eradication rate (OR = 0.94, 95%CI, 0.51-1.75). CONCLUSION Smoking increases the failure rate of H. pylori eradication treatment. The risk of H. pylori eradication failure in smokers increases with a current smoking status and a high smoking dose. However, when VPZ is used to treat the H. pylori infection, smoking has no effect on the eradication rate.