Investigation of Helicobacter pylori in bronchoscopic lung specimens of young male patients with bronchiectasis but without gastrointestinal symptoms.

Anti-Helicobacter pylori IgG serum levels were measured in 31 young male bronchiectasis patients without gastrointestinal symptoms, and 56 healthy males. The possible presence of H. pylori was also investigated by rapid urease tests, culture and histopathological examination of protected catheter brush and biopsy specimens from the bronchiectatic site. No serological, microbiological or histological evidence of H. pylori infection was found in the bronchiectasis patient group. H. pylori did not appear to be an agent of infection or chronic colonisation in bronchiectasis, and may not have a significant role in the progression of this disease.