Ulcer bug linked to irregular heartbeat

The gastric microbe, H. pylori, the cause of most stomach ulcers, takes it out on the heart. Recent research has found that people with rapid beating of the upper chamber of the heart, atrial fibrillation, are nearly 20 times more likely to be infected with H. pylori than are healthy controls. While the exact mechanism is unknown, researchers from Policlinico Multimedica in Milan theorised that it may relate to auto-antibodies that develop in some H. pylori infected patients. These antibodies, which normally attack an acid pump found on gastric cells, may instead attack a similar pump on cardiac cells, ultimately triggering atrial fibrillation. The new findings are based on a study of H. pylori tests in 59 patients with atrial fibrillation and 45 healthy controls. In the overall analysis, 97.2 percent of atrial fibrillation patients were positive for H. pylori compared with just 5.3 percent of controls. While the link is highly significant, the researchers noted that further studies are required to further identify how H. pylori can influence the pathogenesis of atrial fibrillation.