OBJECTIVETo investigate the changes in serum pepsinogen (PG) I/II ratio induced by Helicobacter pylori (Hp) infection and assess the value of PG I/II test in evaluating organ damages in hypertensive patients.

METHODSThe serum total cholesterol, triglycerides, high density lipoprotein (HDL) and PG I/II ratio were tested in 288 hypertensive patients with or without Hp infection. The PG I/II ratio between the patients with different grade of hypertension, patients with and without hypertensive nephropathy, patients with and without hypertensive retinopathy. The relationship of PG I/II ratio with serum total cholesterol, triglycerides and HDL was analyzed with Pearson's correlation analysis and the effectiveness of PG I/II ratio in the the diagnosis of nephropathy and retinopathy was evaluated by receiver-operating characteristic curve (ROC) analysis.

RESULTSCompared with patients without Hp infection, the Hp-infected patients showed significantly decreased PG I/II ratio and increased total cholesterol and triglycerides (P<0.05), but their HDL levels, systolic pressure and diastolic pressure were comparable (P>0.05). PG I/II ratio was significantly decreased in patients with nephropathy and retinopathy compared with the patients without nephropathy and retinopathy (P<0.05), and was similar between patients with different grades of hypertension (P>0.05). PG I/II ratio was negatively correlated with serum total cholesterol and triglycerides in the hypertensive patients (P<0.05), and its area under curve (AUC) of ROC was 0.79 and 0.82 in the diagnosis of nephropathy and retinopathy, respectively.

CONCLUSIONSHypertensive patients with nephropathy and retinopathy have obviously decreased PG I/II ratio, which can be used for screening organ damages in hypertensive patients.