Supplementary Material for: Helicobacter pylori infection is associated with leukoaraiosis without lesion location correlation

Background: Leukoaraiosis, common focal lesions, are associated with cognitive impairment, gait abnormalities and depression. Helicobacter pylori is an intragastric pathogen that has been implicated in extraintestinal disease. This study explored the relationship between leukoaraiosis and Helicobacter pylori infection, and analyzed the Helicobacter pylori infection in different white matter lesion sites.
Method: A total of 350 patients underwent cranial MRI and Helicobacter pylori testing. Patients were divided into leukoaraiosis group (n=149) and non-leukoaraiosis group (n=201), with basic information collected and leukoaraiosis locations recorded based on FLAIR images in MRI. Basic characteristics were compared between the two groups and a multivariate logistic regression model was used to identify independent risk factors for leukoaraiosis.
Results: Patients with leukoaraiosis were older (P=0.009) and had a higher proportion of smoking (P=0.032) and hypertension (P< 0.0001) compared to those without leukoaraiosis. Helicobacter pylori infection was more prevalent in the leukoaraiosis group (P< 0.0001). However, the distribution of Helicobacter pylori infection across different lesion sites did not differ significantly (P=0.839).
Conclusion: Helicobacter pylori infection is associated with leukoaraiosis, possibly through mechanisms such as chronic inflammatory responses, blood-brain barrier damage, and vascular endothelium damage. Nevertheless, no variation in Helicobacter pylori infection was observed among different cerebral white matter lesion locations. Future prospective studies are warranted to validate these findings.