Objective  To evaluate the current infection rate of Helicobacter pylori (Hp) in healthy people with physical examination and analyze the relationship between current infection of Hp and metabolic syndrome (MS).

  Methods  Totally 1 094 people with physical examination from July 2017 to November 2020 in the Physical Examination Center of Fuyang Hospital Affiliated to Anhui Medical University were selected as research objects. According to the result of ¹³C urea breath test, the subjects were divided into Hp positive group and Hp negative group. The differences in demographic characteristics (age, gender and marital status), anthropometric dataheight, body mass, body mass index (BMI), systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and laboratory test indexesfasting blood glucose (FPG), total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) were compared between two groups. The correlation between current infection of Hp and MS was analyzed.

  Results  The current infection rate of Hp in the people of this study was 44.06% (482/1 094); the current infection rate of Hp was 44.28% (329/743) in men and 43.59% (153/351) in women, and there was no significant difference between men and women (χ²=0.022, P=0.881). There were no significant differences in body weight, height, BMI, TC, TG, HDL-C, LDL-C, SBP, DBP and FPG between Hp positive group and Hp negative group (P>0.05). There were no significant differences in MS, coronary heart disease and fatty liver between the two groups (P>0.05). Binary Logistic regression analysis showed that there were no significant correlations between Hp infection and MS, coronary heart disease, fatty liver and any abnormal metabolic indexes (P>0.05). Among the 1 094 healthy people, 284 cases (25.96%) had MS and 810 cases (74.04%) did not have MS. In groups of 18 to 45 years old, 46 to 59 years old, 60 to 74 years old, and 75 years old and above, the incidence of MS increased significantly with increasing of age (linear χ²=298.314, P < 0.05).

  Conclusion  Based on the results of this study, it is not suggested to prevent MS by eradicating Hp infection. For the high-risk MS people complicated with Hp infection, it is still necessary to actively control other high-risk factors of MS while eradicate Hp infection in order to better prevent the occurrence of MS.