Current Evidence and Potential Pathogenetic Mechanisms of Helicobacter pylori Involvement in Neuroinflammatory Pathologies

Summary is a complex immune response against the harmful effects of diverse stimuli within the nervous system; it is considered a characteristic and critical component in nearly all neuroinflammatory disorders and could be initiated by peripheral inflammatory conditions. Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), a potential gastrointestinal pathogen, induces humoral and cellular immune responses that, owing to the sharing of homologous epitopes (molecular mimicry), cross-react with nervous system components, contributing and perpetuating neural tissue damage. current evidence implicates H. pylori in neurological disorders of the central nervous system (cerebrovascular diseases, mild cognitive impairment, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, seizure, migraine, multiple sclerosis and neuromyelitis optica), the peripheral nervous system (Guillain Barre syndrome) and ophthalmic disorders (glaucoma) through various potential pathogenetic mechanisms. More clinical and experimental studies are required to attest the impact of H. pylori infection on neuroinflammatory disorders, thereby establishing H. pylori as a neurological pathogen. Immunogastroenterology 2013; 2:79-89