Journal of Gastrointestinal & Digestive System
Open Access

Abstract

Background: Gastric acid inhibitors may decrease vitamin B12 absorption and thus lead to vitamin B12 deficiency. PPIs (Proton pump inhibitors) are often overused in the Lebanese population. Objectives: The objective of this study is to evaluate the relationship between the use of proton pump inhibitors and vitamin B12 deficiency in a Lebanese population. Methods: A retrospective case-control study based on a sample of 210 outpatients from the Lebanese community was performed. We compared 70 patients who were originally diagnosed with vitamin B12 deficiency between May 2016 and May 2017 with 140 patients without vitamin B12 deficiency. Results: After comparing the two groups, cases and controls, that were matched by age and gender, we found that there was a significant P value of 0.0001, indicating that the number of long-term PPI users (equal or more than 2 years) have a higher proportion among the cases (vitamin B12 deficiency) than among the controls (no vitamin B12 deficiency). In addition, we found that the P value is more significant in the “only women” group (P=0.004), but P values concerning age groups are not coherent. Conclusions: We conclude that a significant association between long-term proton pump inhibitors use and vitamin B12 deficiency in a Lebanese population exists, which is stronger among women but unclear concerning the age groups.

Biography

Rami George Maalouf is graduated from Holy Spirit University of Kaslik in 2018. Now he is in PGY 1 Gastroenterology. He is very much interested on IBD research works and has publications on IBD researches. Currently he is working on IBD.

E-mail: ramigeorges.maalouf@outlook.com