Helicobacter pylori Exposure in Nausea and Vomiting of Pregnancy Increases Risk of Preterm Delivery

Figure 3

Low serum potassium and other electrolyte alterations are related to H. pylori test results and vomiting in pregnancy. (a–d) Serum electrolyte data from the University of Washington discovery cohort are stratified by diagnosis of vomiting in pregnancy and H. pylori test result (up to 5 years before pregnancy). Sodium and potassium distributions for all patients were in the lower end of the reference range, likely reflecting hemodilution during pregnancy. Subjects with vomiting in pregnancy had lower serum chloride, and positive HP test correlated with lower sodium, potassium, and bicarbonate. Among patients with vomiting in pregnancy, cooccurrence of a positive HP test associated with low serum potassium. (e, f) The multi-institutional validation cohort confirmed associations of low serum potassium with positive H. pylori test, lowest in patients with vomiting in pregnancy. Serum bicarbonate was modestly lower in patients with vomiting in pregnancy, and HP test result was significantly correlated to bicarbonate only in subjects without vomiting. Horizontal lines with error bars represent mean and standard deviation. Points represent individual values, which were not accessible in the multi-institutional cohort (aggregate deidentified data only). Statistical testing was the Student’s test.