OBJECTIVE: The association between Helicobacter pylori and hypertension is unclear. Herein, we aimed to investigate the association between H. pylori and hypertension among adults in Sudan.
METHODS: We conducted a community-based case-control study (175 participants in each arm) in the Wad Hamid district in northern Sudan. Cases comprised adults with hypertension and controls were non-hypertensive adults. We assessed participants\' data using a questionnaire. We also conducted rapid H. pylori antibody tests and binary and linear regression analyses.
RESULTS: Multivariable logistic regression revealed age (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 1.05, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.03-1.07), female sex (AOR 5.50, 95% CI 2.36-12.80), and body mass index (AOR 1.12, 95% CI 1.07-1.17) were significantly associated with hypertension. Moreover, compared with controls, a significantly higher number of patients with hypertension were positive for H. pylori (82/175, 46.9% vs. 46/175, 26.3%). H. pylori seropositivity was associated with systolic blood pressure (coefficient 3.811), diastolic blood pressure (coefficient 3.492), mean blood pressure (coefficient 3.599), and hypertension (AOR 3.15, 95% CI 1.82-5.46).
CONCLUSIONS: Our study revealed a significant positive association between H. pylori seropositivity and hypertension. This finding supports literature recommending the eradication of H. pylori to prevent hypertension and its complications.

Background Exposure to lead and its accumulation in the body can lead to progressive adverse effects, including increased blood pressure which is associated with the onset of cardiovascular diseases. In this study, we aimed to determine the relationship between blood lead levels and blood pressure. In addition, we compared blood lead levels between hypertensives and normotensives to determine relationships, if any, between lead exposure and high blood pressure. Methodology This was a hospital-based, case-control study. In total, 102 individuals (hypertensives = 51, normotensives = 51) were included in this study. Hypertensive patients (defined as systolic blood pressure (SBP) of ≥140 mmHg, diastolic blood pressure (DBP) of ≥90 mmHg, or taking antihypertensive medication for regulating blood pressure) were considered to be study cases and normotensive individuals were considered to be study controls. Blood lead levels were compared between the two groups, and the effects of blood lead levels on SBP and DBP were estimated. The blood lead levels were measured using optical emission spectrometry. Results The mean blood lead level among hypertensive individuals (5.5743 ± 1.77 µg/dL) was significantly higher compared to normotensive individuals (4.5029 ± 1.3213 µg/dL, P = 0.001). A positive correlation was detected between blood lead levels and SBP (r = 0.304, P = 0.002). However, no significant correlation was found between blood lead levels and DBP. Conclusions Blood lead levels were significantly higher in hypertensive patients compared to normotensive individuals. A significant positive correlation was observed between blood lead levels and SBP.

Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is a devastating disease that is relatively frequently diagnosed in term infants with congenital heart disease (CHD), compared with term infants without CHD, in whom NEC is rare. The exact pathogenesis of NEC in term infants with CHD is unknown, but it is hypothesized that ischemia of the intestines plays a pivotal role. We aimed to explore whether (near) term CHD infants, who develop NEC, exhibit more clinical signs of hypoxia/ischemia and low body perfusion directly after birth and during the first 48 hours after admission to the neonatal intensive care unit, when compared with (near) term CHD infants who did not develop NEC.
956 infants with CHD born after ≥ 35 weeks of gestational age were retrospectively reviewed for this case-control study between January 1999 and February 2020. We included infants with radiographically confirmed pneumatosis intestinalis and controls matched by type of CHD. Seven infants were diagnosed with transposition of the great arteries, six with left and four with right ventricular outflow tract obstruction. Several parameters suggestive of (relative) hypoxia/ischemia were used for analyses.
We included sixteen CHD infants with NEC and selected sixteen controls. There were no significant demographic differences between both groups. Apgar score at one and five minutes (median [IQR]) were lower in infants who developed NEC compared with control infants (8 [7-8]) vs. (9 [8-9], P = .011) and (8 [8-9]) vs. (9 [9-10], P = .009). A higher proportion of infants with NEC required respiratory support in the delivery room (11(69) vs. 2(13), P = .001). The (median [IQR]) diastolic blood pressure on the second day after admission (39 mmHg [34-42], vs. 43 mmHg [37-51], P = .112) and lowest (median [IQR]) pH in the 48 hours after admission (7.24 [7.17-7.35] vs. 7.38 ([7.27-7.43], P = .157) were not significantly lower in NEC infants but both demonstrated a similar direction towards (relative) hypoxia/ischemia in NEC infants.
Our clinical results support a hypoxic/ischemic pathophysiology of NEC in (near) term CHD infants, with lower Apgar scores, more respiratory support in the delivery room and a tendency towards a lower diastolic blood pressure and pH in CHD infants who develop NEC.

To determine the minimum blood pressure increases that would confirm or exclude, with the greatest predictive values, hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) in pregnant adolescents after 24 weeks gestation.
We conducted a case-control study of pregnant women aged ≤19 years with and without HDP. Using systolic and diastolic blood pressure increases, a predictive analysis was performed, and the area under the curve was calculated.
The cases and controls had systolic blood pressure increases of 45.3 ± 17.5 mm Hg and 6.4 ± 7.9 mm Hg, respectively (P = 0.001) and diastolic blood pressure increases of 30.8 ± 11.7 mm Hg and 3.5 ± 5.7 mm Hg, respectively (P = 0.001). Systolic and diastolic increases of ≥20 mm Hg showed the greatest sensitivity and specificity. A combined analysis showed that an increase of ≥20 mm Hg had a greater positive likelihood ratio of 35.4 (95% CI 22.4-55.9) and negative likelihood ratio of 0.10 (95% CI 0.07-0.13), with an area under the curve of 0.98 (95% CI 0.96-0.99).
Systolic and diastolic blood pressure increases of ≥20 mm Hg must be considered in the diagnostic criteria for preeclampsia and gestational hypertension among pregnant adolescents past 24 weeks gestation.