Background: Helicobacter pylori has been established as an etiological agent in gastric adenocarcinoma and MALT lymphoma in the stomach. Recent reports have implicated this bacterium in the causation of benign and malignant gall bladder disease.

Aim: To study the prevalence of H. pylori in South Indian patients with gall bladder pathology presenting for cholecystectomy at a tertiary care hospital and to correlate H. pylori colonization of gall bladder with histopathologic  changes. 

Methods: 94 patients presenting for cholecystectomy at St. Johns Hospital Bangalore over a period of two years, were enrolled in to the study. Gallbladder tissue was taken immediately after cholecystectomy and subjected to analysis by DNA PCR, histopathology and rapid urease test (RUT) for presence of H. pylori. 

Results: Among the 94 patients included in the study mean age of the study population was found to be 45 years. 61 (64.9%) were females and 33 (35.1%) were males. 81.9% underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy. 87% had chronic cholecystitis. Out of the total 94 specimens analyzed for H. pylori, DNA PCR and HPE were negative in all the samples. RUT was positive in four gallbladder tissue samples. 

Conclusion: H. pylori was not found in gall bladder of patients with benign gall bladder disease in South Indian population.