Additional studies focusing on non-bariatric populations further reinforce our findings; as early as 2003, an Italian study showed that Hp eradication had a beneficial effect on arterial hypertension, and the authors postulated pathogenetically a cytokine cascade activation with the subsequent production of vasoactive substances from the stomach or molecular mimicry between peptides expressed by smooth muscle, as well as endothelial cells and the CagA antigen of Hp [40]. The gene discussed is HP; the disease is Hypertension.