GAST and infection: In Group C, the prevalence of gastric ulcer (<i>p</i> = 0.002) and very-high serum gastrin-17 level (<i>p</i> = 0.002) was significantly greater than in Group A. In multivariate analysis, both <i>Helicobacter pylori</i> infection (aOR = 2.79, 95% CI 2.44-3.21) and HBsAg seropositivity (aOR = 1.28, 95% CI 1.02-1.59) were significant risk factors for hypergastrinemia.