Motor disorders of the upper gastrointestinal tract are a frequent finding in patients with non-ulcer dyspepsia (NUD). In this study we attempted to assess whether Helicobacter pylori infection contributes to gastrointestinal motor disorders in NUD. Interdigestive and post-prandial gastrointestinal motility was studied in 46 consecutive patients with NUD and in eight healthy control subjects. Abdominal complaints were assessed by means of a symptom score. Chronic gastritis and H. pylori infection were assessed and graded by histology. Accordingly, patients with NUD were divided into two sub-groups: 18 patients with H. pylori infection and chronic active gastritis and 28 patients without H. pylori infection. The length of the interdigestive motor cycle was not different in patients with NUD (139 +/- 6 min, mean +/- SEM), compared with controls (128 +/- 5.5 min). There was also no difference in the duration of individual phases I, II, and III, either between NUD and controls or between H. pylori-positive and -negative patients. The motility index (MI) of antral phase II also was not changed in NUD patients. Postprandial antral motility was decreased in patients with NUD (MI 6.96 +/- 0.4 vs. 9.7 +/- 0.3 controls; p < 0.025), with no difference between H. pylori-positive and -negative subgroups. It therefore appears unlikely that H. pylori infection plays a primary role in the pathophysiology of antroduodenal motor disorders in NUD.