Long-term follow-up after cure of Helicobacter pylori infection with 4 days of quadruple therapy

Primer for Development of Guidelines for Helicobacter pylori Therapy Using Antimicrobial Stewardship

We provide a primer to assist in the difficult transition of Helicobacter pylori therapy guidelines to those that adhere to the principles of antimicrobial stewardship. This transition will entail abandonment of many of the principles that heretofore formed the basis of treatment guidelines and recommendations. The goals of antimicrobial stewardship include optimization of the use of antibiotics while reducing antimicrobial resistance. The critical outcome measure is absolute cure rate which largely restricts comparative trials to those which reliably produce high cure rates (eg, ∼95%). Therapies that fail to achieve at least a 90% cure rate should be abandoned as unacceptable. Because only optimized therapies should be prescribed, guidance on the principles and practices of optimization will we required. Therapies that contain antibiotics which do not contribute to outcome should be eliminated. Surveillance, one of the fundamental elements of antimicrobial stewardship, must be done to provide ongoing assurance that the recommended therapies remain effective. It is yet not widely recognized when utilizing otherwise highly successful therapies, the routine test of cure data is an indirect, surrogate method for susceptibility testing. To systematically guide therapy, test of cure data should be collected, shared and integrated into local antimicrobial stewardship programs to provide guidance regarding best practices to both prescribers and public health individuals. Treatment recommendations should be compatible with those of the American Society of Infectious Disease white paper on the conduct of superiority and organism-specific clinical trials of antibacterial agents for the treatment of infections caused by drug-resistant bacterial pathogens which include criteria for ethical active-controlled superiority studies of antibacterial agents.

Helicobacter pylori recurrence after first- and second-line eradication therapy in Korea: the problem of recrudescence or reinfection

BACKGROUND

Recurrence of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection is the result of either recrudescence or reinfection. Annual recurrence rates per patient-year of follow-up have been reported to vary across countries. The aim of this study was to analyze recurrence rates of H. pylori after first-line and second-line eradication therapies in Korea.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

From 2007 to 2010, 2691 patients with H. pylori infection received first-line therapy and 573 patients who failed to respond to first-line therapy received second-line therapy. H. pylori infection and the success of eradication were assessed by endoscopic biopsy and rapid urease test or (13) C-urea breath test. All patients were advised to undergo (13) C-urea breath test or esophagogastroduodenoscopy with biopsy or rapid urease test 6 months after eradication, with annual follow-up thereafter.

RESULTS

The eradication rate of the first-line therapy was 79.9% (1283/1605) and that of the second-line therapy was 90.4% (394/436) by per protocol analysis. Annual recurrence rates sharply declined after 2-year follow-up. Annual recurrence rates within and after 2-year follow-up were 9.3 and 2.0% after first-line therapy and those of second-line therapy were 4.5 and 2.9%, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Annual recurrence rates of H. pylori showed a sharp decline after 2-year follow-up after eradication in Korean adults, which is not higher than that of Western countries. Enough time interval after treatment (i.e., 2 years) is necessary to confirm eradication, and it would not be easy to distinguish between recurrence and recrudescence before 2 years without identifying H. pylori strains.

Is short-term therapy really sufficient to eradicate Helicobacter pylori infection?

OBJECTIVE

The aim of our study was to perform a systematic review and meta-analysis of the efficacy of short-term protocols for Helicobacter pylori eradication and to review the safety and adverse profiles of these eradication protocols.

METHODS

Literatures were located through electronic searches by PubMed, Medline, ISI Web of Knowledge, and Cochrane Library using the relevant terms. Abstracts of important meetings were searched manually in some journal supplements. Additional bibliographies were identified from the reference lists of identified studies. Three independent reviewers systemically identified randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing short-duration protocols vs. 7-d proton pump inhibitor (PPI)-based triple protocols, as well as studies reporting eradication rates of short-duration protocols for H. pylori. Summary effect size was calculated as relative risk (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) using Review Manager 4.2, and P<0.05 was defined as statistically significant in all analyses.

RESULTS

Among 90 abstracts retrieved, 15 studies were analyzed, including a total of 30 treatment regimens with 1856 subjects. Mean intention-to-treat (ITT) cure rates of 63.2% and 81.3% were achieved with short-term protocols and 7-d PPI-containing protocols, respectively. Per-protocol (PP)-based overall cure rates were 66.6% and 86.1%, respectively. Short-term therapy was inferior to 7-d triple regimen (P<0.00001). After sub-analysis, however, comparing the effects of > or = 3-d protocols and 7-d triple protocols, the cumulative ITT RR was 0.95 (P=0.26), and PP RR was 0.95 (P=0.10), without significant heterogeneity. Moreover, slightly fewer adverse-effects were found in short-term protocols.

CONCLUSIONS

Although more economical, short-duration protocols are inferior to 7-d PPI-based triple protocols with regarding to eradication rate of H. pylori. Protocols of more than 3 d, however, may be equivalent to 7-d protocols.

Long-term outcomes after Helicobacter pylori eradication with second-line, bismuth-containing quadruple therapy in Korea

OBJECTIVES

To determine the long-term outcomes in terms of Helicobacter pylori and ulcer recurrence after second-line eradication with bismuth-containing quadruple regimens in Korea.

METHODS

Sixty-seven patients with peptic ulcer disease after successful eradication using second-line quadruple therapies were prospectively followed up 1 month after treatment and then every 6 months or when dyspeptic symptoms reappeared to ascertain H. pylori and ulcer status.

RESULTS

Three patients were lost during follow-up. The median duration of follow-up of the remaining 64 patients was 26.8 months. H. pylori recurrence occurred in 11 of these 64 patients (17.2%), giving a calculated reinfection rate of 6.0% per patient-year. Only one of the 11 patients was reinfected by 12 months after treatment completion. Four of 11 patients (36.4%) who became reinfected experienced peptic ulcer recurrence, but none of 53 patients who were not reinfected experienced recurrence. No evidence was obtained to indicate that the reinfection rate depended on the age, sex, ulcer location, or eradication regimens. The relapse of dyspeptic symptoms was the only factor predictive of H. pylori recurrence.

CONCLUSION

This study suggests that the recurrence rate of H. pylori at 1 year after second-line, bismuth-containing quadruple therapy is low, but the annual reinfection rate is as high as 6%. Surveillance for H. pylori reinfection facilitating peptic ulcer recurrence may be warranted even after a second eradication, especially when dyspeptic symptoms reappear in Korea.

Modified seven-day, quadruple therapy as a first line Helicobacter pylori treatment

BACKGROUND

Cure rates of 7-day triple therapy seem to be decreasing. Quadruple therapies may be an alternative, although their complex administration makes patient acceptance difficult.

OBJECTIVE

To test the usefulness of a thrice a day, quadruple therapy to cure Helicobacter pylori infection.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

A total of 122 consecutive patients with peptic ulcer and Helicobacter pylori infection were treated with omeprazole 20 mg b.d., tetracycline chlorhydrate 500 mg t.d.s., metronidazole 500 mg t.d.s., and bismuth subcitrate 120 mg t.d.s. administered with meals for 7 days. Cure was tested by either endoscopy or breath test after 2 months, and by urea breath test 6 months after therapy.

RESULTS

Seven patients were lost to follow-up. Of the remaining 115, 110 were cured at the first control, giving an intention-to-treat cure rate of 90.2% (95% CI: 83-95%) and a per protocol cure rate of 95.7% (95% CI: 90-98%). One hundred three patients returned for a 6-month breath test; all but one were cured. Side-effects were minimal or minor in 47 patients (40.8%) and moderate in four (3.4%). Compliance was good, 95% of patients taking more than 90% of the pills. Six (5%) patients stopped treatment after 1, 2, 4 (two patients) and 6 (two patients) days.

CONCLUSION

Thrice a day quadruple therapy shows excellent cure rates, far above 90%, is well-tolerated and compliance is easy. Head-to-head comparison with triple therapies as first line Helicobacter pylori treatment seems warranted.

Diagnostic performance of biopsy-based methods for determination of Helicobacter pylori infection without a reference standard

Endoscopic biopsy-based tests are considered to be the reference method for diagnosing Helicobacter pylori infection and monitoring antibiotic treatment, but unbiased data on their diagnostic performance is lacking. In this study we evaluated the diagnostic performance of culture, histology and rapid urease testing of antral biopsies separately and in combination. Antral biopsies were taken from consecutive patients undergoing upper gastrointestinal endoscopies at a single center between January 1995 and May 1997. The biopsies were examined for culture, histology, and CLOtest. The diagnostic performance, i.e., the sensitivity and specificity of the tests was estimated with 7 non-linear equations in 7 unknowns. To determine sources of heterogeneity that may have biased the results, data were stratified for age, gender, and whether they were taken before or after anti-Helicobacter antibiotic treatment. During the study period 631 patients underwent 869 upper gastrointestinal endoscopies. In 122 (14%) of the antral specimens the test results of culture, histology and CLOtest differed. Based on the nonlinear regression techniques we estimated that in 347 tests (40%) H. pylori infection was present. Overall sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value for each test were as follows: culture 91.4%, 96.3%, 94.2%, 94.4%, respectively; histology 90.3%, 97.8%, 96.4%, 93.8%, respectively; CLOtest 94.9%, 96.7%, 95.0%, 96.6%, respectively. In combination, the three tests provided the definitive diagnosis, either non-infected or infected, in 862 out of the 869 tests. Sensitivity of gastric antral histology was 64.9% (95% CI: 38-86) in females who did and 84.5% (95% CI: 77-90) in females who did not have had recent antibiotic therapy to cure the infection. Approximately 5-10% of H. pylori infected patients, were mis-diagnosed with a single biopsy-based test taken from the gastric antrum. Only a combination of bacterial culture, histological examination and the CLOtest represents an appropriate reference standard for research purposes to identify infected patients.

Helicobacter pylori

Helicobacter pylori infection is a major cause of peptic ulcer disease, and its detection and eradication are now an important part of gastroenterology. Effective regimes are available which will eliminate the organism in about 90% of cases in developed countries.

A single drug for Helicobacter pylori infection: first results with a new bismuth triple monocapsule

OBJECTIVE

In this pilot study we investigated the efficacy and tolerability of a new monocapsule that contains a bismuth compound, tetracycline, and metronidazole. If proven to be effective, this monotherapy would turn the well-accepted multidrug regimen of standard bismuth-based triple therapy into an easy and more patient-friendly regimen. It can be used in patients allergic to penicillin.

METHODS

A total of 53 consecutive H. pylori-infected patients (30 with proven ulcer disease, 23 with gastritis only) from a single center were prescribed two monocapsules q.i.d. after the three meals and after an evening snack during 10 days. Each capsule contained 60 mg colloidal bismuth subcitrate (as Bi2O3 equivalent), 125 mg tetracycline, and 125 mg metronidazole. Repeat endoscopy with biopsies for urease test, Giemsa stain, and culture was carried out > or =5 wk later. Side effect data were collected.

RESULTS

One patient was lost to follow-up, two failed to respond, and 50 were cured. The intention-to-treat cure rate was 50 of 53 (94.4%, 95% CI 88.1-100%). Antibiotic sensitivity was available from 51 isolates. The cure rate in the metronidazole sensitive strains was 44 of 45 (97.8%, 95% CI: 93.5-100%), whereas it was four of five in the resistant strains. The regimen was well tolerated, with only two drop-outs (4%) because of side effects.

CONCLUSIONS

The new monocapsule is an inexpensive, well tolerated, and patient-friendly formulation of a bismuth based triple therapy. A 10-day course with this multidrug capsule reached a very high cure rate in metronidazole-sensitive strains. The number of cases with resistant strains was insufficient to allow firm conclusions about its efficacy in case of resistance. The results are in agreement with previous data with bismuth triple therapy using separate drugs. From the high cure rate, we can conclude that the new capsule dissolves adequately, with proper delivery of its ingredients at the site of action.

Four-day, twice daily, quadruple therapy with amoxicillin, clarithromycin, tinidazole and omeprazole to cure Helicobacter pylori infection: a pilot study

BACKGROUND

The best regimen for the treatment of Helicobacter pylori infection has yet to be defined. Four-day quadruple therapy with tetracycline, metronidazole, bismuth, and a proton pump inhibitor has been shown to obtain a very high cure rate. However, the fact that it must be taken four times daily may interfere with compliance. The objective of the study was to test the efficacy and tolerability of a new 4-day therapy with 4 drugs taken every 12 hours to cure H. pylori infection. Patients and Methods. Fifty-six consecutive patients with peptic ulcer disease and H. pylori infection were treated with an oral 4-day course with omeprazole (20 mg/12 hours), clarithromycin (500 mg/12 hours), amoxicillin (1 g/12 hours) and tinidazole (500 mg/12 hours). Efficacy of the treatment was determined at least 2 months after therapy either by biopsy (in the case of gastric ulcer) or by 13C-urea breath test. A second breath test was performed at least 6 months after therapy.

RESULTS

Two patients were lost to follow-up. Forty-nine of the remaining 54 patients were cured at the first control [intention-to-treat cure rate: 87.5% (CI 95% 75-94%); per protocol cure rate: 90.7% (CI 95% 81-98%)]. Forty-three of these 49 cured patients returned for a second 13C urea breath-test at 6-12 months. Two of them were not cured, giving a long-term cure rate of 85.5% per protocol and 73.2% by intention-to-treat. Compliance was good, although 25 patients had mild side effects.

CONCLUSION

This particular four-day therapy is well tolerated, easy to follow, and achieves an acceptably high cure rate.

Comparison of two 3-day Helicobacter pylori eradication regimens with a standard 1-week regimen

BACKGROUND

The duration of Helicobacter pylori eradication regimens has decreased to 1 week with cure rates of over 90%. This can be attributed to the use of triple drug regimens including potent inhibitors of gastric acid secretion and clarithromycin. There is no theoretical reason why shorter regimens should not be possible.

AIM

To compare two 3-day, low-dose, twice daily regimens with 1 week of omeprazole 20 mg b.d., clarithromycin 250 mg b.d., and metronidazole 400 mg b.d. (OCM) METHODS: Outpatients referred for gastroscopy were screened by biopsy urease test. H. pylori-positive patients were randomized to receive either lansoprazole 30 mg b.d., tri-potassium dicitrato bismuthate one tablet b.d., clarithromycin 250 mg b.d., and amoxycillin 1 g b.d. for 3 days (LTdbCA), or ranitidine bismuth citrate 400 mg b.d., clarithromycin 250 mg b.d. and amoxycillin 1 g b.d. for 3 days (RbcCA) or omeprazole 20 mg b.d., clarithromycin 250 mg b.d. and metronidazole 400 mg b.d. for 1 week (OCM). They were not pre-treated with a gastric acid inhibitor. After 8 weeks, H. pylori status was assessed by 13C urea breath test.

RESULTS

974 out of 1114 patients referred for gastroscopy were screened by biopsy urease test. 140 patients were not screened either because they were anticoagulated or for technical reasons. 334 patients were H. pylori-positive: 154 were excluded mostly because of allergy to penicillin and personal reasons but 180 were randomized to treatment All regimens were well tolerated. For LTdbCA (n=60), RbcCA (n=59), and OCM (n=61) the H. pylori cure rates (95% CI) were 23% (12-34), 14% (5-23) and 87% (79-95), respectively, using intention-to-treat analysis and 25% (14-36), 15% (6-24) and 88% (80-96), respectively, if analysed per protocol. OCM was significantly superior to LTdbCA and RbcCA (P < 0.001) but there was no significant difference between regimens LTdbCA and RbcCA.

CONCLUSIONS

OCM is an extremely effective H. pylori eradication regimen. The 3-day regimens tested both have poor cure rates. Pre-treatment with a proton pump inhibitor, higher doses or more frequent dosing may be necessary to increase the cure rate of short duration regimens. However, this could make them less acceptable than the H. pylori eradication regimens currently available.

Optimal treatment of Helicobacter pylori with ranitidine bismuth citrate (RBC): a randomized comparison between two 7-day triple therapies and a 14-day dual therapy

OBJECTIVE

We investigated two promising 1-wk RBC-triple therapies in comparison to the already well investigated 2-wk RBC dual therapy.

METHODS

We conducted two randomized, open, parallel group studies in 13 hospitals in the Netherlands. H. pylori-positive patients without active ulceration were randomized to 14-day RBC 400 mg b.i.d. plus clarithromycin 500 mg b.i.d. (n = 56) or to either 7-day RBC 400 mg b.i.d. plus tetracycline 500 mg q.i.d. plus metronidazole 500 mg t.i.d. (n = 63) in study 1, or to 7-day RBC 400 mg b.i.d. plus amoxycillin 1000 mg b.i.d. plus clarithromycin 500 mg b.i.d. (n = 49) in study 2. At least 6 wk later patients were reendoscoped with antral and corpus biopsies for CLOtest, culture, and histology, and cure was assumed if all tests were negative.

RESULTS

Results from the studies were pooled. All regimens were well tolerated with only 1 drop-out because of side effects. Cure rates per protocol/intention to treat were 96%/95% for RBC-CLA dual therapy, 89%/86% for RBC-TET-MET triple therapy, and 93%/92% for RBC-AMO-CLA triple therapy. From 126 patients, a pretreatment antibiogram was available. Metronidazole resistance did not affect the performance of RBC-CLA or RBC-AMO-CLA. In the RBC-TET-MET group, 97% (32/33) with a metronidazole sensitive strain were cured vs 57% (four of seven) with a resistant strain. Of three patients with a pretreatment clarithromycin resistant strain; one failed RBC-CLA dual therapy and two failed RBC-AMO-CLA triple therapy.

CONCLUSIONS

All regimens were well tolerated and achieved comparable and very high cure rates. Statistical or clinical relevant differences were not detected. All three regimens can be used as initial anti-Helicobacter therapy and can compete with 7-day PPI-triple therapies. More data are needed on the influence of antimicrobial resistance on the performance of individual triple therapies. The local prevalence of antimicrobial resistance will determine which regimen should be chosen for a certain geographical area.

Short-term follow-up by serology of patients given antibiotic treatment for Helicobacter pylori infection

Helicobacter pylori serology and in particular enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays for the measurement of immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibody titers form an accurate means of diagnosing H. pylori infection in patients before treatment. H. pylori serology is of limited value in monitoring treatment because of the slow decline in antibody titers. In the present study we aimed to measure the most suitable moment after antibiotic treatment at which serology should be used to monitor treatment. Sixty-four patients who had nonulcer dyspepsia and H. pylori infection and who underwent upper gastrointestinal endoscopy because of persistent dyspeptic symptoms were included in the study. H. pylori cure was confirmed by histology and culture 5 weeks after the completion of the antibiotic treatment. Serological examination was performed before therapy and at 5 weeks, 10 weeks, and 1 year after the completion of antibiotic treatment. Diagnostic performance was assessed by receiver-operating characteristic analysis. The areas under the receiver-operating characteristic curves of the H. pylori antibody titers at 5 weeks, 10 weeks, and 1 year after the completion of treatment were 0.53 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.36 to 0.69), 0.60 (95% CI, 0.43 to 0.76), and 0.78 (95% CI, 0.63 to 0.93), respectively. The areas under the receiver-operating characteristic curves of the changes in H. pylori IgG antibody titers at 5 weeks, 10 weeks, and 1 year after the completion of treatment in comparison with the pretreatment titers were 0.85 (95% CI, 0.72 to 0.97), 0.96 (95% CI, 0.89 to 1.0), and 1.0 (95% CI, not estimable), respectively. We conclude that serology forms a useful means of monitoring treatment in patients with nonulcer dyspepsia and H. pylori infection as early as 10 weeks and maybe even sooner after the completion of treatment for the infection.

Two-day 'weekend' lansoprazole-quadruple therapy for Helicobacter pylori infection

BACKGROUND

The very high cure rate of 1-week quadruple therapy offers an opportunity to study a shorter treatment duration. This is needed to construct a time-response curve for the regimen.

METHODS

Fifty-two patients with endoscopically proven H. pylori infection received lansoprazole 30 mg b.d., tripotassium dicitrato bismuthate 120 mg q.d.s., tetracycline 500 mg q.d.s. and metronidazole 500 mg q.d.s., following 3 days of lansoprazole pre-treatment. A second endoscopy was performed at least 6 weeks later. A patient was cured if histology, CLO-test, and culture of antrum and corpus were negative.

RESULTS

We achieved an intention-to-treat cure rate of 30/50 (60%, 95%, CI: 46-73%) and a per protocol cure rate of 30/48 (63%, 95% CI: 48-75%). Cure rate in metronidazole-sensitive strains was 24/37 (65%, 95% CI: 48-79%) and 2/5 (40%) in resistant strains. All patients that failed the regimen had a metronidazole-resistant strain post-treatment. Compliance was excellent and moderate or severe side-effects occurred in only 4% of patients.

CONCLUSION

A 2-day 'weekend' quadruple therapy cures only 60% of patients and cannot be recommended, but these findings provide an insight into the mode of action of quadruple therapy.

Usefulness of the 14C urea breath test as a semi-quantitative monitoring instrument after therapy for Helicobacter pylori infection

BACKGROUND

We evaluated the reliability and usefulness of the 14C urea breath test (UBT) in confirming eradication of Helicobacter pylori 4 to 6 weeks after cessation of antimicrobial therapy.

METHODS

We investigated 57 patients, who underwent both an upper endoscopy with multiple biopsy specimens taken for histopathology, culture and/or CLO test, and a 14C UBT. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) for the breath test were calculated against the combined biopsy-based test results. Values for sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and NPV were also calculated after excluding results in a grey zone containing equivocal test results.

RESULTS

Sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and NPV of the 14C UBT were 92%, 78%, 52%, and 97%, respectively. After introduction of a grey zone concept, these values were 89%, 100%, 100%, and 97% respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

We conclude that for research, upper gastrointestinal endoscopy with multiple biopsy specimens and using different diagnostic techniques should remain the 'gold standard' to test for cure.