Current Status of Five Different Regimens for Empiric First-Line Helicobacter pylori Eradication in Turkey

2022 Chinese national clinical practice guideline on Helicobacter pylori eradication treatment

BACKGROUND

Helicobacter pylori ( H. pylori ) infection is an infectious disease with a prevalence rate of up to 50% worldwide. It can cause indigestion, gastritis, peptic ulcer, and gastric cancer. H. pylori eradication treatment can effectively control disease progression and reduce the risk of the above conditions. However, the escalating trend of antibiotic resistance presents a global challenge for H. pylori eradication. We aim to provide guidance on pharmacological treatment of H. pylori infection.

METHODS

This clinical practice guideline is developed following the World Health Organization's recommended process, adopting Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation in assessing evidence quality, and utilizing Evidence to Decision framework to formulate clinical recommendations, minimizing bias and increasing transparency of the clinical practice guideline development process. We used the Reporting Items for practice Guidelines in HealThcare (RIGHT) statement and The Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation II (AGREE II) as reporting and conduct guides to ensure the guideline's completeness and transparency.

RESULTS

Though decreasing in developed countries, the prevalence of H. pylori remains high in developing countries, causing a major public health burden. This clinical practice guideline contains 12 recommendations concerning pharmacological treatment for H. pylori eradication. Among them, it is worth highlighting that bismuth preparations are inexpensive, safe, and effective, consequently making bismuth quadruple therapy a preferred choice for initial and rescue treatment. In empirical treatment, high-dose dual therapy is equally effective compared with bismuth quadruple therapy.

CONCLUSIONS

The 12 recommendations in this clinical practice guideline are formed with consideration for stakeholders' values and preferences, resource use, feasibility, and acceptability. Recommendations are generalizable to resource limited settings with similar antibiotic resistance pattern as China, and lower middle-income countries facing comparable sociological and technical challenges.

REGISTRATION

Guidelines International Network (GIN) website, https://guidelines.ebmportal.com/node/69996 .

Comparison of sequential therapy with concomitant therapy in first-line treatment of Helicobacter pylori: an updated meta-analysis

Sequential therapy (ST) and concomitant therapy (CT) are common first-line treatments for Helicobacter pylori (HP). This study aimed to assess the efficiency and safety of ST and CT in the first-line treatment of HP by comparing their clinical outcomes. Two authors independently searched PubMed, EBSCO, Web of Science and the Cochrane Library for all the relevant articles published before March 2021 to compare the clinical outcomes of HP patients undergoing ST or CT. The primary outcome measures were HP eradication rates and adverse events (AEs). This meta-analysis included 24 articles with 7531 HP patients. CT was better than ST in eradicating HP from per-protocol analysis (PP) (RR=0.96, P<0.001) and modified intent-to-treat analysis (MITT) (RR=0.94, P=0.005). Compared with non-Asia, CT demonstrated more apparent advantages than ST in Asia. CT treated with lansoprazole, pantoprazole and esomeprazole outperformed ST treated with the same PPIs. CT for 10 days and ST for 14 days were the better choices of course of treatment. The incidence rates of AEs were significantly higher in CT than in ST for diarrhoea (RR=0.65, P<0.001), vomiting (RR=0.68, P=0.03), dysgeusia (RR=0.83, P=0.03) and dizziness (RR=0.77, P=0.05). Both ST and CT are safe and effective first-line treatments for HP. Although the AEs were more frequent with CT than ST, CT was superior to ST, especially in Asia. The effect of various PPIs varied in various therapies. The best course of treatment was 10 days for CT and 14 days for ST.

Evidence based guidelines for the treatment of Helicobacter pylori infection in Korea 2020

Helicobacter pylori infection is one of the most common infectious diseases worldwide. H. pylori is responsible for substantial gastrointestinal morbidity with a high disease burden. Since the revision of the H. pylori Clinical Practice Guidelines in 2013 in Korea, the eradication rate of H. pylori has gradually decreased with the use of a clarithromycin based triple therapy. According to a nationwide randomized controlled study by the Korean College of Helicobacter and Upper Gastrointestinal Research released in 2018, the intention-to-treat eradication rate was only 63.9%, which was mostly due to increased antimicrobial resistance to clarithromycin. The clinical practice guidelines for treatment of H. pylori were updated based on evidence-based medicine from a meta-analysis conducted on a target group receiving the latest level of eradication therapy. The draft recommendations developed based on the meta-analysis were finalized after expert consensus on three recommendations regarding the indication for treatment and eight recommendations on the treatment itself. These guidelines were designed to provide clinical evidence for the treatment of H. pylori to patients, nurses, medical school students, policymakers, and clinicians. These may differ from current medical insurance standards, and will be revised if more evidence emerges in the future.

Comparative efficacy and safety of high-dose dual therapy, bismuth-based quadruple therapy and non-bismuth quadruple therapies for Helicobacter pylori infection: a network meta-analysis

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection is associated with the development of multiple diseases. The eradication rate of H. pylori has gradually decreased, suggesting the need to discover more effective therapies. This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of first-line treatments including high-dose dual therapy (HDDT), bismuth-based quadruple therapy (BQT), sequential therapy (ST), concomitant therapy (CT) and hybrid therapy (HT) by network meta-analysis (NMA). A comprehensive search on PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library and Web of Science, was performed from their inception to 1 September 2019. A network analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing first-line therapies were carried out using Stata 14.0 and Revman 5.2. Moreover, a sensitivity analysis was conducted by omitting non-Asian studies. Finally, 41 RCTs with 14 119 patients were included. The NMA showed that, in terms of eradication rate, ST for 10 days (ST-10) was significantly lower than CT for 10 or 14 days (CT ≥ 10). Sensitivity analysis among the Asian population showed that ST-10 denoted the lowest effectiveness among the interventions. The ranking results based on probability showed that HDDT ranked first for the eradication rate. As for adverse events, HDDT was significantly less than BQT and CT regardless of duration, while BQT for 14 days represented higher adverse events than ST, HT and CT ≥ 10. HDDT ranked first among the therapies. In conclusion, HDDT for 14 days appeared to be the most optimal first-line therapy for H. pylori among the Asian population with comparable efficacy and compliance but causing fewer adverse events.

Evidence-Based Guidelines for the Treatment of Helicobacter pylori Infection in Korea 2020

Helicobacter pylori infection is one of the most common infectious diseases worldwide. Although the prevalence of H. pylori is gradually decreasing, approximately half of the world&#039;s population still becomes infected with this disease. H. pylori is responsible for substantial gastrointestinal morbidity worldwide, with a high disease burden. It is the most common cause of gastric and duodenal ulcers and gastric cancer. Since the revision of the H. pylori clinical practice guidelines in 2013 in Korea, the eradication rate of H. pylori has gradually decreased with the use of a clarithromycin-based triple therapy for 7 days. According to a nationwide randomized controlled study conducted by the Korean College of Helicobacter and Upper Gastrointestinal Research released in 2018, the intention-to-treat eradication rate was only 63.9%, which was mostly due to increased antimicrobial resistance, especially from clarithromycin. The clinical practice guidelines for the treatment of H. pylori were updated according to evidence-based medicine from a meta-analysis conducted on a target group receiving the latest level of eradication therapy. The draft recommendations developed based on the meta-analysis were finalized after an expert consensus on three recommendations regarding the indication for treatment and eight recommendations for the treatment itself. These guidelines were designed to provide clinical evidence for the treatment (including primary care treatment) of H. pylori infection to patients, nurses, medical school students, policymakers, and clinicians. These may differ from current medical insurance standards and will be revised if more evidence emerges in the future.

Evidence-based Guidelines for the Treatment of Helicobacter pylori Infection in Korea: 2020 Revised Edition

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection is one of the most common infectious diseases worldwide. Although its incidence is gradually decreasing, about half of the world's population still get infected. H. pylori infection is responsible for substantial gastrointestinal morbidity worldwide. It is the most common cause of gastric and duodenal ulcers as well as gastric cancer. Since the revision of the H. pylori Clinical Practice Guidelines in 2013, the eradication rate of H. pylori has gradually decreased with the use of classical triple therapy, wherein amoxicillin, clarithromycin, and proton pump inhibitors are administered, for 7 days. According to a nationwide randomized controlled study conducted by the Korean College of Helicobacter and Upper Gastrointestinal Research released in 2018, the intention-to-treat eradication rate was only 63.9%, which was due to increased antimicrobial resistance induced by the use of antibiotics, especially clarithromycin. The update of clinical practice guideline for treatment of H. pylori was developed based on evidence-based medicine by conducting a meta-analysis. The draft recommendations were finalized after expert consensus on three recommendations regarding the indication for treatment and eight recommendations on the treatment itself. These guidelines are designed to provide patients, nurses, medical school students, policymakers, and clinicians with clinical evidence to guide primary care and treatment of H. pylori infection. These may differ from current medical insurance standards and will be revised further, if necessary, based on research-based evidence.

Clarithromycin Versus Metronidazole in First-Line Helicobacter Pylori Triple Eradication Therapy Based on Resistance to Antimicrobial Agents: Meta-Analysis

Background: International treatment guidelines for Helicobacter pylori infection recommend a proton pump inhibitor (PPI)/amoxicillin/clarithromycin (CAM) regimen (PAC) or PPI/amoxicillin/metronidazole (MNZ) regimen (PAM) as first-line therapy based on culture and sensitivity testing. As incidence rates of antimicrobial agent-resistant strains are changing year by year, it is important to reevaluate the efficacy of eradication regimens. We performed a meta-analysis to evaluate the efficacy and safety of PAC and PAM based on different locations categorized by the reported incidence of CAM- and MNZ-resistant strains. Methods: Randomized control trials (RCTs) comparing eradication rates between PAC and PAM first-line treatment up to December 2018 were included. We divided RCTs into four groups based on resistance to CAM (< 15% or ≥ 15%) and MNZ (< 15% or ≥ 15%). Results: A total of 27 studies (4825 patients) were included. Overall eradication rates between PAC and PAM were similar (74.8% and 72.5%, relative risk (RR): 1.13, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.91–1.39, P = 0.27) in the intention-to-treat analysis. In areas with low MNZ- and high CAM-resistance rates, PAM had a significantly higher eradication rate than PAC (92.5% vs. 70.8%, RR: 0.29, 95% CI: 0.13–0.68). In areas with high MNZ- and low CAM-resistance rates, the eradication rate with PAC was only 72.9%. Conclusions: Overall eradication rates with PAC and PAM were equivalent worldwide. In low MNZ-resistance areas, PAM may be recommended as first-line therapy. However, the efficacy of PAC may be insufficient, irrespective of susceptibility to CAM.

Furazolidone-containing triple and quadruple eradication therapy for initial treatment for Helicobacter pylori infection: A multicenter randomized controlled trial in China

BACKGROUND

The efficacy of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) eradication has steadily declined, primarily because of antibiotic resistance. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of furazolidone eradication therapies as initial treatments for H. pylori infection.

METHODS

A national, multicenter, open-label, randomized controlled trial was performed at 16 sites across 13 provinces in China to evaluate the efficacy and safety of furazolidone-containing therapies for H. pylori infection. Treatment naïve patients were randomly assigned to: esomeprazole 20 mg, bismuth 220 mg, amoxicillin 1000 mg, and furazolidone 100 mg twice daily for 10 and 7 days (FAB 10 and FAB 7; the same therapy without bismuth (FA 10 and FA 7). The primary and secondary outcomes were the eradication rate and regimen safety, respectively. Treatment success was assessed by the ¹³ C urea breath test at least 4 weeks after treatment completion.

RESULTS

Overall, according to intention-to-treat (ITT) analysis, the eradication rates for FAB 10 and FAB 7 were 86.6% (95% confidence interval [CI], 79.9%-93.2%) and 83.6% (95% CI, 76.3%-90.9%) and for FA 10 and FA 7 were 82.4% (95% CI, 74.9%-89.8%) and 77.6% (95% CI, 69.4%-85.8%), respectively. According to per-protocol analysis, the overall eradication rates for FAB 10 and FAB 7 were 94.7% (95% CI, 90.3%-99.1%) and 90.8% (95% CI, 85.1%-96.5%) and for FA 10 and FA 7 were 90.6% (95% CI, 84.9%-96.3%) and 85.1% (95% CI, 78.2%-92.1%), respectively. The overall prevalence of side effects was 8.1%.

CONCLUSIONS

Furazolidone-containing therapies, particularly the tested 10-day quadruple therapy, exhibited satisfactory efficacy and safety. This 10-day quadruple therapy represents a promising initial treatment strategy for Chinese patients.

Primary antibiotic resistance in Helicobacter pylori in the Asia-Pacific region: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

So far, a comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis has not been done of the prevalence of primary antibiotic resistance in Helicobacter pylori in the Asia-Pacific region. We aimed to assess the trends and regional differences in primary antibiotic resistance to H pylori in the Asia-Pacific region and to examine the relation between resistance and first-line eradication.

METHODS

We did a systematic review and meta-analysis of primary antibiotic resistance to H pylori and the efficacy of first-line regimens in the Asia-Pacific region. We searched PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library for articles published between Jan 1, 1990, and Sept 30, 2016; we also searched abstracts from international conferences. Both observational studies and randomised controlled trials were eligible for inclusion in the analysis of primary antibiotic resistance, but only randomised controlled trials were eligible for inclusion in the analysis of efficacy of first-line therapies. Meta-analysis was by the random-effects model to account for the substantial variations in resistance across the region. We did subgroup analyses by country and study period (ie, before 2000, 2001-05, 2006-10, and 2011-15) to establish country-specific prevalences of primary antibiotic resistance and first-line eradication rates. This study is registered with PROSPERO, number CRD42017057905.

FINDINGS

176 articles from 24 countries were included in our analysis of antibiotic resistance. The overall mean prevalences of primary H pylori resistance were 17% (95% CI 15-18) for clarithromycin, 44% (95% CI 39-48) for metronidazole, 18% (95% CI 15-22) for levofloxacin, 3% (95% CI 2-5) for amoxicillin, and 4% (95% CI 2-5) for tetracycline. Prevalence of resistance to clarithromycin and levofloxacin rose significantly over time during the period investigated, whereas resistance to other antibiotics remained stable. 170 articles from 16 countries were included in analysis of efficacy of first-line therapies. We noted unsatisfactory efficacy (ie, <80%) with clarithromycin-containing regimens in countries where the clarithromycin resistance rates were higher than 20%.

INTERPRETATION

The prevalence of primary antibiotic resistance varied greatly among countries in the Asia-Pacific region, and thus treatment strategy should be adapted relative to country-specific resistance patterns. Clarithromycin-containing regimens should be avoided in countries where the prevalence of clarithromycin resistance is higher than 20%.

FUNDING

Ministry of Health and Welfare of Taiwan, Ministry of Science and Technology of Taiwan, and Amity University.

Treatment of Helicobacter pylori infection 2016

Many interesting articles have been published from different parts of the world over the last year assessing various issues around Helicobacter pylori eradication therapy. This article will address the published literature over the last year pertaining to the topic of treatment of H. pylori infection. The main themes that emerge are assessing the efficacy of standard triple therapy, as well as exploring new first-line treatments, mainly optimized nonbismuth-containing and bismuth-containing quadruple therapies with some promising data also emerging on dual therapy. There was also considerable progress in investigating antibiotic resistance rates with much more data emerging from varied parts of the world compared to recent years. Advances in the use of adjunctive therapies, especially probiotic therapies have also been made. Undoubtedly, the eradication of H. pylori remains a worthwhile goal to alleviate the burden of diseases caused by the complications of this infection, including dyspepsia, peptic ulcer disease, and gastric cancer.