Objective: The prevalence of Helicobacter pylori resistance to amoxicillin was less than 5% in most countries. Proton pump inhibitor (PPI)-amoxicillin dual therapy dosing four times daily (q.i.d.) for 14 days could achieve an eradication rate of more than 85%. It is unclear whether dual therapy with shorter treatment duration or lower dosing frequency could also attain a satisfactory cure rate. We conducted a randomized controlled trial to assess the efficacy and safety of two modified esomeprazole-amoxicillin dual therapies, 10-day q.i.d. and 14-day three times daily (t.i.d.) dual therapy, and investigate the factors that might affect the eradication rates.
Participants and methods: A total of 253 patients were screened for eligibility and 208 patients were randomly assigned to 10-day dual therapy (esomeprazole 20 mg and amoxicillin 750 mg, all given four times daily) or 14-day dual therapy (esomeprazole 20 mg and amoxicillin 1000 mg, all given three times daily).
Results: In the intention-to-treat analysis, the eradication rates for 10-day and 14-day groups were 79.8% [95% confidence interval (CI): 70.2-87.4%] and 83.5% (95% CI: 74.3-90.5%) as first-line therapies; and 80% (95% CI: 44.4-97.5%) and 76.9% (95% CI: 46.2-95.0%) as rescue therapies. The adverse event rates were 5.9% and 5.0% for 10-day and 14-day groups, respectively. Smoking and compliance significantly affected the efficacy of PPI-amoxicillin dual therapies.
Conclusion: The eradication rate of 10-day q.i.d. dual therapy was unacceptable, while that of the 14-day t.i.d. dual therapy was borderline acceptable for first-line therapy. The two dual therapies were well tolerated with few adverse effects.