Background: Effective anti-Helicobacter pylori therapies with few side-effects are needed. We previously showed that the regimen of amoxycillin, clarithromycin and an H2-receptor antagonist was effective in the United States. The current study tested whether this therapy would also be successful in Korea.
Methods: Patients with gastric or duodenal ulcers received amoxycillin (750 mg t.d.s.) plus clarithromycin (500 mg t.d.s.) for 2 weeks and nizatidine 300 mg at bedtime for 6 weeks. Endoscopic examinations were performed before treatment and 4 or more weeks after ending antimicrobial therapy. H. pylori status was confirmed by rapid urease testing and histological examination of gastric antrum and corpus biopsies using the Genta stain. Antibiotic resistance was tested using the E-test method. Cure was defined as no evidence of H. pylori infection 4 or more weeks after ending therapy.
Results: Seventy-two patients (59 males and 13 females; mean age 46 years), including 35 with duodenal ulcers, 30 with gastric ulcers and seven with both, were studied. H. pylori infection was cured in 95.8% (69/72 patients; 95% CI = 88.3-99.1%). Two of the treatment failures had culture data and one had pre-treatment resistance to clarithromycin. Smoking did not have an adverse effect on therapy. Ten patients (15%) developed side-effects during treatment, but all were mild and did not require treatment interruption. No case of reinfection was noted during follow-up.
Conclusion: The combination of amoxycillin, clarithromycin and an H2-receptor antagonist is effective in Korean patients with H. pylori infection.