title: Percentage changes in serum pepsinogens are useful as indices of eradication of Helicobacter pylori.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Eradication of Helicobacter pylori has been gaining significance for the treatment of gastroduodenal diseases. Establishment of a precise diagnostic method for H. pylori is of great value. The aim of this study was to establish a new method for precisely judging the eradication of this bacteria.
  
  
  METHODS
  We measured serum pepsinogen I (PG I) and pepsinogen II (PG II) levels in 105 cases of peptic ulcer with H. pylori infection before and after anti-H. pylori treatment, determined percentage changes in serum PG I:PG II ratios before and 1 month after the treatment, and established cut-off values for them to distinguish success from failure of H. pylori eradication. Cut-off values for percentage changes in serum PG I:PG II ratios were tentatively set as +40%, +25%, and +10% when the serum PG I:PG II ratios before treatment were less than 3.0, not less than 3.0 but less than 5.0, and not less than 5.0, respectively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  With these cut-off values, the sensitivity, specificity, and validity for determination of eradication of H. pylori-on the basis of culture, histology, the rapid urease test, and a polymerase chain reaction method-were 100.0%, 93.1%, and 96.2%, respectively. These cut-off values could be applied to both gastric ulcer and duodenal ulcer.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings suggest that percentage changes in serum PG I:PG II ratios are useful as indices for distinguishing success from failure in eradication therapy for H. pylori.
authors.affiliation: First Department of Medicine, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Furuta
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kaneko
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Baba
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Arai
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Futami
mesh_terms: D053799:2-Pyridinylmethylsulfinylbenzimidazoles; D000328:Adult; D000658:Amoxicillin / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004381:Duodenal Ulcer / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology; D005260:Female; D016481:Helicobacter Infections / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000382:microbiology*; D016480:Helicobacter pylori; D006801:Humans; D064747:Lansoprazole; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009853:Omeprazole / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000627:therapeutic use; D010406:Penicillins / Q000627:therapeutic use; D010435:Pepsinogens / Q000097:blood*; D013276:Stomach Ulcer / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D053799:2-Pyridinylmethylsulfinylbenzimidazoles; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D010406:Penicillins; D010435:Pepsinogens; D064747:Lansoprazole; D000658:Amoxicillin; D009853:Omeprazole