A 10-day levofloxacin-based therapy in patients with resistant Helicobacter pylori infection: a controlled trial.
OBJECTIVE
Antibiotic resistance is a major issue in anti- Helicobacter pylori treatment. This study was aimed at assessing the efficacy of 2 therapies in patients with resistant H pylori infection.


METHODS
Patients who had failed 1 or more eradication regimens underwent upper gastrointestinal endoscopy and 2 antral and 2 corpus biopsy specimens were taken for histology and culture. Metronidazole, clarithromycin, and amoxicillin resistance were determined by E-test. Patients were randomly assigned to 2 therapies: 1 group received pantoprazole 40 mg, amoxicillin 1 g, levofloxacin 250 mg, all twice daily for 10 days, and the other group was treated with omeprazole 20 mg twice daily for the first week and omeprazole 20 mg twice daily, tetracycline 250 mg 4 times daily, metronidazole 500 mg twice daily, and bismuth subcitrate 240 mg twice daily for the second week. Therapeutic success was evaluated by 13C urea breath test after 4 weeks of treatment.


RESULTS
We enrolled 44 patients in the levofloxacin-based regimen and 46 patients in the quadruple therapy. The former was successful in 31 of 44 (70%; 95% confidence interval: 53-87) and the latter in 17 of 46 (37%; 95% confidence interval: 23-47) patients, using intention-to-treat (ITT) analysis (P < .001). The rates of H pylori resistance to metronidazole, clarithromycin, and amoxicillin were 46%, 12%, and 0%, respectively. Resistance to both metronidazole and clarithromycin was found in 10% of cases.


CONCLUSIONS
Triple therapy containing levofloxacin was better than quadruple therapy. The 70% success rate observed indicates that 10 days of pantoprazole, amoxicillin, and levofloxacin should be considered in patients who had failed 1 or more eradication regimens.
Bilardi
Claudio
C
Dipartimento di Medicina Interna e Specialità Mediche, Università di Genova, Italy.
Dulbecco
Pietro
P
Zentilin
Patrizia
P
Reglioni
Simona
S
Iiritano
Elena
E
Parodi
Andrea
A
Accornero
Laura
L
Savarino
Edoardo
E
Mansi
Carlo
C
Mamone
Mario
M
Vigneri
Sergio
S
Savarino
Vincenzo
V
D053799:2-Pyridinylmethylsulfinylbenzimidazoles; D000368:Aged; D000658:Amoxicillin / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000897:Anti-Ulcer Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001562:Benzimidazoles / Q000627:therapeutic use; D017291:Clarithromycin / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D064704:Levofloxacin; D008297:Male; D008795:Metronidazole / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008875:Middle Aged; D015242:Ofloxacin / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D009853:Omeprazole / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D009942:Organometallic Compounds / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000077402:Pantoprazole; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013454:Sulfoxides / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D053799:2-Pyridinylmethylsulfinylbenzimidazoles; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D000897:Anti-Ulcer Agents; D001562:Benzimidazoles; D009942:Organometallic Compounds; D013454:Sulfoxides; D008795:Metronidazole; D064704:Levofloxacin; D000658:Amoxicillin; D015242:Ofloxacin; D000077402:Pantoprazole; D017291:Clarithromycin; C002791:bismuth tripotassium dicitrate; D009853:Omeprazole