Effect of the eradication of Helicobacter pylori on duodenal ulcer healing and ulcer relapse: randomized controlled study in Japan

Abstract

To investigate the effect of the eradication of Helicobacter pylori on the healing and relapse of duodenal ulcers. 50 patients with active duodenal ulcer and H. pylori infection were randomly allocated to two treatment groups. One group (cimetidine group) received cimetidine 400 mg twice daily for 6 weeks and the other group (double-therapy group) received 300 mg amoxicillin granules and 250 mg metronidazole thrice daily for 2 weeks, in addition to the same regimen of cimetidine as the cimetidine group. Forty-two patients completed the study. After confirmation of ulcer scar, all patients were followed up for 6 months while receiving treatment with teprenone, an agent that does not affect acid secretion or the eradication of H. pylori. The healing rates at 6 weeks were 90% in the cimetidine group and 95.5% in the double-therapy group. H. pylori eradication occurred in 0% of the cimetidine group and in 73.7% of the double-therapy group (P = 0.004). The cumulative relapse rates in the two groups at 6 months were 64.3% and 11.1%, respectively (P = 0.0007). In the double-therapy group, the cumulative relapse rate at 6 months in the patients in whom H. pylori persisted was 50% (2/4); the rate was 0% (0/14) in the patients in whom H. pylori had been eradicated (P = 0.005). Histological gastritis significantly improved compared with the baseline in the double-therapy group, but no such improvement was seen in the cimetidine group. White scarring was found in 7.1% of the cimetidine group and in 83.3% of the double-therapy group after 6 months (P < 0.0001). The eradication of H. pylori markedly decreased the relapse rate in duodenal ulcer patients, and it significantly improved both the grade of gastritis and the quality of the ulcer scar.