1. Efficacy of Clarithromycin Depends on the Bacterial Density in Clarithromycin-Heteroresistant Helicobacter pylori Infections: An In Situ Detected Susceptibility and Quantitative Morphometry-Based Retrospective Study
- Author
-
Ildikó Szirtes, György M. Buzás, Éva Kocsmár, Csaba Diczházi, Ildikó Kocsmár, Gábor Lotz, Jewel Ju Ea Kim, Zsuzsa Schaff, Attila Szijártó, István Hritz, Orsolya Rusz, and András Kiss
- Subjects
0301 basic medicine ,Cancer Research ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Gastroenterology ,Pathology and Forensic Medicine ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Antibiotic resistance ,Clarithromycin ,Internal medicine ,Biopsy ,medicine ,Breath test ,integumentary system ,medicine.diagnostic_test ,biology ,business.industry ,food and beverages ,Retrospective cohort study ,General Medicine ,Helicobacter pylori ,biology.organism_classification ,Regimen ,030104 developmental biology ,Oncology ,lipids (amino acids, peptides, and proteins) ,030211 gastroenterology & hepatology ,business ,medicine.drug ,Fluorescence in situ hybridization - Abstract
The global rise in clarithromycin (Cla) resistance is considered to be the main contributor of Helicobacter pylori (Hp) eradication failures. In nearly half of the Cla-resistant Hp infections, Cla-susceptible bacteria are simultaneously present with the Cla-resistant ones (Cla-heteroresistance). The proportion of resistant bacteria in the bacterial population (R-fraction) and its predictive role for the use of Cla-based therapies in Cla-heteroresistant infections has not yet been investigated. Our retrospective study analyzed gastric biopsy samples of 62 Hp-positive patients with Cla-heteroresistant infection. Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization technique was used to visualize the coexistence of resistant and susceptible bacteria within one tissue sample. R-fraction was quantified on multichannel microimages by digital morphometry. Resistant bacteria had a patchy distribution within the whole bacterial population causing high diversity among the investigated areas. Patients were subdivided into two major groups according to whether a Cla-based eradication attempt was conducted before or after the biopsy sampling. R-fraction was significantly lower among cases having only one previous Cla-based eradication attempt vs. those that had multiple previous eradications, including at least one Cla-containing therapy (0.41 vs. 0.89, p = 0.0308). Majority of the patients without previous eradication attempt had successful eradication with Cla-containing regimen (59.26%), verified by a negative 13C-urea breath test or control biopsy. Multivariable model indicated that the therapeutic outcome using Cla-based regimens depended on the bacterial density rather than the R-fraction. Our study raises the potential use of Cla-containing eradication therapies in certain Cla-heteroresistant Hp infections, taking into account the possible predictive role of bacterial density.
- Published
- 2021
- Full Text
- View/download PDF