Helicobacter pylori cultivation from gastric biopsies and susceptibility to antibiotics used in empirical therapy.

Unlabelled: Helicobacter pylori is one of the most common among the numerous bacterial species of the stomach. It is classified as a class 1 carcinogen because of its causal relationship to gastric adenocarcinoma. The epidemiology of H. pylori infection is characterized by a marked difference between developing and developed countries. Treatment of H. pylori still remains a challenge due to the high rate of antibiotic resistance. The aim of this study was to investigate the susceptibility of H. pylori strains isolated from gastric biopsies to different antibiotics currently used in the H. pylori infection treatment schemes.
Materials and Methods: Upper gastrointestinal GI endoscopy was performed, followed by the rapid urease test on gastric biopsies. The positive samples were cultivated on specific media under microaerophilic conditions and the antibiotic susceptibility assay was performed on the isolated strains.
Results: A positivity rate of 70% was obtained for cultures performed from the biopsy samples positive for the urease test. The resistance rates for the antibiotics used in the classic triple therapy proved to be high, i.e. 92.8% for metronidazole, 50% for amoxicillin and 32% for clarithromycin. The isolated strains proved to be sensitive to ciprofloxacin and levofloxacin.
Conclusions: The role of gastric microbiota and its contribution to the H. pylori associated pathology need to be established. The problem of antibiotic treatment failure in case of resistant H. pylori strains can be surpassed by routine culture and antibiotic susceptibility testings.