[First line therapy for Helicobacter pylori eradication in France]

The available results of triple therapy for the eradication of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), as recommended in European countries--i.e. combination of proton pump inhibitor (PPI) and two antibiotics among amoxicillin, clarithromycin, metronidazole for 7 days--lead to rates of failure of about 30%. Several clinical studies have been recently conducted to distinguish factors influencing effectiveness of therapy and to evaluate results of new regimens. Comparative trials have demonstrated the equivalence of omeprazole 20 mg, lansoprazole 30 mg, pantoprazole 40 mg, rabeprazole 20 mg and esomeprazole 20 mg, twice daily in these 7-days triple therapies. Efficacy of treatment is not affected by metronidazole resistance (44% in France) when amoxicillin-clarithromycin-based triple therapy is prescribed. The impact of clarithromycin resistance (14%) is much more important with failure of eradication in all cases treated by clarithromycin-based triple therapy. The eradication rate could be slightly improved by increasing the dose of clarithromycin but with more frequent side effects. To prolong the duration treatment improve also slightly the cure rate with a gain of less than 10%, but with an increasing rate of side effects. To date, the PPI-based triple therapies, as recommended in France, have not to be modified. The treatment of H. pylori infection has to be globally considered, with a first-line treatment leading to eradication in 70% of patients and a second-line treatment needed for the resting 30% of patients.