Primary Antibiotic Resistance of Helicobacter pylori in China

Antibiotic resistance is the most important factor leading to the failure of eradication regimens; thus, it is important to obtain regional antibiotic resistance information. This review focuses on the prevalence of Helicobacter pylori primary resistance to clarithromycin, metronidazole, amoxicillin, levofloxacin, tetracycline, and furazolidone in China.

We searched the PubMed, EMBASE, the China National Knowledge Infrastructure, and Chinese Biomedical databases from the earliest date of each database to October 2016. The search terms included the following: H. pylori, antibiotic (including clarithromycin, metronidazole, amoxicillin, levofloxacin, tetracycline, and furazolidone) resistance with or without China or different regions of China. The data analysis was performed using MedCalc 15.2.2. Each article was weighted according to the number of isolated H. pylori strains. A pooled proportion analysis was performed.

Twenty-three studies (14 studies in English and 9 in Chinese) were included in this review. A total of 6274, 6418, 3921, 5468, 2802, and 275 H. pylori strains were included in this review to evaluate the prevalence of H. pylori primary resistance to clarithromycin, metronidazole, levofloxacin, amoxicillin, tetracycline, and furazolidone, respectively. Overall, the primary resistance rates of clarithromycin, metronidazole, levofloxacin, amoxicillin, tetracycline, and furazolidone were 28.9, 63.8, 28.0, 3.1, 3.9, and 1.7%, respectively.

In China, the prevalence of H. pylori primary resistance to clarithromycin, metronidazole, and levofloxacin was high and increased over time, whereas the resistance rates to amoxicillin, tetracycline, and furazolidone were low and stable over time.