Problems with clinical trials on Campylobacter pylori

Clinical trials investigating Campylobacter pylori infection have proven difficult to conduct and to interpret. Those trials examining the relapse rates of duodenal ulcer disease among subjects in whom C. pylori infection has been eradicated have shown a significant reduction in recurrence rates. However, since the Bismuthate compounds used in these trials have cytoprotective ulcer-healing properties, reduced relapse rates cannot be attributed to antibiotic activity alone. Those trials examining infective gastritis and "nonulcer dyspepsia" are hampered by the ill-defined nature of this entity, "dyspepsia," and by the subjective end-points of these trials.