Effect of Age on Effectiveness of Vonoprazan in Triple Therapy for Helicobacter pylori Eradication

Eradication of Helicobacter pylori may improve dyspepsia in the elderly for the long term

Background

Therapy for eradication of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) improves symptoms of H. pylori-associated dyspepsia (HPD), but the effects of eradication in elderly patients are unclear. The aim of our study was to investigate dyspepsia symptoms and long-term effects of eradication in elderly patients.

Methods

This retrospective study included 496 patients who received H. pylori eradication therapy. The patients were divided into a group of elderly patients (group E: ≧ 65 years old) and a group of non-elderly patients (group N: < 65 years old). Abdominal symptoms were evaluated using a questionnaire about abdominal symptoms before eradication and after eradication (1–2 months and more than one year). Dyspepsia was defined as a score of 4 points or more for at least one of 4 items (postprandial fullness, early satiety, epigastric pain, and hunger pain). Improvement of symptoms was defined on the basis of changes in Global Overall Systems scores.

Results

There were no differences in abdominal symptoms before eradication between the two groups. Successful eradication improved symptoms in patients with dyspepsia within 2 months (in 75.6% (56/74) of the patients in group N and in 64.5% (20/31) of the patients in group E). The questionnaire showed that 80% (32/40) of the patients in group N and 60% (12/20) of the patients in group E had long-term relief of dyspepsia. The scores for abdominal symptoms in group E continued to improve for a mean period of 54.8 months after eradication.

Conclusions

Eradication of H. pylori age-independently improved dyspepsia symptoms for the long term.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12876-021-02027-6.

The status and progress of first-line treatment against Helicobacter pylori infection: a review

Helicobacter pylori (HP) is a major causative agent of chronic gastritis and peptic ulcer. HP is also engaged in the development of gastric cancer and gastric mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma. It is an important pathogenic factor in various other systemic diseases, such as vitamin B12 deficiency, iron deficiency, and idiopathic thrombocytopenia. The current consensus is that unless there is a special reason, eradication therapy should be implemented whenever HP infection is found, and it is ideally successful the first time. International guidelines recommend that under certain conditions, treatment should be personalized based on drug susceptibility testing. However, drug susceptibility testing is often not available because it is expensive, time-consuming, and difficult to obtain living tissue. Each region has separately formulated guidelines or consensuses on empirical therapy. Owing to an increasing drug resistance rate in various places, the eradication rate of proton pump inhibitor (PPI) triple therapy and sequential therapy has been affected. These regimens are rarely used; the PPI triple especially has been abandoned in most areas. Currently, radical treatment regimens for HP involve bismuth-containing quadruple therapy and concomitant therapy. However, quadruple therapy has its own limitations, such as complex drug administration. To improve the effectiveness, safety, and compliance, many clinical studies have proposed useful modified regimens, which mainly include the modified bismuth-containing quadruple regimen, high-dose dual therapy, and vonoprazan-containing regimens. Studies have shown that these emerging regimens have acceptable eradication rates and safety, and are expected to become first-line treatments in empirical therapy. However, the problem of decline in the eradication rate caused by drug resistance has not been fundamentally solved. This review not only summarizes the effectiveness of mainstream regimens in the first-line treatment of HP infection with the currently increasing antibiotic resistance rates, but also summarizes the effectiveness and safety of various emerging treatment regimens.

Is a Potassium-Competitive Acid Blocker Truly Superior to Proton Pump Inhibitors in Terms of Helicobacter pylori Eradication?

Vonoprazan (VPZ), a new potassium-competitive acid blocker, has been approved and used for Helicobacterpylori eradication in Japan. To date, many studies, as well as several systematic reviews and meta-analyses (MAs), have compared VPZ-based 7-day triple therapy with proton pump inhibitor (PPI)-based therapy. An MA of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing first-line VPZ- with PPI-based triple therapy, the latter featuring amoxicillin (AMPC) and clarithromycin (CAM), found that approximately 30% of patients hosted CAM-resistant H. pylori; however, the reliability was poor because of high heterogeneity and a risk of selection bias. VPZ-based triple therapy is superior to PPI-based triple therapy for patients with CAM-resistant H. pylori, but not for those with CAM-susceptible H. pylori. An MA of non-RCTs found that second-line VPZ-based triple therapies were slightly (~2.6%) better than PPI-based triple therapies (with AMPC and metronidazole). However, the reliability of that MA was also low because of selection bias, confounding variables and a risk of publication bias; in addition, it is difficult to generalize the results because of a lack of data on antibiotic resistance. VPZ-based triple therapy (involving AMPC and sitafloxacin) was more effective than PPI-based triple therapy in a third-line setting, but a confirmatory RCT is needed. Non-RCT studies indicated that VPZ-based triple therapy involving CAM and metronidazole may be promising. Any further RCTs must explore the antibiotic-resistance status when evaluating the possible superiority of a potassium-competitive acid blocker.

Review - Treatment of Helicobacter pylori infection 2020

This review summarizes important studies regarding Helicobacter pylori therapy published from April 2019 to April 2020. The main themes that emerge involve studies assessing antibiotic resistance, and there is also growing momentum behind the utility of vonoprazan as an alternative to proton pump inhibitor (PPI) therapy and also bismuth-based regimens as a first-line regimen. Antibiotic resistance is rising wherever it is being assessed, and clarithromycin resistance in particular has reached a point where it may no longer be a viable therapy without previous testing in many regions of the world. The evidence for the efficacy of a bismuth-based quadruple therapy as a first-line therapy is now very clearly established, and there is substantial evidence that it is the best performing first-line therapy. The utility of vonoprazan as an alternative to PPI therapy, especially in resistant and difficult-to-treat groups, has also been considered in great detail this year, and it may offer an opportunity in the near future to reduce the problem of antibiotic resistance.

[Underwater rocks of anti - helicobacter therapy]

The publication was prepared to systematize the data of the literature and our own research on the practice of effective eradication therapy of patients with HP-associated diseases. The most significant factors influencing the effective implementation of modern anti-Helicobacter therapy regimens should be adherence of physicians to the use of clinical guidelines, patient adherence to prescriptions and recommendations of specialists, as well as adherence to eradication treatment protocols.