Do Japanese and Swedish Peptic Ulcer Patients Respond Differently to Helicobacter pylori Eradication Therapies and What Are Their Histological Features

Background: As a consequence of gastric histological differences, Japanese and Swedish peptic ulcer (PU) patients may respond differently to Helicobacter pylori eradication therapies. Methods: The study was single-blind and compared four eradication therapies in Japanese and Swedish patients with healed gastric (GU) or duodenal (DU) ulcer. Swedish patients received either (a) omeprazole+clarithromycin (OC, where O = 20 mg, C = 500 mg) for 2 weeks, or triple therapy with (b) omeprazole + amoxicillin + clarithromycin (OAC-L where O = 20 mg, A = 1 g, C = 250 mg); (c) OAC-H (where O = 20 mg, A-1 g, C-500 mg); or (d) omeprazole + metronidazole + clarithromycin (OMC, where O = 20 mg, M = 400 mg, C = 250 mg) for 1 week. Antibiotic doses were weight-adjusted downwards in Japanese patients. H. pylori was assessed using the urea breath test (UBT), histology and culture pre-entry, with UBT being repeated 4 and 8 weeks after stopping treatment. Histology and culture were repeated if the UBT was positive post-therapy....