Most Helicobacter pylori strains of Kolkata in India are resistant to metronidazole but susceptible to other drugs commonly used for eradication and ulcer therapy

Background: Helicobacter pylori infection is very common in India, as in other developing countries, but few data exist on the susceptibility of H. pylori to antimicrobial agents commonly used for eradication here. Aim: To determine the antimicrobial susceptibility of H. pylori strains from Kolkata, in eastern India. Methods: A total of 67 H. pylori strains isolated from gastritis and peptic ulcer patients of Kolkata were examined in the study. Minimum inhibitory concentration to the antibiotics was determined by the agar dilution method. Results: Most of the strains (85%) were resistant to at least 8 mu g/mL of metronidazole and 7.5% strains were resistant to tetracycline, which was high when compared with other reports in India. All Kolkata strains were highly sensitive to clarithromycin, furazolidone and amoxicillin. Conclusions: Our results differed significantly from the few available reports on drug sensitivity profile of H. pylori from other parts of India, namely, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Lucknow. This finding supports the need for rigorous susceptibility testing as a guide to empirical treatment and more generally, to define the resistance patterns of H. pylori in particular geographical areas.