Improvement in gastric histology following Helicobacter pylori eradication therapy in Japanese peptic ulcer patients

We aimed to determine if successful or failed eradication of Helicobacter pylori with triple therapy causes any difference in gastric mucosal histology. Japanese H. pylori-positive patients with a healed peptic ulcer received high (n = 112) or low (n = 113) doses of triple therapy (omeprazole, amoxicillin and clarithromycin) for 1 week. Biopsies from the greater curvature of the central antrum and upper corpus were taken 6 weeks and 30 weeks after treatment completion, and gastric mucosal histology compared between successful (n = 171) and failed (n = 34) eradication groups. Morphological variables of gastritis were graded according to the updated Sydney System. Successful eradication therapy was defined as improvement in inflammation, neutrophil activity and atrophy; failed eradication therapy as improvement in inflammation and neutrophil activity only. Gastric mucosal atrophy gradually improved (in addition to improvements in inflammation and neutrophil activity) with successful eradication of H. pylori infection.