EFFICACY OF LANSOPRAZOLE AND AMOXICILLIN IN ERADICATING HELICOBACTER-PYLORI - EVALUATION USING C-13-UBT AND MONOCLONAL HELICOBACTER-PYLORI ANTIBODY TESTING

Combination therapy with lansoprazole (LPZ) and amoxicillin (AMPC) was administered to eradicate Helicobacter pylori. Changes in eradication rates were monitored and serum antibody titers, levels of pepsinogens I and II (PI and PII), and gastrin were measured. The 40 subjects were divided into two groups: one group received LPZ 30 mg alone, and the other received LPZ 30 mg and AMPC 1,500 mg concomitantly. AMPC was administered for 2 weeks before completion of LPZ treatment. Maintenance therapy was cimetidine 400 mg. The presence of H. pylori was evaluated using the urea breath test (UBT), The clearance rate was 12.5% and the eradication rate was 0% in the LPZ group, and the corresponding rates in the LPZ with AMPC group were 41.6 and 25.0%, respectively. Serum monoclonal H. pylori antibody titers decreased in patients in whom bacterial eradication had been achieved. Serum PI was significantly reduced in those patients in whom eradication had been achieved. Serum PII and gastrin levels also tended to decrease in patients in whom eradication had been achieved, but no such changes were observed in the other patients. Further research into drug treatment and evaluation methods for bacterial eradication is required.