Helicobacter pylori infection: a clinical review

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is one of the most widespread infection, it is usually contracted in the first few years of life and tends to persist indefinitely unless treated. H. pylori infection causes duodenal and gastric ulcers, gastric cancer, and gastric mucosa-associated lymphoid-tissue (MALT) lymphoma and it has been also associated with several extra-gastric diseases. Standard treatments for H. pylori relied on clarithromycin, metronidazole, or amoxicillin in conjunction with gastric acid inhibitors. However, the prevalence of resistance to clarithromycin and metronidazole has increased substantially in recent years, with a corresponding decreasing in eradication rate with those treatments due to the widespread and not always evidence-based use of antimicrobial agents. It’s been more than ten years since the H. pylori genome has been sequenced and it is hoped that this eventually provides an opportunity both to identify specific targets for drug therapy, and to facilitate the identification and production of antigens that may be helpful in manufacturing a vaccine.