Published online Apr 21, 2014. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v20.i15.4362
Revised: December 31, 2013
Accepted: January 20, 2014
Published online: April 21, 2014
Processing time: 148 Days and 19 Hours
AIM: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of esomeprazole-based triple therapy compared with lansoprazole therapy as first-line eradication therapy for patients with Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) in usual post-marketing use in Japan, where the clarithromycin (CAM) resistance rate is 30%.
METHODS: For this multicenter, randomized, open-label, non-inferiority trial, we recruited patients (≥ 20 years of age) with H. pylori infection from 20 hospitals in Japan. We randomly allocated patients to esomeprazole therapy (esomeprazole 20 mg, CAM 400 mg, amoxicillin (AC) 750 mg for the first 7 d, with all drugs given twice daily) or lansoprazole therapy (lansoprazole 30 mg, CAM 400 mg, AC 750 mg for the first 7 d, with all drugs given twice daily) using a minimization method with age, sex, and institution as adjustment factors. Our primary outcome was the eradication rate by intention-to-treat (ITT) and per-protocol (PP) analyses. H. pylori eradication was confirmed by a urea breath test from 4 to 8 wk after cessation of therapy.
RESULTS: ITT analysis revealed the eradication rates of 69.4% (95%CI: 61.2%-76.6%) for esomeprazole therapy and 73.9% (95%CI: 65.9%-80.6%) for lansoprazole therapy (P = 0.4982). PP analysis showed eradication rate of 76.9% (95%CI: 68.6%-83.5%) for esomeprazole therapy and 79.8% (95%CI: 71.9%-86.0%) for lansoprazole therapy (P = 0.6423). There were no differences in adverse effects between the two therapies.
CONCLUSION: Esomeprazole showed non-inferiority and safety in a 7 day-triple therapy for eradication of H. pylori compared with lansoprazole.
Core tip: Amoxicillin is a standard regime for Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) eradication in Japan. Esomeprazole is a second-generation PPI that became available in 2011 in Japan. Several studies have reported eradication data comparing esomeprazole to first-generation proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), but it is not known whether the H. pylori eradication rates of esomeprazole are equal to those of lansoprazole, a first-generation PPI, under circumstances of increased resistance to clarithromycin in Japan.