Comparison of Two Rescue Therapies for Helicobacter Pylori Infection - A Multicenter Randomized Controlled Trial
Phase: NA
Conditions: Helicobacter Pylori Infection
Sponsor: Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital.

VGHKS13-CT11-15
Institution/Department：Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital
Principal Investigator (PI)：Prof. Ping-I Hsu 
Research Project Title：Comparison of two rescue therapies for Helicobacter pylori 
infection — a multicenter randomized controlled trial
NCT Number：NCT02547012 
Date of the document： 2017/10/30
 
  
ABSTRACT
Background: Although proton pump inhibitor（PPI）-amoxicillin-levofloxacin triple therapy has 
been recommended by the Maastricht IV/Florence Consensus Report for recue treatment of both 
standard triple therapy and non-bismuth quadruple therapy, the eradication rates of the rescue 
treatment for  standard triple therapy and non-bismuth quadruple therapy by intention-to-treat 
analysis are only 66.9% and 77.5%, respectively. It is therefore mandatory and urgent to develop a 
highly effective rescue therapy for second-line treatment of H pylori infection. From the profiles of 
antibiotic  susceptibility  data  following  eradication  therapy,  tetracycline,  amoxicillin  and 
levofloxacin are all good candidates of antibiotics used in the rescue treatment for both standard 
triple therapy and non-bismuth quadruple therapy. Our recent study also revealed that adding 
tetracycline to levofloxacin-based rescue treatment might achieve a very high eradication rate 
(95.8%) for H pylori infection after failure of non-bismuth quadruple therapy.
Aims: To investigate the efficacy of PPI-amoxicillin-levofloxain-tetracycline quadruple therapy and 
PPI-amoxicillin-levofloxacin triple therapy in rescue treatment for first-line anti-H pylori therapy. 
Methods: Consecutive 164 H pylori-infected adult patients with failure of first-line anti-H pylori 
therapy are randomly assigned to either EALT (esomeprazole 40 mg b.d., amoxicillin 500 mg q.d.s., 
levofloxacin 500 mg o.d., and tetracycline 500 mg q.d.s.) therapy or EAL (esomeprazole 40 mg 
b.d., amoxicillin 500 mg q.d.s., and levofloxacin 500 mg o.d.) for 10 days. Additionally, antibiotic 
susceptibility of  H pylori and  CYP2C19 polymorphism of the hosts are examined. Repeated 
endoscopy with rapid urease test, histological examination and culture or urea breath test is 
performed at six weeks after the end of anti-H pylori  therapy. The rates of eradication, adverse 
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events and compliance will be compared (1) between EAL and EALT groups in patients with failure 
of first-line  anti-H  pylori therapy by chi-square  test.  Besides,  the  host  and bacterial  factors 
influencing the efficacy of above two salvage regimens are assessed by multivariate analysis.
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INTRODUCTION
Helicobacter pylori (H pylori) infect more than 50% of humans globally. It is the 
principal cause of chronic gastritis, gastric ulcer, duodenal ulcer, gastric adenocarcinoma and 
gastric mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma (MALToma) [1,2]. H pylori eradication 
has become the standard and most widely adopted therapy to cure peptic ulcer disease [3]. This 
therapy is also strongly recommended in the treatment of H pylori-related MALToma [4]. In 
regions with high incidence of gastric adenocarcinoma, eradication of H pylori is advocated as 
a preventative measure [5].
Standard triple therapy has been recommended as first-line regimen for H pylori infection 
in main international guidelines [6,7]. However, several large clinical trials and meta-analyses 
have  shown  that  the  eradication  rate  of the  standard  therapy  has  generally  declined  to 
unacceptable levels (i.e., 80% or less) recently [8,9]. In some European countries, the success 
rates are disappointingly low with values only 25-60% [10,11]. Therefore, several novel first-
line therapies including sequential therapy, concomitant therapy and hybrid therapy have 
emerged to treat naive H pylori infection [12-14]. 
The Maastricht IV/Florence Consensus Report [15] has recommended treatment of  H 
pylori infection  according  to  antibiotic  resistance  rates  in  local  areas  recently.  In  some 
countries with low clarithromycin resistance (< 15%) of H pylori, standard triple therapy is 
still the best option for first-line anti-H pylori therapy, but bismuth-containing quadruple 
therapies such as sequential therapy and concomitant therapy are the preferred option in 
countries with clarithromycin resistance >20%. 
In clinical practice, the regimen for second-line therapy of H pylori infection depends on 
the regimen used in first-line therapy. After failure of a standard triple therapy, either a 
bismuth-containing  quadruple  therapy  or  PPI-amoxcillin-levofloxacin  triple  therapy  is 
recommended [15]. Bismuth–containing quadruple therapy regimen fails in 5-63% of patients 
with an average eradication rate of 76% on the basis of a pooled analysis [16-18]. PPI-
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amoxcillin-levofloxacin has been recommended as an encouraging strategy for second-line 
therapy  [19].  A  meta-analysis  by  Saad  et  al.  [19]  showed  that  a  10-day  regimen  of 
levofloxacin-based triple therapy was superior to 7-day bismuth-based quadruple therapy. 
However, levofloxin-based triple therapies seem less effective in Asia. Our recent study 
showed that PPI-amoxicillin-levofloxacin triple therapy only achieved a 69.9% eradication rate 
for rescue treatment of standard triple therapy in Taiwan [20].
Currently, the best second-line therapy after failure of non-bismuth quadruple therapies 
(such as sequential therapy, concomitant therapy or hybrid therapy) remains unclear. Although 
PPI-amoxicillin-levofloxacin triple therapy also has been recommended by the Maastricht 
IV/Florence Consensus Report as a rescue treatment for sequential therapy [15], the mean 
eradication rate of the rescue regimen is suboptimal (mean, 77.5% [79/102]; range: 50% [3/6] 
to 100% [7/7]) [21-25]. 
Antibiotic resistance is the key factor determining the outcome of rescue treatment for 
anti-H pylori  therapy. According to our previous reports [20,26], the drug resistant rates to 
tetracycline, levofloxacin, amoxicillin, clarithromycin and metronidazole were 0%, 21%, 6%, 
59% and 57% respectively following standard triple therapy [20] and 0%, 25%, 0%, 75% and 
75%  respectively  following  sequential  therapy  [26].  The  data  indicate  that  tetracycline, 
amoxicillin and levofloxacin are good candidates of antibiotics used in the rescue treatment for 
both standard triple therapy and non-bismuth quadruple therapy (such as sequential therapy, 
concomitant therapy and hybrid therapy). 
Although  PPI-amoxicillin-levofloxacin  triple  therapy has  been  recommended  by the 
Maastricht IV/Florence Consensus Report for recue treatment of both standard triple therapy 
and non-bismuth quadruple therapy [15], the eradication rates of the rescue treatment for 
standard triple therapy and  sequential therapy by intention-to-treat analysis are only 66.9% 
[20] and 77.5% [23], respectively. Our recent study revealed that adding tetracycline to 
levofloxacin-based rescue treatment might achieve a very high eradication rate (95.8%) for H 
pylori infection after failure of sequential therapy [26]. We therefore design the prospective, 
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multicenter, randomized controlled trial to investigate (1) the efficacy of PPI-amoxicillin-
levofloxain-tetracycline quadruple therapy and PPI-amoxicillin-levofloxacin triple therapy in 
rescue treatment for standard triple therapy, (2) the efficacy of PPI-amoxicillin-levofloxain-
tetracycline  quadruple  therapy  and  PPI-amoxicillin-levofloxacin  triple  therapy  in  rescue 
treatment  for  nonbismuth-containing  quadruple  therapy  (such  as  sequential  therapy, 
concomitant therapy and hybrid therapy), and (3) the bacterial and host factors determining the 
efficacy of PPI-amoxicillin-levofloxain-tetracycline quadruple therapy and PPI-amoxicillin-
levofloxacin triple therapy. 
 
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using omeprazole, amoxycillin and clarithromycin for the eradication of Helicobacter 
pylori in patients  with non-ulcer dyspepsia: influence of dosage of omeprazole and 
clarithromycin. Aliment Pharmacol Ther 1998;12:383-8. 
11. Gatta L , Vakil N , Leandro G, et al. Sequential therapy or triple therapy for Helicobacter 
pylori infection: systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials in 
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13. Wu DC, Hsu PI, Wu JY et al.  Sequential and concomitant therapies with 4 drugs are 
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equally  effective  for  eradication  of  H  pylori Infection.  Clin  Gastroenterol  Hepatol 
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14. Hsu PI, Wu DC, Wu JY, Graham DY. Modified sequential Helicobacter pylori therapy: 
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 , Hsu PI, Tseng HH, et al. Helicobacter pylori Infection: A randomized, controlled 
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20. Kuo CH
 
 .,  Hu HM,  Kuo FC, et al.  Efficacy of levofloxacin-based rescue therapy for 
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retreatment: role of bacterial resistance. Dig Liver Dis 2007；39：1001–5.
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treatment to eradicate H. pylori infection. Scand J Gastroenterol 2013；in press.
26. Hsu PI, Lai KH, Tseng HH, et al. Eradication of  Helicobacter pylori prevents ulcer 
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2001；15：195-201.
27. Hsu PI, Lai KH, Tseng HH, et al. Correlation of serum immunoglobulin G Helicobacter 
pylori antibody titers with histologic and endoscopic findings in patients with dyspepsia. J 
Clin Gastroenterol 1997；25：587-91.
28. Hsu PI, Lai KH, Chien EJ, et al. Impact of bacterial eradication on the cell proliferation 
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Helicobacter pylori infection. Dig Liver Dis 2003；35：73-7.
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metabolizers in anti-Helicobacter pylori therapy: pharmacokinetic considerations.  Biol 
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PATIENTS AND METHODS
Patients
    Consecutive 164 H pylori-infected adult patients ( 20 years old) with failure of first-line anti-H 
pylori therapy will be enrolled for this study after giving informed consent. The presence of  H 
pylori after a previous eradication therapy is defined as (1) positive results of both rapid urease test 
and histology, (2) a positive result of 13C urea breath test, or (3) a positive result of culture. Criteria 
for exclusion included (a) ingestion of antibiotics, bismuth, or PPI within the prior 4 weeks, (b) 
patients with allergic history to the medications used, (c) patients with previous gastric surgery, (d) 
the coexistence of serious concomitant illness (for example, decompensated liver cirrhosis, uremia), 
and (e) pregnant women.
Methods
Using a computer-generated number sequence, the eligible patients are randomized to 
either EALT (esomeprazole 40 mg b.d., amoxicillin 500 mg q.d.s., levofloxacin 500 mg o.d., and 
tetracycline 500 mg q.d.s.) therapy or EAL (esomeprazole 40 mg b.d., amoxicillin 500 mg q.d.s., 
and levofloxacin 500 mg o.d.) for 10 days. All drugs are taken one hour before meals or night sleep. 
Patients are asked to return at the 2nd week to assess drug compliance and adverse events. 
To assess eradication efficacy, repeated endoscopy with rapid urease test, histological examination 
and culture or urea breath test is performed at six weeks after the end of anti-H pylori  therapy. 
Eradication is defined as (1) negative results of all rapid urease test, histology and culture or (2) a 
negative result of urea breath test. 
Demographic data
    A complete medical history and demographic data are obtained from each patient, including age, 
sex, medical history, history of smoking, alcohol, coffee and tea consumption. Smoking was defined 
as consumption of cigarettes 1 pack or more per week. Coffee or tea consumption is defined as 
drinking 1 cup or more per day.
    Adverse events are prospectively evaluated. The adverse events are assessed according to a 4-
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point scale system: none; mild (discomfort annoying but not interfering with daily life); moderate 
(discomfort  sufficient  to  interfere  with  daily  life);  and  severe  (discomfort  resulting  in 
discontinuation of eradication therapy). Compliance is checked by counting unused medication at 
the completion of treatment. Poor compliance is defined as taking less than 80% of the total 
medication. 
Histological examination
    Two biopsy specimens are taken from the lesser curvature sites of the antrum and the corpus, 
respectively. They are fixed in 10% buffered formalin, embedded in paraffin, and sectioned. The 
sections, 4-μm thick, are stained with a haematoxylin and eosion stain and a modified Giemsa stain 
to observe the presence of curved rod shape bacteria on the mucosal surface [28]. Biopsy specimens 
are assessed by a histopathologist (HH Tseng), blinded to patient status and the results of other 
laboratory tests.
Urea breath test
    The urea breath test is performed according to our previous studies [29]. The cutoff value is set at 
4.8‰ of δ13CO2  [30]. The staffs who are blind to the H pylori status perform the tests.
Culture and antimicrobial resistance
    One antral gastric biopsy specimen is obtained for isolation of  H pylori, using previously 
described culture methods [14]. All stock cultures are maintained at –80C in Brucella broth (Difco. 
Detroit, MI) supplemented with 20% glycerol (Sigma Chem. Co. St. Louis, MO).  The organisms 
are identified as H pylori by Gram staining, colony morphology, and positive oxidase, catalase, and 
urease reactions. As previously described in more detail [8], the antibiotic susceptibility is tested by 
E test (AB Biodisck, Solna, Sweden). H pylori strains with a MIC value  > 0.5 g/mL, > 1 g/mL, 
> 4 g/mL, > 8 g/mL and > 1 g/mL are considered to be resistant to amoxicillin, levofloxacin, 
tetracycline, metronidazole and clarithromycin, respectively [14,16].     
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Genotyping of CYP2C19
    Blood sampling for genotyping of CYP2C19 is carried out before endoscopy for the subjects who 
provide informed consent for genetic study. The  CYP2C19 genotype is determined using the 
polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) [31].  A two 
single-tube  tetra-primer  PCR  assays  is  applied  to  detect  the  CYP2C19*2  and  the  *3  allele, 
respectively. To genotype the CYP2C19*2 polymorphism, four primers (Table 1) are combined in 
one tetra-primer PCR assay. Amplification of  CYP2C19  exon 5 with primers Ex5U and Ex5L 
produced a 321-bp product that served as internal control for the quality of the PCR amplification 
and as template for the allele-specific amplification (ASA). ASA produced the 229-bp PCR product 
specific for the *2 allele and the 127-bp PCR product specific for the wild-type allele. The tetra-
primer PCR produced amplification of the 309-bp CYP2C19 exon 4 region (Ex4U and Ex4L), and 
ASA (*3mutU and *3wtL) produced the 110-bp PCR product for the *3 allele and the 228-bp PCR 
product for the wild-type allele. The following reaction mixture was prepared for the tetra-primer 
PCR assay to genotype CYP2C19*2: 16.4 mL of water, 2.5 mL of buffer 1 (1.5 mM MgCl2), 0.2 
mL of Gold Taq (5 U/mL), 0.5 mL of dNTP mixture (10 mM), 0.4 mL of Ex5U (10 mM), 0.5 mL of 
Ex5L (10 mM), 0.75 mL of *2mutU (10 mM), 0.75 mL of *2wtL (10 mM), and 3.0 mL of genomic 
DNA (;50 ng/mL). The following cycling conditions were used: 10 min at 94 °C; 44 cycles of 94 °C 
for 30 s, 50 °C for 30 s, and 72 °C for 60 s; and a final extension of 7 min at 72 °C. Separation by 
2% agarose gel electrophoresis and ethidium bromide staining allowed identification of the three 
PCR products and the interpretation of the CYP2C19*2 genotype. 
Genotypes  are  classified  into  three  groups:  homEM  (CYP2C19*1/CYP2C19*1);  hetEM 
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(CYP2C19*1/CYP2C19*2  and
 CYP2C19*1/CYP2C19*3);  PM  (CYP2C19*2/CYP2C19*2, 
CYP2C19*2/CYP2C19*3, and CYP2C19*3/CYP2C19*3).
Statistical analysis
   The primary outcome variable is eradication rate. The secondary outcome variables are the rate of 
adverse events and compliance. Chi-square test with or without Yates correction for continuity and 
Fisher’s exact test are used when appropriate to compare the major outcomes between groups. A P 
value less than 0.05 is considered statistically significant.
    Eradication rates are evaluated by ITT and per-protocol (PP) analyses. ITT analysis includes all 
randomized patients who have taken at least one dose of study medication. Patients whose infection 
status is unknown following treatment are considered treatment failures for the purposes of ITT 
analysis. The PP analysis excludes the patients with unknown H. pylori status following therapy and 
those with major protocol violations. 
    To determine the independent factors affecting the treatment response, Host and bacterial 
parameters  are  analyzed  by  univariate  analysis.  Those  variables  found  to  be  significant  by 
univariate analysis are subsequently assessed by a stepwise logistic regression method to identify 
independent factors for eradication outcome.
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