Probiotics Boost Efficacy of Peptic Ulcer Treatments

TAINAN, Taiwan--Consumption of yogurt enriched with probiotics improves the eradication rate of Helicobacter pylori in peptic ulcer patients undergoing quadruple therapy after failed triple therapy, according to a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (83, 4:864-69, 2006).

Researchers from National Cheng Kung University conducted a culture study on 138 patients who had not responded to triple therapy (treatment with two antibiotics and either an acid suppressor or stomach-lining shield). The patients were then randomized to receive four weeks of pretreatment with 400 mL/d Lactobacillus- and Bifidobacterium-rich yogurt plus one week of quadruple therapy (treatment with two antibiotics, an acid suppressor and a stomach-lining shield) or one week of quadruple therapy only. The researchers conducted a 13C-urea breath test to measure residual H. pylori population in both groups 6 weeks after quadruple therapy. In the yogurt-plus-quadruple therapy group, the researchers conducted the 13C-urea breath test before and every two weeks during the four-week pretreatment with yogurt.

Patients in the yogurt-plus-quadruple therapy group showed significantly decreased values of the 13C-urea breath test after four weeks of pretreatment with yogurt. Overall, the yogurt-plus-quadruple therapy group had a higher H. pylori eradication rate than did the quadruple therapy-only group. The researchers concluded a four-week pretreatment with Lactobacillus- and Bifidobacterium-rich yogurt can decrease H. pylori loads despite antimicrobial resistance, thus improving the efficacy of quadruple therapy in eradicating residual H. pylori.

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