*EMBARGOED All research presented at the 2021 ACG Annual Scientific Meeting and Postgraduate Course is strictly embargoed until Sunday, October 24, 2021, at 3:30 pm EDT.
Oral 7 Rapid Prediction of H. pylori Antibiotic Resistance Using Next Generation Sequencing of Stool Samples Compared to Gastric Biopsies
Author Insight from Steven Moss, MD, FACG, Rhode Island Hospital/Brown University
What’s new here and important for clinicians?
Bacterial infection of the stomach by Helicobacter pylori is the most important cause of peptic ulcers and gastric cancer worldwide. Eradicating H. pylori using combination antibiotics prevents most ulcers, and reduces gastric cancer risk by 50%, but increasing antibiotic resistance among H. pylori strains has become a serious problem worldwide, limiting the success of eradication therapy. Tailoring treatment based upon the results of antibiotic resistance measurement has become increasingly important, but is inconvenient and underused in practice. Our report shows that antibiotic sensitivity to six different antibiotics can now be evaluated accurately and easily via a novel molecular method from a sample of STOOL, obviating the need for endoscopy and gastric biopsy (which are invasive and expensive). This should lead to more widespread use of resistance testing and improved rates of success for H. pylori eradication.
What do patients need to know?
If H. pylori eradication fails, choosing a better second treatment can now be made easily and accurately by analysis of a stool sample to measure which antibiotics are effective against the specific type of H. pylori present in their stomach. Previously this analysis was only possible by taking biopsies of the stomach during endoscopy, which is more inconvenient, uncomfortable and expensive.
Author Contact
Steven Moss, MD, FACG, Rhode Island Hospital/Brown University
steven_moss [at] brown [dot] edu
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