Probiotic multistrain treatment may eradicate Helicobacter pylori from the stomach of dyspeptics: a placebo-controlled pilot study

Probiotics survive in gastric environment competing with H. pylori. We studied probiotic "multistrain" administration in dyspeptics with H. pylori (placebo-controlled study). Forty patients with H. pylori (urea breath test - UBT - and IgG) were treated for 10 days with a mixture of 8 species of probiotics. Control group represented by 40 positive subjects received placebo. A second UBT and H. pylori stool antigen (HpSA) detection were performed after 1 month. Patients who remained infected were treated with triple therapy undergoing another UBT after 30 days. A second line therapy was administered in remaining positive patients. Statistics: Fisher's exact probability and Student's t tests. Thirteen out of 40 patients using probiotics became negative, while controls remained positive, irrespectively of the initial UBT delta value. No difference in the eradication rates between the two groups was found (68%-71%). After second line therapy two patients remained positive. An adequate supplementation with probiotics might eradicate H. pylori

A new semiquantitative method of quantifying Helicobacter pylori in antigen stools.

Stool antigen test for Helicobacter pylori, a noninvasive assay, is emerging as a strong competitor to urea breath test (UBT). Nevertheless, although the UBT delta value is a semiquantitative indicator of H. pylori intragastric load, until now the H. pylori stool antigen test has been used only as a qualitative investigation. We report here the results of a study performed with the aim of obtaining a semiquantitative measurement of bacterial amount in stools. We studied 15 patients with dyspepsia using H. pylori positivity at histology, the rapid urease test, UBT, and the H. pylori stool antigen test. The result of this last test was expressed by a numerical value we obtained by applying the principle of "standard points" to the absorbance units at spectrophotometric reading. This measurement was previously validated by testing probe sampling of H. pylori stool antigen with known pure and stool-mixed bacterial amounts. A numerical result for H. pylori stool antigen was correlated to UBT delta for each patient using Pearson's r test. Finally, a Student t test was performed to investigate possible differences in UBT and H. pylori stool antigen test values between anti-CagA-positive and -negative patients. We obtained a curve of saturation with both known amount of pure and stool-mixed bacteria. Pearson's r test showed a significant correlation between UBT delta value and H. pylori stool antigen measurement (r = 0.77; p < 0.001). Urea breath test delta and H. pylori stool antigen test values were significantly higher in anti-CagA-positive patients. Our data suggest that a numerical estimation of H. pylori stool antigen may be feasible. This evaluation, similarly to UBT delta, may represent a semiquantitative determination of bacterial intragastric loa

A NEW SEMIQUANTITATIVE METHOD OF QUANTIFYING HELICOBACTER PYLORI ANTIGEN IN STOOLS

Stool antigen test for Helicobacter pylori, a noninvasive assay, is emerging as a strong competitor to urea breath test (UBT). Nevertheless, although the UBT delta value is a semiquantitative indicator of H. pylori intragastric load, until now the H. pylori stool antigen test has been used only as a qualitative investigation. We report here the results of a study performed with the aim of obtaining a semiquantitative measurement of bacterial amount in stools. We studied 15 patients with dyspepsia using H. pylori positivity at histology, the rapid urease test, UBT, and the H. pylori stool antigen test. The result of this last test was expressed by a numerical value we obtained by applying the principle of "standard points" to the absorbance units at spectrophotometric reading. This measurement was previously validated by testing probe sampling of H. pylori stool antigen with known pure and stool-mixed bacterial amounts. A numerical result for H. pylori stool antigen was correlated to UBT delta for each patient using Pearson's r test. Finally, a Student t test was performed to investigate possible differences in UBT and H. pylori stool antigen test values between anti-CagA-positive and -negative patients. We obtained a curve of saturation with both known amount of pure and stool-mixed bacteria. Pearson's r test showed a significant correlation between UBT delta value and H. pylori stool antigen measurement (r = 0.77; p < 0.001). Urea breath test delta and H. pylori stool antigen test values were significantly higher in anti-CagA-positive patients. Our data suggest that a numerical estimation of H. pylori stool antigen may be feasible. This evaluation, similarly to UBT delta, may represent a semiquantitative determination of bacterial intragastric loa

Small intestinal contrast ultrasonography-based scoring system: a promising approach for the diagnosis and follow-up of celiac disease

Background: Small intestinal ultrasonography with anechoic contrast agents (SICUS) has been shown to have a diagnostic accuracy on small bowel morphology similar to X-ray barium follow-through. Although extremely investigated by transabdominal ultrasonography, celiac disease, a common disorder of the small bowel, has been never studied by SICUS. Aim: To asses SICUS characteristics of celiac disease patients. Patients and Methods: SICUS was performed using PEG 4000 as contrast agent. Twenty-three patients with celiac disease at the first diagnosis were enrolled and 30 healthy volunteers, matched for sex and age, were selected as control group. Celiac disease diagnosis was based on anti-gluten, anti-endomysium, and anti-transglutaminase positivity as well as jejunal histology. The following seven echographic parameters were considered: liquid endoluminal content before contrast, loop diameter, Kerckring's folds, peristaltic waves, ileal jejunalization, mesenteric lymphoadenomegaly, and Doppler resistance index (RI) of mesenteric superior artery. Statistical analysis was performed by Student's t test for unpaired data; one-way analysis of variance was used to correlate echographic and histologic pictures. Results: Loop diameter, Kerckring's fold number, peristaltic waves, and Doppler RI appeared to be significantly different between celiac disease patients and controls. Additionally, liquid content, ileal jejunalization, and mesenteric lymphoadenomegaly were present only in the celiacs (52.1%, 47.7%, and 95.6%, respectively), but not in controls. Only Doppler RI values significantly correlated with the histologic degree of damage. Conclusions: SICUS could be a reliable and noninvasive technique to confirm a diagnosis of celiac disease performed using conventional investigations. The possibility of investigating the whole small bowel and the safety of repeating examinations could be useful in the follow-up of celiac patients