Total pepsin activity and gastrin in sera as markers of eradication of Helicobacter pylori

Abstract

The measurement of total pepsin activity by colorimetry, and gastrin by radioimmunoassay method was performed on the sera of 100 patients (80 with duodenal ulcer and 20 with non-ulcer dyspepsia) before and 4 weeks after the end of antibacterial treatment for eradication of Helicobacter pylori. While in the sera of non-HP-eradicated cases (n = 26) no change of total pepsin activity and gastrin assessing occurred, in the sera of HP-eradicated cases (n = 74), a mean decrease of 31% and 23% was observed for total pepsin activity and gastrin respectively (p <0.005). A decrease of more than 10% or more of pepsin activity in serum suggests eradication of H. pylori with an overall accuracy of 97%. Monitoring the total pepsin activity in the sera appears to be a cheap, simple and suitable test for eradication of H. pylori in underdeveloped countries