Trends of antibiotic resistance of Helicobacter pylori in Moscow

Abstract

Aim. To determine the trends of primary antibiotic resistance of Helicobacter pylori strains isolated from patients living in Moscow. Materials and methods. As part of a clinical and laboratory study, 123 gastric biopsy specimens from H. pylori-infected patients were analyzed from 2015 to 2024. H. pylori infection was verified by a rapid urease test and a 13C-urease breath test. The anaerobic culture technique was used. After identifying a pure culture, its susceptibility to four antibacterial agents (amoxicillin – AMC, clarithromycin – CLR, metronidazole – MET, tetracycline – TET) was determined by the disc diffusion method. Results. According to the data, the resistance in the overall pool (n=123) of the test samples to AMC was 4.88%, CLR 16.26%, TET 3.25%, and MET 46.34%. Dual resistance to CLR and MET was detected in 4.06% of strains. Among strains collected from 2015 to 2019 (n=28), resistance to AMC was 0.0%, CLR 10.71%, TET 0.0%, and MET 50.0%. The structure of antibiotic resistance of strains collected from 2020 to 2024 (n=95) was as follows: AMC – 6.32%, CLR – 17.89%, TET – 4.21%, MET – 45.26%. Conclusion. There is a gradual tendency to increase the resistance of H. pylori to antibacterial agents such as AMC, CLR, and TET in Moscow, which is consistent with the data of other studies. This negative trend may eventually lead to decreased effectiveness of currently used eradication therapy regimens in Russia.

Keywords

• helicobacter pylori
• resistance
• susceptibility
• amoxicillin
• clarithromycin
• metronidazole
• tetracycline