One-day intensified lansoprazole-quadruple therapy for cure of Helicobacter pylori infection.

BACKGROUND: Peptic ulcer patients need to be treated with antimicrobials to cure Helicobacter pylori infection. Seven-day quadruple therapy is the regimen with the highest cure rates. An ultra-short quadruple therapy was evaluated prospectively. METHODS: Forty-six consecutive H. pylori positive patients (33 had proven ulcer disease) were prescribed lansoprazole 30 mg b.d. on days 1-4, and on day 4 they received in addition tripotassium dicitrato bismuthate 120 mg, tetracycline 250 mg and metronidazole 250 mg at 09.00, 11.00, 13.00, 15.00, 17.00, 19.00, 21.00, 23.00 hours. Repeat endoscopy with biopsies for CLOtest, Giemsa stain and culture was carried out 6 weeks later. RESULTS: Follow-up was complete. Overall cure rate (all three biopsy-based tests negative) was 26/46 (57%; 95% CI: 41-71%). Antibiotic sensitivity was available in 42. Thirty-nine carried a metronidazole sensitive strain and 23/39 (59%) were cured, three carried a resistant strain and therapy failed in all. Three out of four in whom susceptibility was unknown were cured. Metronidazole resistance was induced in 8 out of 16 with a sensitive strain. Only one patient (3%) reported severe side effects. CONCLUSIONS: This convenient quadruple regimen showed that a short contact time is sufficient to kill H. pylori in vivo. Since 57% of patients are cured with a 14-h treatment, a slightly longer treatment duration may increase the cure rate to above 90%.

4-day lansoprazole quadruple therapy: a highly effective cure for Helicobacter pylori infection.

OBJECTIVES: We have advocated quadruple therapy as the optimal therapy for cure of Helicobacter pylori infection. In this study, we investigated the efficacy and tolerability of 4-day therapy with lansoprazole, bismuth, tetracycline, and metronidazole. METHODS: In a prospective open study, 51 consecutive patients, most of them with chronic peptic ulcer disease and biopsy proven H. pylori infection, received 4-day lansoprazole quadruple therapy after 3 days of lansoprazole pretreatment. Repeat endoscopy was performed 6 wk later, with antral and corpus biopsies for rapid urease test, histology, and culture. A patient was considered cured if three methodologies had negative results. RESULTS: By intention-to-treat, 48 of 51 patients (94%) (95% CI 84%-99%) were cured; per protocol, 48 of 49 (98%) (95% CI 89%-100%) were cured. In 14 patients, the bacterial isolates were tested for metronidazole susceptibility: 12/12 with a sensitive strain were cured, as were 2/2 with a resistant strain. The regimen was well tolerated. Most side effects were mild, and none caused treatment to be stopped prematurely. CONCLUSIONS: Four-day lansoprazole quadruple therapy achieves a very high cure rate in an unselected population of mainly ulcer patients. Furthermore, the regimen is short, can be used in patients allergic to penicillin, and is well tolerated, with no dropouts due to side effects. Presently, this regimen should be used only in patients with a metronidazole-sensitive pre-treatment bacterial isolate. When empiric treatment is used, 7-day quadruple therapy remains the therapy of choice, because it has well-documented efficacy against metronidazole-resistant strains. Further studies are needed to define the optimal treatment duration for quadruple therapy in patients with metronidazole-resistant strains.

Palliative chemotherapy with CMF after the same adjuvant regimen for breast cancer. The Breast Cancer Study Group.

BACKGROUND: The results of palliative chemotherapy with cyclophosphamide, methotrexate and 5-fluorouracil (CMF) in patients with advanced breast cancer who received adjuvant therapy with the same regimen were investigated. RESULTS: Of 47 patients, 14 (30%) achieved an objective remission (median duration 9.5, range 5-21 months) and 8 (17%) stabilisation of disease (median duration 6, range 3-17 months). Objective remissions were observed in premenopausal as well as in postmenopausal women, in patients with all categories of dominant localisation of disease and regardless of the oestradiol receptor status of the primary tumour or eventual previous endocrine therapy. One of 4 and 13 of 43 patients who started palliative chemotherapy within or later than 12 months after the last adjuvant course obtained an objective remission. The median survival time from start of therapy of all treated patients was 12 (range 1-40) months. Patients with an objective remission or stable disease and patients with progressive disease had a median survival time of 20 (range 6-40) and 6 (range 1-35) months respectively (p < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: Palliative treatment with CMF should not be rejected for patients who have relapsed after adjuvant chemotherapy with the same modality.

Intra-individual variation of serum cholesterol, triglycerides and high density lipoprotein cholesterol in normal humans.

The intra-individual variation in the concentrations of serum cholesterol, triglycerides and high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-chol) was determined in 53 healthy subjects, without extreme standardization of test subjects and sampling conditions. Within 1 year, the intra-individual variation of the subjects ranged from 3.9 to 10.9% for cholesterol; from 12.9 to 40.8% for triglycerides, and from 3.6 to 12.4% for HDL-chol. More than 60% of the average total intra-individual variation was caused by biological fluctuations and the remainder was the result of analytical variation. Thus, a single measurement of these serum constituents in an individual can be misleading or meaningless, unless the value is considerably outside the normal range. No significant diurnal variation was found in the concentrations of serum cholesterol and HDL-chol. The maximal post-prandial increase of the serum triglycerides was twice as great in the men than in the women. Finally, significant trends in the fluctuations of serum lipids and HDL-chol during 1 year were not found.

Influence of contraceptive pill and menstrual cycle on serum lipids and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations.

The fluctuations of serum lipid and lipoprotein concentrations within one cycle were studied both in women using and not using oral contraceptives. High-density lipoprotein cholesterol decreased significantly from 1.47 mmol/l (57 mg/100 ml) to 1.30 mmol/l (50 mg/100 ml) during one contraceptive cycle in eight women and rose again to the initial value during the pill-free days. The mean concentration of total cholesterol also fell significantly as a result of the decrease of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and of a not significant decrease of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. The mean serum triglyceride concentration did not change significantly. The fluctuations in the concentration of serum lipids and lipoproteins in 10 women not using oral contraceptives were smaller than in the women using oral contraceptives and no significant changes in the concentrations were found during one cycle. Thus, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentration decreases during each contraceptive cycle. The time of blood sampling during the cycle is, therefore, of vital importance in interpreting the effect of oral contraceptives on high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. In women not using oral contraceptives blood can be sampled on random days during the cycle.

Effect of a standardized wheat bran preparation on serum lipids in young healthy males.

Feeding of a chemically standardized coarse wheat bran product in a dose of 0.5 g/kg body weight per day over a period of 4 weeks in young healthy male volunteers did cause a significant reduction in total serum cholesterol as well as in total serum triglycerides of 10 and 24%, respectively. Very low density lipoprotein-, high density lipoprotein-, and low density lipoprotein-cholesterol levels tended to diminish during bran feeding. The most marked reduction was observed in the high density lipoprotein- cholesterol fraction. Although the duration of this study was relatively short, it is concluded, that these results could have therapeutic consequences for the dietary management of hyperlipidemia. However, the lowering of high density lipoprotein-cholesterol could also be interpreted as unfavorable since an inverse relationship between high density lipoprotien-cholesterol levels and the occurrence of coronary heart disease has been established.

A comparative study of the effects of cholestyramine and neomycin in the treatment of type II hyperlipoproteinaemia.

A comparative study of the effects of cholestyramine and neomycin has been carried out in 35 patients with severe type II hyperlipoproteinaemia. Both agents were administered during a period of 18 weeks, the daily dosages being 12, 16 or 20 g cholestyramine and 1, 1.5 or 2 g neomycin. The mean decrease in cholesterol concentration was 22% with cholestyramine and 23% with neomycin. There was no difference in effect between the two agents and between the doses used. No significant influence on triglyceride concentration and on body weight was observed. No signs of deficiencies in fat-soluble vitamins were found. Anticoagulant requirements increased during cholestyramine medication. No signs of hyperchloraemic acidosis were observed during treatment with colestyramine. Cholestyramine was tolerated less well than neomycin: it had to be discontinued in 8 cases. Neomycin was not tolerated by 3 patients. The majority of the patients preferred neomycin.