Objective: Triple therapy with rabeprazole (RPZ), amoxicillin (AMPC) and metronidazole (MNZ) (RPZ+AMPC+MNZ therapy: RAM therapy) has been approved by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare as a second-line therapy for Helicobacter pylori-positive gastric and duodenal ulcers in Japan. The present multicenter prospective observational study aimed to investigate the safety and efficacy of RAM therapy in clinical practice.
Methods: Patients with H. pylori-positive gastric or duodenal ulcers (including ulcer scars) in whom first-line therapy was unsuccessful were administered 10 mg of RPZ, 750 mg of AMPC and 250 mg of MNZ twice daily for seven days (total: 14 doses) based on an approved dose and regimen. Patient background factors, including complications, previous medical history, concomitant drugs, eradication results and adverse events were recorded by the investigator.
Results: The incidence of adverse drug reactions was 2.21% and the H. pylori eradication rate was 92.8%. Subgroup analyses performed to investigate the patient background factors affecting safety and efficacy revealed no factors that significantly affected the incidence of adverse drug reactions or the H. pylori eradication rate.
Conclusion: Amid reports of decreased eradication rates with clarithromycin-based first-line therapy, the >90%H. pylori eradication rate achieved in the present study demonstrates the clinical efficacy of RAM therapy in subjects in whom first-line therapy is unsuccessful.