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Frequency of antibiotic resistance in Helicobacter pylori strains isolated from the northern population of Iran

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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the primary resistance rates of recent clinical Helicobacter pylori isolates to the most commonly used antibiotics in Iran. Two hundreds and ten patients presenting with gastric maladies between January and July of 2009 were enrolled in this study. Endoscopy was performed, and biopsy specimens were collected from each patient for subsequent bacterial culture of H. pylori. Single colony isolates from each patient were then used for antimicrobial susceptibility testing. The disk diffusion method was used to determine susceptibility patterns. One hundred and ninety-seven of the patients were H. pylori positive (93.8%). The rates of resistance to tetracycline, amoxicillin, ciprofloxacin, metronidazole, clarithromycin, and furizoladone were 37.1%, 23.9%, 34.5%, 65.5%, 45.2%, and 61.4%, respectively. A significant association between amoxicillin resistance and disease state (P<0.05) was identified. Furthermore, some double, triple, quadruple, and quintuple combinations of antibiotic resistance were found to be associated with disease state. This study evaluated the prevalence of H. pylori resistance to the most commonly prescribed antibiotics used in Iran and showed that resistance rates were generally higher than previously reported. This data adds to the growing body of evidence that suggests there is increasing antibiotic resistance among H. pylori isolates, which likely is responsible for the decreasing efficacy of anti-H. pylori therapy at the local and global level. Hence, there is a need for continued monitoring of resistance patterns, especially at the local level, and for incorporation of that information into treatment regimens for H. pylori infections.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Bacteriology, School of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran

    Amin Talebi Bezmin Abadi & Ashraf Mohabbati Mobarez

  2. Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran

    Tarang Taghvaei

  3. Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, 4301 Jones Bridge Rd., Bethesda, MD, 20814, USA

    Beth M. Carpenter & D. Scott Merrell

Authors
  1. Amin Talebi Bezmin Abadi
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  2. Tarang Taghvaei
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  3. Ashraf Mohabbati Mobarez
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  4. Beth M. Carpenter
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  5. D. Scott Merrell
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Correspondence to Tarang Taghvaei or D. Scott Merrell.

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Supplemental material for this article may be found at http://www.springer.com/content/120956

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Abadi, A.T.B., Taghvaei, T., Mobarez, A.M. et al. Frequency of antibiotic resistance in Helicobacter pylori strains isolated from the northern population of Iran. J Microbiol. 49, 987–993 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12275-011-1170-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12275-011-1170-6

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