Researchers are looking for answers to the growing resistance of H bacteria. pylori on antibiotics

The increasing resistance of bacteria to commonly used antibiotics is causing increasing problems in the treatment of m.in. Helicobacter pylori infections, which cause gastric and duodenal ulcers and gastric cancer. According to specialists, only symptomatic infections, confirmed by diagnostic methods, should be treated with antibiotics.

Poland is counted among the countriesow with a high incidence of infection H. pylori – averages as much as 70 percent. – mowi PAP prof. Magdalena Mikolajczyk-Chmiela of the Department of Immunology and Infectious Biology at the University of LoInfection is asymptomatic.

Researchers are looking for new compoundsoIn biologically active m.In. of plant origin, with bacterioboic in relation to these bacteria. Such research is being conducted m.in. in the Department of Immunology and Infectious Biology at the University of Lodz.

H bacteria. pylori colonize the mucosa of the stomach and duodenum. They are among the most common pathogensoin humans. They first isolated them in the early 1980s. Two Australian researchers, Barry J. Marshall and J. Robin Warren. This achievement, for whichore won the Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology, revolutionized the approach to treating gastric and duodenal ulcers.

– These bacteria have been found to be the etiologic agent of gastritis, ulcersoin the digestive tract of the stomach and duodenum, and a further consequence of such infections can be the development of aoj lymphocyte-derived lymphomaow, or gastric cancer,” explained Prof. Mikolajczyk-Chmiela.

Bacterial infections H. pylori are very common around the world. It is estimated that up to half of the human population is infected with it, although there are roVariation according to world region and socioeconomic status. United States, for example, the incidence of infection is 20-30 percent., but in Asian countries, such as China and Japan, it reaches up to 90 percent. Poland is counted among the countriesow with a high incidence of infection, ktora can reach up to 70% of., although there are also rodifferences depending on the region of the country.

In most casesow the infection is asymptomatic, that is, in the form of carrier, but in about 10-20 percent of the. osob infected develops the so-called. symptomatic infection, whichorm is accompanied by symptoms of dyspepsia: reflux, heartburn or a feeling of heaviness after a meal. According to specialistsow only this type of symptomatic infections should be treated, after confirmation of the infection.

– It is now recognized that only those with symptomatic infection H. pylori, in whichorych it has been confirmed by a package of specific diagnostic methods, can be subjected to pharmacological treatment with the use of antibioticsow. This protects against unauthorized use of the antibioticoin u osob with asymptomatic infection and reduces the possibility of increasing antibiotic resistance,” stressed Prof. Mikolajczyk-Chmiela.

The diagnosis of such infections uses roDifferent tests: histologic methods and so-called “bacteriological” methods. A rapid trauma test that determines the activity of the urease enzyme of these bacteria. These tests require gastroscopy and the taking of sections ofoin the tissues of the stomach. While to testoIn non-invasive include: traumatic respiratory test with carbon 13 C-labeled urea, tests designed to detect antigenow H. pylori In feces and serological methods that allow detection of serum antibodies to antigens of these bacteria.

The standard treatment lasts from 7 to 10 days and uses two antibiotics at the same time: clarithromycin or amoxicillin and metronizadole, plus a drug that reduces the acidity of gastric juice, resulting in better stability of the antibiotics usedow. However, the problem in treatment is the increasing resistance of bacilli H. pylori on antibiotics used so far in therapy.

– Specificolnie common is resistance to clarithromecin and metronisadol. Only amoxicillin is still an effective antibiotic. Consequently, other antibiotics, such as levofloxacin or fluoroquinolones, are being introduced into the treatment, but their use must also be approached with caution, as roin their case, too, antibiotic resistance is increasing,” stressed the expert from the U of L.

The researcher admitted that in someoric countries in Asia, due to the threat of developing stomach cancer, the idea of treating all wasps is emergingob infected with this bacteria, even waspsob with asymptomatic infection. But the world medical and scientific community is against it, because it turns out that bacteria adapting to life in the host body can show some beneficial effects.

– They inhibit np. developoj esophageal cancer. They have roalso have certain properties of modulating the activity of the immune system and e.g. There are data thatore indicate that such silencing activity of certain mechanismsoin immune-mediated disease takes place in asthma. Therefore, the widespread treatment of asymptomatic infections does not find approval in the scientific and medical community, the expert explained.

On the other hand, more and more experimental and epidemiological studies indicate a possible link between infections H. pylori and the development of diseasesob ogolnorganic, by inducing a strong inflammatory response, whichora over time becomes chronic. It is about m.in. of ischemic heart disease or diabetes. – These are examples of diseasesob ogolnorganic, in the development of whichor which, to some extent, infection with this bacteria may be a risk factor,” the specialist admitted.

Due to the prevalence of infections H. pylori, With the serious health consequences of such infections and the shrinking possibility of using antibioticsow, scientists are looking for alternative treatments. – In our team at the Gastroimmunology Laboratory, we are conducting research to understand the pathogenesis of these infections, in the context of understanding the causes of zrosion of their course,” said Prof. Mikołajczyk-Chmiela.

Scientists are also looking for new preparations ofoin natural, biologically active plants, the mainownie extract ofoin plants and their strictly defined componentsoin whichore have bacteriobojcze or growth inhibitory factoroin infectious diseases, including H. Pylori.

– We are also looking for such preparationsoIn biologicals of natural origin, whichore support the activity of the immune system and, through this pathway, could contribute to fighting or preventing the development of such infections. Such preparations are also being tested for potentiation of bacterioboj which antibioticow – explained Prof. Magdalena Mikołajczyk-Chmiela of the University of Lodz.