1. Introduction
One of the most prevalent infections worldwide, with approximately 50% of the population, is caused by the Gram-negative bacillus
H. pylori, which has been associated with pathologies such as non-ulcer dyspepsia, chronic gastritis, peptic ulcer, duodenal ulcer, malt lymphoma, and gastric adenocarcinoma [
1]. For this reason, worldwide consensus on the treatment and antimicrobials to be used are the most important for the eradication of the infection caused by
H. pylori. Of these consensuses, Maastricht’s is the one that compiles the experiences of world research groups, but although Maastricht sets the strategy to be followed [
2,
3,
4,
5] regional consensuses adapt them according to the needs and behavior of microorganisms to the antimicrobials accepted worldwide for
H. pylori eradication [
6,
7,
8,
9,
10]. Treatment and eradication are indicated as signs and symptoms of infection and if the patient belongs to the high-risk group as having first-degree relatives with a history of gastric cancer, habits like excessive smoking, presence of the mutation CDH-1 or live-in high-risk area of gastric cancer, likewise, patients with Pangastritis, dominant gastritis gastric body atrophy and intestinal metaplasia [
5].
These consensuses determined the use of globally accepted first-line therapy, which includes several antimicrobials such as clarithromycin, amoxicillin, metronidazole, and tetracycline [
2,
3,
4,
5]. Due to the difficulty of obtaining a gastric biopsy and its processing and culture to obtain the
H. pylori strain, it is common to perform antimicrobial susceptibility tests (Epsilometer Test, or E-Test) and thus obtain the resistance pattern to define the treatment to be followed. However, empirical treatment predominates, which has led to its failure and a significant increase in resistance to these antimicrobials [
2,
11]. Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyses the trend over time of the patterns of susceptibility to antimicrobials used in the first line therapy for the eradication of
H. pylori in 651 isolates obtained during a 12-year period in Mexico City.
3. Discussion
In the present study, we shown the results of five isolate collections, covering a 12-year follow-up period of
H. pylori susceptibility in Mexico City, in which the E-Test was used as the method to determine the antimicrobial susceptibility of
H. pylori, according to Li et al, and Mégraud and Lehours, the susceptibility agreement between E-test and agar dilution method (“gold standard”) for amoxicillin, clarithromycin and tetracycline is excellent, but not for metronidazole where it has been shown that the resistance rate is higher than that of agar dilution method [
12,
13]. In this study, we did not find a significant increase in
metronidazole resistance, although it was sustained over the 12-year follow-up. Metronidazole is an antibiotic widely used for parasitic infections of the gastrointestinal tract and in the treatment of female genital tract infections. Quite the opposite is for
amoxicillin,
clarithromycin, and
tetracycline whose susceptibility remain above 90%. Therefore, the use of these three antimicrobials is still used as the first choice for the treatment of infection by
H. pylori, but it is not for
metronidazole. Due to the lack of clinical MIC breakpoints for determining antibiotic resistance for
H. pylori [
13]. We prefer adopted those described by CLSI [
14], López-Vidal,
et al. [
15], Torres
et al. [
16], Garza-González
et al. [
17], Chihu
et al. [
18], to define resistance to clarithromycin, amoxicillin, metronidazole, and tetracycline, probably due to this the resistance profile during the five periods in our study remains stable. However, it is possible that MIC breakpoints will change over time as more data become available in our population. On the other hand, according to Boyanova et al., the absence of an increase in antibiotic resistance is often associated with a decrease in the national antibiotic consumption, compliance with guidelines for infection treatment, and strict application of antibiotic [
19]. However, in Mexico, the guidelines to which the sale and dispensing of antibiotics is subject came into force in August 2010 (Diario Oficial de la Federación; May 7, 2010. Available in:
http://www.dof.gob.mx/nota_detalle.php?codigo=5144336&fecha=27/05/2010&print=true), so in our study we do not know why the use of amoxicillin, clarithromycin and tetracycline did not have an impact on the increase in antimicrobial resistance; but we can deliberate that is due to the breakpoints we used in the study.
We also corroborated the reports by Garza
et al. regarding the geographical behavior of
H. pylori to the susceptibility of amoxicillin and tetracycline antibiotics, showing greater resistance of metronidazole in the CDMX (center of the country) that in the northeastern (Nuevo León) [
17]. This can be in part explained based on different schedule treatment used or the consumption of antibiotics.
In general, the antimicrobials used as first line such as amoxicillin, clarithromycin, and tetracycline are still used. Thus, treatment with metronidazole, clarithromycin, amoxicillin, and sometimes tetracycline is still valid to prescribe. This can be explained the are no changes observed on resistance to these antimicrobials, which in some countries reached alarming levels of resistant. Thus, the amplitude of antimicrobial pattern is very wide in Latin America, the resistance to
clarithromycin goes from 0 to 60%,
metronidazole from 12.5 to 95%,
amoxicillin from 0 to 39%, and
tetracycline from 0 to 86% [
20]. In Mexico, there are several published studies on the susceptibility of
H. pylori to first-line antimicrobials, this previous studies showed a clear difference in
metronidazole resistance among isolates from the north and the center Mexico as previously described that are strong association with geographic differences may be explained for increased use of this antibiotic prescription [
15,
16,
17,
18]. However, recently in the Masstricht VI/Florence consensus report it is suggested that “
The absence of significant amoxicillin resistance among H. pylori strains after decades of treatment indicates the inability of the pathogen to adapt to penicillin exposure,……. compared to increasing rates of resistance after previous unsuccessful H. pylori eradication therapies with quinolones, macrolides, and metronidazole in different cohorts” [
21].
Although resistance in the antimicrobial first-line treatment is maintained does not correlates with therapeutic success. Therefore, the need for prescription of metronidazole, or levofloxacin used in rescue treatments, only impacts in decrease in the eradication rate of approximately 50%, 25%, and between 20 to 40%, respectively. Hence, it is recommended, especially if there have already been two treatment failures, that an endoscopy be performed to be able to isolate the microorganism and be able to perform an antibiogram or perform molecular determinations to be able to demonstrate antimicrobial resistance [
22,
23,
24,
25]. Fortunately, it has been found that resistance to amoxicillin, tetracycline, and rifampicin is below 5% and has not increased in this study among other studies [
23].
Although in the past has been described geographic differences of that clarithromycin in this study, we did not find such differences of resistance. In the case of metronidazole, the high rate of resistance can be explained by the time intervals between the preparation of the test medium and the performance of the susceptibility test, which determines the redox potential, an important parameter for the reduction of metronidazole [
12,
13]. Therefore, high
in vitro resistance should not always be used as a predictor of treatment failure, so if the dose is increased considering side effects, or it is changed to another nitroimidazole such as tinidazole, it can continue being used. In case of resilience of
H. pylori infection is strong recommendation that clarithromycin and levofloxacin not be used once more [
22,
23,
24,
25].
Regarding dual resistance to clarithromycin-metronidazole, we did not find significant dual resistance (2%), the recommendation by Dehesa
et al. in 2002 for patients with peptic ulcer and non-ulcer dyspepsia, where they observed resistance to metronidazole of 68.2% and clarithromycin of 24.3%, while the dual resistance (clarithromycin-metronidazole) was 16.8% is not in this study plausible. Due to this, we recommend prior knowledge of susceptibility patterns before using the recommended treatments to eradicate
H. pylori [
26]. Besides, Ayala
et al. in 2011, found that resistant to metronidazole was 19%, while for clarithromycin it was 5.5%. In the case of dual resistant, they reported 3.3% for isolates from the corpus and 4.4% for those from the antrum. Suggesting to determine the susceptibility patterns of the different gastric regions can occurred [
27]. Camargo
et al. in 2014 conducted a meta-analysis of results compiled from Latin American publications on antimicrobial resistance patterns of
H. pylori, finding that for clarithromycin the average resistance was 12%, while for metronidazole it was 53%, the dual resistance found was 8%. In the case of Mexico specifically, this resistance was 13%. In this meta-analysis, they concluded that the pattern of resistance varies between the different countries, and recommended be careful with clarithromycin is used as empirical treatment [
20], the use of clarithromycin is not recommended when resistance is greater than 15% [
22]. In our collection II we observed this condition, which found resistance to clarithromycin of 12.5% (3/24 isolates), where clarithromycin should discard its use. Among these isolates, it is one that was sequenced and showed the presence of regions that match that multidrug resistance [
28].
In contrast of our data, Camorlinga
et al. in 2019, found a significant increase in the levels of resistance to clarithromycin and levofloxacin in isolates over a period of 20 years, which leads us to a scenario where their use is not recommended for the treatment of
H. pylori [
29]. Whenever standard triple therapy fails, the Maastricht Consensus VI guidelines [
21] recommend the use of levofloxacin as rescue therapy. However, in Mexico, resistance rates of 9 to 58% have been reported over a period of 20 years, this resistant can be explained as due to its use for the treatment of urinary tract infections and other types of infections. They also showed that resistance metronidazole and levofloxacin was 32%, that increased the suggested limit of 10% [
29]. Therefore, for this study clarithromycin has no plausible consideration for inclusion in the treatment of
H. pylori infection. Contreras-Omaña
et al. 2021, found, when analyzing 51 publications from the previous 10 years, resistance to metronidazole from 50 to 80%, to clarithromycin from 20 to 40%, and levofloxacin from 30 to 35% [
30]. Based on the above, both clarithromycin and fluoroquinolones cannot be used empirically, since the dose used cannot be increased. In contrast to metronidazole since the increase in its dosage resolves the resistance problem and can combined with bismuth-based quadruple therapy [
25].
Recently, with the increasing resistance of
H. pylori to antibiotics and their adverse effects, the use of probiotics in conjunction with
H. pylori eradication therapy has been proposed [
27,
31,
32,
33,
34], rather than through direct effects on
H. pylori [
21,
22], with substantial success in eradicating the bacteria.