Helicobacter pylori: strategies for treatment

Helicobacter pylori (Hp) is a Cram-negative bacteria able to live in the hu man stomach, a very surprising fact considering the acid environment of gas tric mucosa. Identified by Marshall and Warren in 1982 ([1,2]), this bacter ium seems aetiologically related to many gastric diseases, previously known as 'acid related diseases'. Compelling evidence demonstrates that Hp is th e most important aetiological agent of gastritis ([3]), the principal causa l factor in peptic ulcer ([4]), contributes to the genesis of gastric cance r ([5]) and has a critical role in the development of many mucosa-associate d lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphomas ([6]) Although experimental data have re cently provided hard evidence to support the role of Hp in the genesis of g astritis, ulcer and carcinoma ([7]), a critical argument for Hp generating peptic ulcer disease has been, in fact, the change in the natural history o f peptic ulcer that follows the cure of the infection.