Eradication of Helicobacter pylori significantly reduced gastric damage in nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug-treated Mongolian gerbils

AIM: To examine the effect of eradication of Helicobacter pylori prior to usage of NSAIDs, by investigating gastric inflammatory activity, myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity, prostaglandin (PG) E2 synthesis in H pylori-infected, and H pylori-eradicated gerbils followed by administration of indomethacin and rofecoxib. METHODS: Six-week-old male gerbils were orally inoculated with H pylori. Seven weeks later, anti-H pylori triple therapy and vehicle were given to gerbils respectively and followed by oral indomethacin (2 mg/kg.d) or rofecoxib (10 mg/kg.d) for 2 wk. We examined the area of lesions, gastric inflammatory activity, PGE2 synthesis and MPO activity in the stomach. RESULTS: In indomethacin and rofecoxib-treated gerbils, the following results were obtained in H pylori-infected group vs H pylori-eradicated group respectively: hyperplasia area of the stomach (mm2): 82.4+/-9.2 vs 13.9+/-3.5 (P<0.05), 30.5+/-5.1 vs 1.3+/-0.6 (P<0.05); erosion and ulcer area (mm2): 14.4+/-4.9 vs 0.86+/-0.5 (P<0.05), 1.3+/-0.6 vs 0.4+/-0.3 (P<0.05); score of gastritis: 7.0+/-0.0 vs 3.6+/-0.5 (P<0.05), 7.0+/-0.0 vs 2.7+/-0.5 (P<0.05); MPO activity (micromol H2O2/min/g tissue): 104.7+/-9.2 vs 9.0+/-2.3 (P<0.05), 133.5+/-15.0 vs 2.9+/-0.7 (P<0.05); PGE2 synthesis (pg/mg wet weight/min): 299.2+/-81.5 vs 102.8+/-26.2 (P<0.05), 321.4+/-30.3 vs 11.9+/-4.8 (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Eradication of H pylori reduced gastric damage of NSAID-treated Mongolian gerbils. Rofecoxib caused less severe gastric damage than indomethacin in H pylori-eradicated gerbils.