Evaluation of Helicobacter pylori eradication and drug therapy in patients with functional dyspepsia

The aim of this study was to assess the effect of Helicobactor pylori (H. pylori) infection and drug therapy on functional dyspepsia (FD) symptoms and gastrointestinal eosinophil count. In this study, 215 continuous FD patients fulfilling Rome III criteria were enrolled. The patients were divided into a H. pylori-positive group and a H. pylori-negative group. The H. pylori-positive group was divided into H. pylori-eradicated and H. pylori-uneradicated groups following H. pylori-eradication treatment, and the H. pylori-negative group was randomly divided into esomeprazole and teprenone treatment groups. The symptom scores of the esomeprazole group were significantly lower compared with those of the teprenone group at week 6 but not at baseline and week 2. Compared with the H. pylori-uneradicated group, eosinophil counts in the antrum and body were significantly reduced in the H. pylori-eradicated group at week 6. The number of gastric eosinophil clusters was significantly higher in the H. pylori-positive group than in the H. pylori-negative group. Eradication was associated with gastric eosinophil counts but did not affect duodenal eosinophil levels. Neither esomeprazole nor teprenone treatments reduced eosinophil levels in the stomach and duodenum of H. pylori-negative patients.