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Influence of antimicrobial treatment for Helicobacter pylori infection on the intestinal microflora in Japanese macaques

¹Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Hyogo Medical College, Mukogawa-cho 1-1, Nishinomiya, Hyogo 663-8501, Japan ²Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Juntendo University, School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan

Correspondence Hiroto Miwa miwahgi{at}hyo-med.ac.jp

Received July 9, 2004
Accepted October 28, 2004

Eradication treatment for Helicobacter pylori is known to cause mild but relatively frequent adverse effects. Some adverse effects such as diarrhoea and soft stools are related to disruption of the composition of the intestinal microflora. This study investigated the microfloral changes resulting from administration of an eradication regimen using proton pump inhibitor (PPI), amoxycillin and clarithromycin. Twenty-eight laboratory-bred Japanese macaques either were administered eradication treatment by this regimen for 7 days or received no medication. Faecal samples were collected for analysis on days 0, 8 and 15, and both aerobic and anaerobic cultures were performed. Among aerobic bacteria, Streptococcus had significantly decreased by day 8, while Enterococcus and Enterobacteriaceae had significantly increased. However, the total number of aerobic bacteria was not significantly decreased from pretreatment levels 1 day after completion of treatment. The number of anaerobic bacteria did not change significantly by day 8. However, the number of Lactobacillus and the detection rate of Bifidobacterium, Peptostreptococcus and Veillonella significantly decreased by day 8, although the number of Bifidobacterium, Peptostreptococcus and Veillonella had almost recovered up to the pretreatment levels 1 week after completion of treatment (day 15). These results suggest that the alterations in the composition of the intestinal microflora caused by the antimicrobial regimen that excludes metronidazole are different from those caused by the regimen including this drug. However, the alterations in bacterial microflora had almost reversed 7 days after completion of treatment in these macaques, which supports clinical findings that diarrhoea or soft stools in humans resolve relatively quickly after a similar treatment.