Smoking and polymorphisms of fucosyltransferase gene Le affect success of H. pylori eradication with lansoprazole, amoxicillin, and clarithromycin

SUMMARY Identification of factors influencing success of Helicobacter pylori (HP) eradication is important for clinical practice. We have prospectively conducted an HP eradication study in the Aichi Cancer Center with a total of 142 patients available for analysis. The overall success rate was 61 . 3% (95 % confidence interval 52 . 7–69 . 3%). Smoking during the medication for eradication significantly decreased the success rate (42 . 9%), whereas smoking cessation during the treatment was associated with a similar rate as for non-smokers (66 . 7%). We also examined links between an eradication outcome and polymorphisms of Le, Se, IL1A, IL1B, IL1RN and MPO genes, but with one exception none showed any association. The non-functional le allele of Le polymorphisms, leading to decreased expression of Le b antigen to which HP attaches with