Background: The role of teprenone in Helicobacter pylori-associated gastritis has yet to be determined. To investigate the effect of teprenone on inflammatory cell infiltration, and on H. pylori colonization of the gastric mucosa in H. pylori-infected patients, we first compared the effect of teprenone with that of both histamine H2 receptor antagonists (H2-RA) and sucralfate on the histological scores of H. pylori gastritis. We then examined its in vitro effect on H. pylori-induced interleukin (IL)-8 production in MKN28 gastric epithelial cells.
Materials and methods: A total of 68 patients were divided into three groups, each group undergoing a 3-month treatment with either teprenone (150 mg/day), H2-RA (nizatidine, 300 mg/day), or sucralfate (3 g/day). All subjects underwent endoscopic examination of the stomach before and after treatment. IL-8 production in MKN28 gastric epithelial cells was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).
Results: Following treatment, the teprenone group showed a significant decrease in both neutrophil infiltration and H. pylori density of the corpus (before vs. after: 2.49 +/- 0.22 vs. 2.15 +/- 0.23, p =.009; 2.36 +/- 0.25 vs. 2.00 +/- 0.24, p =.035, respectively), with no significant differences seen in either the sucralfate or H2-RA groups. Teprenone inhibited H. pylori-enhanced IL-8 production in MKN28 gastric epithelial cells in vitro, in a dose-dependent manner.
Conclusions: Teprenone may modify corpus H. pylori-associated gastritis through its effect on neutrophil infiltration and H. pylori density, in part by its inhibition of IL-8 production in the gastric mucosa.